Pleasanton native Stephen Piscotty is returning the Bay Area, but this time around he'll be with the orange and black.
Piscotty was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012, 36th overall, and was traded to Oakland in December of 2017 to be closer to his mother, who had ALS. On the field Piscotty had his best season in the big leagues in 2018, playing in 151 games, smacking 27 home runs, and performing 26% better than league average at the dish.
In May of that season, Piscotty's mother passed away, and after a few days away from the team, he provided baseball fans with a very memorable home run in his first at-bat back with the club.
It's impossible not to root for Stephen Piscotty, knowing his story. And when he's been healthy, he has been pretty productive. Since 2018 though, he's dealt with a myriad of injuries and has maxed out at 93 games played in the three full seasons since, and has managed just 72 and 42 games the past two seasons.
The San Francisco Giants have already signed Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto this winter, and brought back Joc Peterson on a qualifying offer, so the fit may not be there immediately for Stephen, but in 2021 he was roughly league average against left-handers, so there could be an opportunity as a platoon bat at some point in the season.
If he does make it to San Francisco, he would re-join former A's teammate Sean Manaea, who signed with the club earlier in the off-season.
In his five seasons with the A's, Piscotty played in a total of 403 games, hit .245 with a .305 on-base, slugged 55 home runs and drove in 191, while being exactly league average with a 100 OPS+. It's important for teams to build up depth to get through a season, and there are much worse options to have than taking a chance on a 32-year-old Stephen Piscotty.
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