A seasoned center fielder camps under a lazy fly ball, drifting with it as it gets carried by a strong wind. Suddenly blinded by the intense desert sun, at the last moment the center fielder ducks and covers his head with his glove as the ball falls a few feet behind him on the outfield grass. Official scorer ruling: double.
That is just Exhibit A as to why spring training stats should be taken with a grain of salt — and then discarded. Exhibit B is the parade of A and AA players on the field by the 5th
inning, Exhibit C the way the ball carries in the desert air, Exhibit D the helpless feeling a pitcher gets watching playable ground balls work their way through a B-squad infield.
Don’t get me wrong: spring training can indeed be a place jobs are won or lost. But not on numbers, by the many eyeballs focused on players who are on the bubble for a position or roster spot. So as the Cactus League opens today, here are some things to watch/listen for in the quest for the starting job at 3B or a bench role filling out the roster:
Max Muncy
Does he look more fluid and comfortable at 3B than when he learned it on the job during the 2025 season?
Can he maintain accuracy with his throws, something which has plagued Muncy whether at 2B, SS, or 3B?
Is he hitting the ball with more authority than the low exit velocities and barrel rates he showed in 2025?
Is he more relaxed and patient at the plate, rather than jumpy as he was in his first go around with the big league club?
Regardless of what Muncy’s batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, or number or errors look like, the answers to these questions likely will inform whether he wins the 3B job that appears to be his to lose coming in.
Brett Harris & Darell Hernaiz
Muncy’s main competition for 3B, Harris and Hernaiz share the same ‘deadly flaw’ they are hoping to show coaches they have conquered at least to some degree: they simply don’t slug or drive the ball nearly enough.
If either player shows up to the Cactus League truly having adjusted his swing to where he can drive the ball more consistently, suddenly you have a far more legitimately 3B candidate on your hands.
Colby Thomas
Fighting for a bench spot, probably vying with Carlos Cortes for that 4th OFer role, Thomas needs to show that he can hunt strikes and not just “most pitches”. Thomas has the reputation of feeling like he can drive most any pitch, but in order to be successful at the big league level he is going to have to develop more discernment.
Nobody questions that when Thomas makes contact, the ball flies off his bat with impressive authority. But the chase rate, the tendency to put balls in play early in the count — these are qualities you can still thrive with against MiLB pitchers but not so much against MLB arms.
Junior Perez
Perez is starting in CF for the A’s in their opener and he might get a lot of looks with Denzel Clarke soon leaving to represent team Canada in the WBC.
We all know Perez is a gifted CFer, so how he fares against the Arizona sun and wind isn’t all that important. What matters is whether he looks like the hitter who thrived upon being moved up to AAA Las Vegas last year or whether he looks at all like the confuzzled and “in his own head” mess he was at AA Midland prior. A lot of that will be seen in approach and swing decisions as well as the ability to square up pitches in the zone.
There’s a sampling of relevant specifics worth following — it’s only position players leaving room for similar analysis with pitchers another day. Any to add? Or any modifications you would suggest for the areas I have identified for these players?
Play ball! Jack Perkins gets the start at 12:05 PST but I’m guessing he won’t go all 9.
