Noda eyes strong finish to up-and-down '24

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Ryan Noda entered this season fully expecting to build off what was a strong 2023 rookie campaign with the A’s after they selected him in the ‘22 Rule 5 Draft.

Of course, things do not always go according to plan.

After seeing his batting average plummet to .128 through his first 30 games, Noda was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on May 2. He spent more than four months with the Aviators, posting an .877 OPS with 22 home runs, 21 doubles and 54 RBIs in 101 games before finally getting called back up on Sept. 10.

Back in the Majors for the season’s final stretch, Noda is looking to take advantage of what should be semi-regular playing time at first base and in right field. He discussed that and more with MLB.com last week in Houston.

MLB.com: This season hasn’t really been ideal for you based on your expectations in Spring Training coming off the year you had last year. How would you describe this season and what you’ve gone through?

Noda: A very good learning experience. You never want to go through something I just went through as a player. When you get called up, you just want to be the one guy who always just stays. But we made some adjustments in the offseason to try to get even better, and it just did the opposite. Sometimes it happens -- trial and error. It’s been a good learning experience, for sure.

MLB.com: When you talk about the adjustments, do you feel like getting back to what you were doing before this year has helped you get back on track?

Noda: It was more just stop getting so mad at myself for trying to adjust and just figure out like, "All right, now it’s just time to get better." I haven’t been trying to get back to what I used to be. I’m trying to get to a place where I can excel and help the team any way possible. I feel like the way I have my at-bats and the way I can juice the ball and get on base, it’s going to be huge for this team.

MLB.com: Looking at your numbers at Triple-A, you were getting on base a lot, which has been kind of your calling card for a while. What do you attribute for that success you had there?

Noda: I took the first month to really try things. It was a very slow start again. It was just trial and error at that point. Once I found something that felt comfortable and felt like myself and I can walk into the box and think I can hit anything, that’s when things started changing. Middle of July was when I really was like, "All right, now we go." I had a pretty good August. I feel like I’m pretty much back to who I am and what I can do. I think I can still improve. At the same time, I’m ready go and ready to rock with the boys.

MLB.com: What has it been like to watch this team develop from afar over the past two months and put together some winning months?

Noda: It’s awesome. This is something that we talked about in Spring Training. We know the talent we have here. We know the group of guys -- the core group -- everyone likes each other. It’s becoming a brotherhood. Watching it was awesome. A little bit in the back of your head, you’re like, "Dang, I just want to be there grinding with them," but it’s just awesome seeing the smiles on the field. Especially [Brent] Rooker, JJ [Bleday], [Lawrence Butler] and Shea [Langeliers] having good years, I’m happy for them. All the hard work everyone put in is showing, and they’re putting the league on notice.

MLB.com: Lastly, what does it mean to you to get this chance to come back up here and what are you looking to show or accomplish the rest of this season?

Noda: Just have fun. I’m back with my boys. That’s all that matters. Keep the good vibes going and compete to win every game. My mindset when I got told [I was getting called back up] was, "All right, let me try to help win every single series from here on out." Show people there’s good things going here.