A's trying to take big leap forward in 2024
OAKLAND -- Coming off a second consecutive 100-loss season, the A’s enter the third year of a rebuild starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It began with the youth movement that took place in the second half of last season. After a dismal first half, top prospects and young players such as Zack Gelof, Lawrence Butler, Mason Miller and Ryan Noda helped the A’s field a much more competitive team over the final two months of the 2023 campaign.
Now that the A’s have the makings of a promising young core and have added some much-needed experience to their pitching staff, the bar is going to be raised as they look to take a big step forward in 2024.
“Expectations have to be higher for us as a group,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Last [Spring Training], I think they were in that clubhouse wondering if they were going to make the team. Wondering how long they would be on the team. This year, they know their role. … It’s not about them as individuals as much anymore as it is about the team..”
After losing 112 games last season, could the A’s become a .500 team while playing in a difficult American League West division?
“I’d like to set that expectation,” Kotsay said. “It’s still a challenge, though. You’re talking about improvement by 31 games. That’s a large task. But it’s not something that is not accomplishable.”
To take that step forward, the A’s will count on the continued Major League development of their young players like Gelof and Butler, as well as an incoming crop of top prospects in the near future that could include Darell Hernaiz, Max Muncy and Denzel Clarke. They also feel much better about their pitching staff after adding a pair of veterans in Alex Wood and Ross Stripling this offseason.
Getting off to a strong start will be key, and the A’s will look to do that from the jump on Opening Night when they host Shane Bieber and the Guardians on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum.
What needs to go right? Rotation needs some stability
It can’t get much worse than last year, when the A’s tied a Major League record by using 24 starting pitchers. They sought to address that issue this offseason by acquiring veterans Wood and Stripling to join a rotation that includes Paul Blackburn, JP Sears and hard-throwing No. 10 prospect Joe Boyle as the likely fifth starter. The A’s know they’ll go through more than five starters in a season, but decreasing that number significantly from last year will go a long way in their quest for a big step forward in 2024.
Great unknown: Mason Miller
For as much excitement as the A’s have shown over their flamethrowing No. 2 prospect, there is an equal amount of concern over Miller’s health. After a right UCL sprain sidelined Miller for nearly four months last season following his electric MLB debut, the A’s are taking a cautious approach with him this season by moving him to the bullpen. The hope is that he can emerge as a lights-out closer, and before maybe becoming a starter again in the future. But for 2024, the focus is getting him through the year healthy.
Team MVP will be … Zack Gelof
After breaking out last year by earning AL Rookie of the Month honors for August -- his first full month as a big leaguer -- and hitting .267 with a .841 OPS, 14 home runs, 20 doubles, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 69 games, Gelof looks primed for an even better 2024. The 24-year-old second baseman worked out closely with several MLB stars this offseason, including Juan Soto, and hit the ground running this spring by hitting .288 with a .928 OPS and four homers in 19 Cactus League games. The A’s already view him as a leader of this new wave of young talent in the big leagues, and they’ll look to lean on him as their budding star.
Team Cy Young will be … JP Sears
Sears was the one constant who lasted the entire 2023 season in the rotation and made all 32 of his scheduled starts. Having spent this offseason and spring integrating a new sinker into his pitch arsenal, the 28-year-old lefty seems to be entering the prime of his career and will look to take a big step forward in what will be his second full season in the Majors.
Bold prediction: Brent Rooker will be an All-Star again
Rooker's sharp drop in production, after a strong first month in which he performed as one of the best hitters in baseball, led to some viewing his 2023 All-Star selection as somewhat of a fluke, but he turned things around with eight home runs over the final month, finishing his first full big league season with 30 homers and a .817 OPS. With Shohei Ohtani now in the National League, that’s one less designated hitter to compete with for a second consecutive All-Star selection in 2024.
Martín Gallegos covers the A's for MLB.com.