Pitchers and catchers have reported, which is a cool symbolic benchmark of “baseball is back!” but is really just a lot of throwing and stretching. Games begin a week from Saturday, though, and slowly truths will begin to unfold. Some of the key story lines I will be watching as February eases into March…
1. Muncy: Plan A at 3B?
It appears Max Muncy will be given first shot to grab hold of 3B (but not yank it from its moorings), with Darell Hernaiz, Brett Harris, and Andy Ibañez competing at least in theory for the job.
Harris is a favorite on AN for the gig due to his superior defense combined with a strong offense around the 3B spot and the A’s need to play good infield defense behind an iffy rotation. But anytime you see depth charts cited by A’s insiders, Harris is listed third as more of an “honorable mention,” and it seems like it’s going to be Muncy’s job to lose going in.
So I will be watching carefully to see if the Muncy who shows up next week has better 3B form than the one who learned on the job in 2025 with very mixed results. Does Muncy look like a true 3Bman with adequate range, hands, and throwing accuracy?
At the plate, when he hit the IL Muncy was showing signs of life but overall his EVs, hard hit %, squared up % all left quite a bit to be desired but are also hard to assess in especially the early days of spring training games. So I will follow his hitting somewhat casually but am keen to see how the glove looks.
2. Barnett: New Angle, New Pitcher?
One reason not to overly wig out around a young player’s stats is that a ‘small’ tweak can make a huge difference seemingly overnight. Be it a toe tap or stance adjustment, development of a new pitch or moving from one corner of the rubber to the other, there can be that moment where a stalled player takes off.
For Mason Barnett, that adjustment could be the arm angle which the A’s say shifted last year and was not easily corrected during a season, better addressed in the off-season/ST. Barnett came to the A’s as a solid prospect and even the anti-A’s oriented Keith Law presently ascribes “mid-rotation SP upside” to Barnett.
Barnett’s debut in 2025 was rough: a 6.85 ERA in 22 IP with 26 hits, 11 BB, and just 18 K following a 6.13 ERA at AAA. Will he come to camp with a new (old) arm slot that elevates his game and allows him to present more like the “mid-rotation upside” SP he was projecting to be as a 3rd round pick whose K rates were between 10.70 and 14.14 at every minor league stop prior to 2025?
Having any one of the A’s young arms (Barnett, Ginn, Perkins) strongly emerge would be a huge boon to the 2026 club, especially early in the season when Gage Jump is still in the minors. Let’s see what Mason’s new arm slot delivers.
3. Leo De Vries: Fast Track or FAST Track?
Leo De Vries is not going to break camp with the big league club. But it’s not out of the question at all to think he could be a call up as soon as mid-season 2026. He has been invited to spring training and while he is likely to be an early cut he will have the opportunity to make an impression.
I will be keen to see to what extent he looks so close to ready that the A’s will be “forced” to consider fast-tracking him to the big leagues — or whether he looks “talented but raw” like you would expect from a 19 year old. In particular, we know his bat is special but how does his defense look?
I will also be watching closely to see where De Vries shows up on the diamond. The only position he has ever played so far is SS but the A’s have shown no indications of moving Jacob Wilson off the position. If De Vries sees any time at 2B or 3B it could be seen as significant. Or if he simply comes in at SS to replace Wilson/Hernaiz and get a few innings in there, one could also suggest it means SS is where they see De Vries until further notice.
What story lines do you have to offer for us to watch in the early days of the Cactus League? And what are your thoughts on these 3 that I have identified for myself? It’s just nice to be talking about what to watch for because it means games are coming soon: 9 days but who’s counting?