A's Offense Among the Best in Baseball

To begin the 2025 season, the A's offense has been fantastic, you could even go as far as saying they have been elite. A mix of young stars breaking out, familiar faces continuing to produce, and a good amount of slug has propelled this A's offense to one of the best in baseball.

A's young stars, Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom, have led the charge; both have been on a tear in their respective ways. For Wilson, he's a hitting machine, batting .347 with an .854 OPS and the fifth most hits in baseball (34). All while only striking out five times in 98 at-bats and famously with one walk.

For Soderstrom, it's all about power, lots of power. Soderstrom is tied for the MLB lead in home runs with nine, holds the fifth-highest slugging percentage in the league (.620), and the eighth highest OPS (.989).

The A's offensive success goes beyond Wilson and Soderstrom; A's cornerstone pieces Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker, who they extended this offseason, have been good as well. Admittedly, they both have had their offensive woes, but the season is still very young, and both are continuing to produce, despite the struggles.

Butler has been the A's lead-off hitter in almost every game and has been playing well, posting a .778 OPS with four home runs. Rooker has had the slower start between the two, but has hit the ball extremely hard this year and is simply just getting unlucky. What is hurting Rooker the most is his strikeout percentage, currently at 26.1%, which is actually down from the last two years but, for some reason, it seems more noticeable this season.

It could be that this A's squad has expectations around them, and Rooker is the best bat in the lineup. Despite the struggles, Rooker has continued to mash the cover off the baseball, hitting seven home runs with a .477 slugging percentage.

A's backstop, Shea Langeliers, has been experiencing a breakout at the plate. Langeliers has improved in every aspect of his game every season, and this year is no different. Like Rooker, Langeliers is hitting every ball very hard, and it shows.

His Baseball Savant profile has a lot of red, and red is good. While the batting average may not be great, it could also be the product of some bad luck similar to Rooker; his percentages are good and up from previous seasons. He currently holds a .742 OPS, with a .299 OBP and .443 SLG.

Miguel Andujar and JJ Bleday have contributed as well, along with Luis Urías and Gio Urshela. Andujar has been the best out of the group, hitting .310 with a .774 OPS and four extra-base hits.

A's No. 1 prospect, Nick Kurtz, has made his arrival known in just three games. Kurtz, a big power bat for the A's lineup, has knocked in two RBI in just nine at-bats after leading Triple-A in RBI to begin the season.

Former A's top prospect, Zack Gelof, who had a good spring, will start his rehab assignment soon in Triple-A Las Vegas and will hopefully join the A's lineup in early May. Gelof will be another threat in the lineup who looks to improve after his sophomore slump in 2024. Hoping to return to 2023 form, where he held a .841 OPS and had 35 extra-base hits in 69 games.

As a whole, the A's offense ranks among the top in baseball. Ranking fourth in slugging percentage (.433), fourth in OPS (.747), fifth in home runs (36), sixth in batting average (.256), and 11th in runs scored (115). Those ranks improve even more when just looking at the American League, where they rank fourth in runs scored.

Overall, the A's offense has been firing on all cylinders to start the 2025 campaign, and will continue to get better. With Kurtz only three games in, Gelof on his way back, and everyone else starting to heat up, the sky is the limit for this young A's squad.