Lawrence Butler to play for Oakland Athletics in 2023 CCed by Liscense 2.0
Honestly, I just feel bad for Athletics fans. They had nothing to look forward to because they had Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and Mark Kana all on the same team, and even then, things just weren’t clicking have come to expect the A’s to sit near the bottom of the AL.. Things look pretty bleak for fans.
Oakland Athletics (69-93)
AVG: .233 (25-for-30)
SO: 1502 (25 of 30)
OPS: .694 (20-for-30)
Runs Per Game: 3.97 (26th of 30)
ERA: 4.37 (25 for 30)
WHIP: 1.333 (25th out of 30)
Runs Allowed Per Game: 4.72 (25th of 30)
Shots per 9: 7.9 (29th out of 30)
Looking at the Athletics stats this year, this has been the story of the Athletics over the past few years. Hitting has not been their strong suit this season. The Athletics have struggled with everything but power for hits. They were down for all of the above hitting stats except for home runs. That they have people who can hit for power is a good thing g, they just need to be able to hit for contact as well as average as a team.
Pitching was worse. There was absolutely nothing of value added by the pitching. The Athletics ranked last among all of them. They averaged more runs per game than they scored. and still won 69 games.Though that’s not much, the offense was able to provide enough in games, even though their hitting was weak pitching can improve in the offseason, I would expect the Athletics to win more games and start to become more competitive in the AL.
The Athletics have plenty of players and things to look forward to next season.
The Athletics have a lot of players that have looked really good this year, including Mason Miller, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langliers, Jacob Wilson and Zach Geloff.These players are all 26 and under, with players like Geloff. Butler and Miller get their first full season of work this year, an experience that will be crucial and valuable to them going forward for development.
Mason Miller had the biggest breakout season in the Athletics. Known for his triple-digit fastball as well as his slider, he was one of the most popular closers in the league this year. are in just 69 games, so don’t be surprised if he’s traded this coming season in 2024 2.49 ERA with 104 strikeouts, 28 saves, all in just 55 games because he was injured a few weeks into the season. Having a 2.49 ERA in his first year of action is incredible. He was a very reliable closer/reliever averaging 14.4 K/9 will improve in the future is to be able to count back the pitch as much as possible. This will allow him to play several games in a week and use it more often.
Lawrence Butler certainly has a future in the MLB this year, with the Athletics or not.He managed a .262 average, 57 RBI and 18 SB in 125 games.He was one of the few bright spots in his first full season for the collapsing Athletics team.He had the 2nd highest wins (WAR) on the team with three, making him one of the most reliable and productive players on the field. He’s only 24 years old and under the control of the Athletics for a while, so I’d look for him to continue to have an impact on the team for the better. He just needs to be a little more selective at the plate drew more walks. He walked 35 times in 451 plate appearances. If he can find a happy medium and between being aggressive, he will be extremely successful in the MLB.
Jacob Wilson made his debut this year and worked his way up from Double AA to the Major League roster this year, plus one game in rookie ball, hitting .433 with 7 HR and 39 RBI in 53 games absolutely insane and something the Athletics will have to look forward to next season if he can maintain his consistency as a hitter. If he can fully unlock his power, he could be in the Rookie of the Year conversation next season. In a small sample of 92 at bats, he managed a .250 average with 0 HR and 3 RBI. Despite his lack of immediate success in the majors, don’t be surprised to see Wilson make the Opening Day roster right out of spring training.
Zach Geloff slowed down a bit in his first full season, but there’s still a lot to be excited about. He averaged .211, 49 RBI, 25 SB, and he did it in 138 games in his last season In 69 games, he put up similar numbers and was projected to be much better this season. that this is his first full season and there was just more film and stats for pitchers to look at so they could game plan against him , which we saw when he first entered the league in 2023.
The A’s have been loading up on farm system talent in the last two drafts and international signing periods, and prospects like Nick Kurtz, Luis Morales and Colby Thomas look very promising.
Drafted 4th overall out of Wake Forest in the summer, Kurtz was able to make his professional debut this season as well, finishing the year in Double-A after playing just 7 games in Single-A. He totaled .368 with 4 HR and 13 RBI. I expect him to start the season with either the Double-A team or the Athletics High-A affiliate so he can get more experience at the pro level Most players have one or the other, and if they can hit for contact and power, they struggle to be consistent. If he is able to repeat what he did at Wake Forest with a combined .333 average, 61 HR and 182 RBI over 3 seasons, he will have a chance to have a great career with the Athletics and fly their farm system to a promising one. debut in the 2026 season.
Luis Morales was signed as part of the 2023 international class, and he pitched well in his first full year of professional baseball in 2024. He had a 4.22 ERA with 84 strikeouts and 36 walks in 81 innings uses a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup.His main problem is that walks and pitching efficiency. In one of his starts this year, he only made it to the 6th inning, which is a little alarming. If he can hit the strike zone and get into a pitcher-friendly count in the early at-bats, I expect he’ll move up in Double-A. He’ll likely start pitching again in High-A, so he can address some of the issues he faced last season. There are a lot of exciting things to look forward to with Morales, and he could make an impact in the Athletics as early as 2027 or late 2026 if he can work on getting deeper into ball games. It wouldn’t surprise me if he continues to struggle , if he moves to the springboard with his 4-pitch mix.
Colby Thomas, the Athletics’ 7th-best prospect in their system, was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2022 MLB Draft. This season was his second full season of professional baseball and he was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A.He averaged .277 with 31 HR, 92 RBI and 15 SB in 132 games to begin the season again with the Triple-A team, working toward a promotion to the MLB team that should come this offseason.He has a chance to be something special with his ability to play all three fields, where he has been used primarily in left field this year. He also has raw power with 80 of his 142 hits coming in. If he gets promoted this year, he will not only add a lot in the outfield needed depth, but also much needed offense.His success from the minor leagues to the big leagues is something many teams should look out for.I’d flip him as someone who could be an All-Star until 2028. He’s only 23 years old, which means he still has a lot more growth to do as a player, so let’s hope this year wasn’t a peak year and he can continue to build on his extraordinary success in the season.
The Athletics have a long way to go before they can even be a world title contender, and I know that’s hard to hear. There’s no shortage of talent on the way to bolstering this struggling team. It might take a few seasons, but it depends based on what happens over the next two free agency periods, I can see the Athletics being a Wild Card team for the next 4 seasons whatever goes their way, they have the potential to be very scary.
