Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!
The A’s are on a pretty nice roll right now. They just swept the Twins in Minnesota with rookie starters on the mound for all three victories, and the team’s potent offense is a lot of fun to watch; they’re mashing dingers aplenty and are in a tight race against the Mariners, Angels, and Diamondbacks for third place amongst all MLB teams in home runs, behind the Yankees and Dodgers who are a bit separated from the pack.
Five A’s hitters will finish the season with 20
or more home runs according to most projections per Fangraphs, and four have already exceeded the mark. Three of these mashers are running neck, neck, and neck to finish with the highest season total. Let’s take a look at the current state of the A’s home run race, shall we?
Shea Langeliers currently leads all Athletics with 28 home runs. The key return in the Matt Olson trade a few years back, Shea is finally hitting up to expectations—and has made big strides defensively, to boot. “Bangeliers” has been on a serious tear in August with 10 home runs; if he maintains this pace he could potentially even hit 40 this year. As it stands, nearly all projections have Langeliers finishing the season with 34 home runs. One fun fact I discovered while drilling down on Shea’s stats is that he is the only member of this power quintet with a strikeout rate under 20 percent—though he has the lowest walk rate of the bunch, as well.
Nick Kurtz took the second spot on the leaderboard with his 26th home run of the season in yesterday’s victory at Target Field. The rookie sensation first baseman looks like a no-brainer to take AL Rookie of the Year honors, and he is the A’s MVP as well with 3.9 fWAR coming into yesterday’s contest. Kurtz wasn’t called up until April 23 and one might presume that due to this, The Big Amish is on pace to catch up with Langeliers and ultimately take the team’s home run crown. But as a matter of fact, Shea hasn’t seen that many more plate appearances than Kurtz, and the A’s catcher has a nearly the same PA/HR ratio (14.3) as Nick (14.1). Kurt’s projected total varies more than his teammates’, but the mode forecast is that he will finish 2025 with 33 home runs.
If projections prove accurate, Brent Rooker will be the third Athletic to hit 30 or more home runs this season, and 2025 will be his third consecutive season in the 30+ club. Rook, who has 25 homers on the season so far, has cooled off a bit at the plate compared to last season, in which his 164 wRC+ earned him the AL DH Silver Slugger Award, but his production remains solid and most projections have him finishing the season with 33 home runs. So the race between Langeliers, Kurtz, and Rooker is about as close as can be.
Tyler Soderstrom was pushed off first base into left field after Kurtz’s arrival, but that hasn’t stopped the 23-year-old from making big strides in his first full year in the big leagues. His offensive production has been outstanding this August: he hit for a 190 wRC+ through the first 17 games of the month, though with four home runs in the same span, he’s dropped a bit on the A’s home run leaderboard. Tyler has 23 home runs on the season so far, and all projections have him finishing 2025 with 28 big flys, but I’d say he’s more of a dark horse than an underdog and still has a decent shot to top 30 dingers.
Outfielder Lawrence Butler is no doubt as disappointed as we are in his first season with the A’s since signing his seven year extension. He earned his $65.5 million contract on the strength of an impressive 2024 rookie season in which he hit 22 home runs and stole 17 bases through 451 plate appearances, good for a 130 wRC+. But Law’s bat has been somewhat listless this season, knocking out a slightly below average 95 wRC+ to date in 2025. Nevertheless, he’s provided some defensive value and is on pace for another 20+ home run season—though he has already taken more at-bats than last season and has five fewer home runs to show for it so far. Butler is very unlikely to catch up with his power peers, but he is projected to become the fifth Athletic to hit 20 or more home runs before the season is out. This would tie the franchise high mark.
If Sodie can pick up the pace a bit and Langeliers, Kurtz, and Rooker all fulfill their 30+ home run projections, it will mark the first time in franchise history that the A’s have had four players make the thirtysomething club in the same season.
Have a wonderful weekend, AN.
A’s Coverage:
- “Swing Decisions” Driving Recent Success Of A’s Offense
- Athletics power to an 8-3 Victory over the Twins
- ‘Ultra athlete’ Soderstrom impressing A’s on both sides of the game
- Kurtz stays in top 5 of Hitter Power Rankings
- A’s Fans Should be Thrilled with Realignment Prediction
MLB News & Interest:
- MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs
- Yankees Sign Paul Blackburn
- Royals Release Mark Canha
- Red Sox Designate Abraham Toro For Assignment
- Astros Outright Jordan Weems
- Astros To Sign Craig Kimbrel
- Austin Riley Undergoes Season-Ending Core Surgery
- Red Sox Weighing Bullpen Move For Walker Buehler
- Orioles Place Adley Rutschman On Injured List With Oblique Strain
- Red Sox To Promote Jhostynxon Garcia, Place Wilyer Abreu On IL
- Connor Brogdon Elects Free Agency
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Nice…but wasn’t that last year’s goal?
More success-ual texture.
A big “what if.”
This kid is the best…literally, since May.
