A’s Defensive Struggles Need Attention Going Forward

The A’s are a much better team now than they were 3 months ago. Or last year or the year before. Hopes for 2025 are suddenly higher than just “not losing 100” or “.500”. But one reality persists: there are very positions on the diamond right now in which the A’s are above average defensively...or even average.

Yesterday the A’s lost partly because they could only score one run against a parade of mediocre pitchers. But they also fell because their defense let them down, turning 2 potential DPs into a total of one out and leading to the 2 unearned runs which cost them the game.

In fairness, yesterday was somewhat of an anomaly in that the chief culprit was Zack Gelof and Gelof has been one of the few exceptions: he has provided above average defense at 2B this season. Anyone can have a bad day or a bad play, so his key error in the 7th was just a “turn the page” bummer.

But let’s look at the 2024 —> 2025 A’s around the diamond when it comes to defense...

Strong: up the middle infield

With Jacob Wilson at SS joining Gelof at 2B, the A’s do have potentially strong defense up the middle on the infield and that’s crucial. By all scouting measures Wilson has the tools to become a great defensive SS and we have seen that if he hits enough to stay in the lineup Gelof can provide excellent defense at 2B.

If Gelof fails to keep the 2B job, there are options behind him that are probably average defensively there, such as Darell Hernaiz and Cooper Bowman, possibly Max Muncy if that’s where he lands. They would most likely be a step down from Gelof but could still be more than adequate.

Weak: Everywhere else

1B - The incumbent these days is Tyler Soderstrom, whose primary position has been catcher and who is a “work-in-progress” at 1B. While he shows the tools to possibly handle the position enough to get his bat in the lineup there, he does not profile as a particularly strong defender, more of a “bat first” option to hold down the position.

Ostensibly, the fast-rising Nick Kurtz should be taking over and at that point the A’s might be in good shape defensively at 1B. But Kurtz lost the end of his first taste of pro ball to a hamstring injury and it’s no sure thing he will be up in 2025. Until Kurtz’ arrival the A’s do not figure to be especially strong defensively at 1B.

3B - There really is no incumbent, or presumed 2025 starter here. It is probably the position most in flux right now on the team, and it’s possible the A’s will use a trade or the free agent market to bring in a starter not currently in the organization.

If so you hope they make a better choice than their recent efforts, which brought Aledmys Diaz, then Abraham Toro and JD Davis into the fold. Granted, on the free agent market pickins might be rather slim as the A’s try to convince players to choose 120 degree artificial turf in a 10,000 seat minor league stadium over their other options.

The current every day starter, Max Schuemann, is a utility player who does not play any position especially well: the consummate “jack of all trades, master of none”. At 3B in particular, so many balls get past him down the line and he struggles at the “hot corner” to handle the hardest hit balls.

Schuemann hasn’t played enough 3B (99 innings) to cull a meaningful sample, but in the small sample available Fangraphs gives him a startling -41.2 UZR/150 rating. Even with a sizable margin of error, that can’t be good.

Other 2025 options include Muncy, but he hasn’t been playing 3B at AAA so clearly the A’s have other plans for him and Muncy has not gotten the reps you would want before offering him a big league gig at the position.

C - On the surface, the A’s appear to be in ok shape with Shea Langeliers and his rocket of an arm, but as I have noted before Langeliers gives up a ton of defensive value by being the worst ball blocker in MLB (literally) and a flawed pitch framer who often neglects to hold the pitch for the umpire to see.

Catchers are hard to rate defensively but Langeliers, not surprisingly, gets negative ratings by all the available metrics other than arm strength and pop time. And for all the catchers the A’s have drafted lately, they don’t really have anyone knocking on the door — their most advanced prospect is Daniel Susac in AA, but he continues to be a work-in-progress defensively and offensively he has had an inconsistent season (.268/.311/.454 with only a 4.2% BB rate), so he appears to be more than a year away at best.

OF - This is a big concern. Outfield defense matters a lot and the immediate outlook is a bit grim on the defensive side.

In CF, JJ Bleday is inadequate and should be playing in the COF. He routinely gets a late break on balls in front of him and he lacks the natural foot speed that allows most CFers to offset an imperfect read, jump or route. Fangraphs has him at -11 DRS for the season.

Trouble is, unless Denzel Clarke makes it and makes it soon, there is not much in CF coming up any time soon. (Henry Bolte is behind Clarke, does not have the defensive chops Clarke has, and while his ceiling is high he is a high ‘bust’ risk as well.)

The A’s put a lot of eggs in the rickety basket that is Esteury Ruiz and he turned out to be truly terrible in CF. If and where he fits in going forward is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to imagine him helping the A’s CF defense anytime soon.

In RF, Lawrence Butler is nailing down the position and he has some athleticism going for him. But to this point Butler is not really a very good RFer. His reads, routes, and closing speed are all in need of improvement — there is at least hope, as Butler is still playing in some ballparks for the first time, he has a history of making improvements to his game, and he is still gaining familiarity with how to play along side Bleday, Gelof, etc.

But where Butler’s natural ability as a hitter is showing through, his defensive ceiling appears to be a lot lower. I’m willing to give a “let’s wait and see” on whether he could evolve to be a defensive strength but I might also settle for “average” if I can get it.

In LF, it’s a bit hard to forecast what 2025 will look like. Miguel Andujar played better there than anyone expected yet he wasn’t really very good, just adequate. Seth Brown has made himself suddenly relevant again and if the A’s tender him a contract in 2025 he could vie for playing time in LF. But defensively Brown is also no more than serviceable in a COF.

Colby Thomas might make a case to secure the position in 2025 — but probably not until mid-season as he still has serious “chase” and “K” issues to address in his offensive game. He would, however, offer potentially better defense in LF than you can hope to get from either Andujar or Brown.

Ideally LF should be Bleday’s home, but it will only become that once the A’s can commit to another CFer. And currently, upgrading the defense in LF with Bleday would mean an even bigger train wreck in CF.

I suppose the good news is that the A’s are pretty solid defensively at DH.

Much work to be done here, folks. How to put a better defensive team on the field in 2025 and still score some runs? I’m all ears.