The Oakland Athletics — now just the Athletics — took steps forward in their final season at the Coliseum. The A’s saw young players blossom into pieces for the future, while some unheralded pickups became key contributors. Here’s our recap of the 2024 Oakland Athletics season.
The Offense
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | 643 | 26th |
| Home Runs | 196 | 8th |
| OPS | .694 | 20th |
| Whiff% | 28.4% | 29th |
| Hard Hit% | 39.2% | 13th |
The Pitching
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Starters’ ERA | 4.76 | 26th |
| Relievers’ ERA | 3.83 | 13th |
| Strikeouts | 1.263 | 28th |
| Whiff% | 24.0% | 27th |
| Chase% | 27.7% | 24th |
The Good
Generally, closers don’t get the bulk of the attention. However, Mason Miller proved to be an anomaly.
The A’s promoted Miller to make his MLB debut in 2023 but was limited thanks to injury. To keep him healthy in 2024, Oakland shifted him to the bullpen to get him innings and avoid further harm. What transpired afterwards was the rise of Miller from prospect to elite closer, as the 24-year-old struck out 104 over 65 innings and 28 saves.
Miller put eye-popping advanced analytics: a 40.1% Whiff% and an average velocity of 100.9 MPH. At 6’5” and 200 pounds, Miller generates incredible power with his delivery, creating a plus-plus overpowering fastball to go along with a plus slider. He didn’t need much more than that in 2024.
Aside from Miller, there were other positive stories from Oakland’s pitching staff. Rule 5 Draft pick Mitch Spence logged 151.1 IP and logged fine numbers (4.21 FIP) as a rookie. JP Sears threw 180.2 IP, while Osvaldo Bido (63 K, 116 ERA+ pver 63.2 IP) was excellent after the A’s signed him after he was non-tendered as a Pirate last winter.
The 29-year-old Bido might have been a steal for the A’s; for more on him, look at our fantasy briefer on him from last August. He’s got a nasty four-seamer that’s tough to pick up with his approach angle, and he’ll pair with a cutter, sinker, change, and slider to give hitters different looks.
As for the bats, Oakland had plenty of good stories.
Brent Rooker, a unicorn in baseball thanks to an optimized swing with bat speed and short length, hit 39 home runs en route to a Silver Slugger award. JJ Bleday hit 20 home runs in his second seasons with the A’s. Lawrence Butler, meanwhile, struggled early on before exploding in the summer. He wound up hitting .262/.317/.490 with 22 home runs over 125 games.
Butler finished 14th in the league in SLG (.553) in the second half (min. 175 PA), with Rooker (.549) not too far behind, at 16th. Those two were key reasons why the A’s went 32-32 after the All-Star break. It was the first time since the 2021 first half (52-40) the A’s went .500 or better during a half of a season.
A’s fans also got their first look at Jacob Wilson, the team’s 2023 first-round pick. Wilson hit .433/.473/.668 — yes, those numbers are correct — in the Minors last year, primarily in Double and Triple-A. He hit .250/.314/.315 over 28 Major League games in 2024 after Wilson was promoted.
While A’s fans didn’t get a long look at Wilson in 2024, thanks to a hamstring strain that kept him out for a month, the 2023 first-round pick will be key for the team’s future. The Athletics finished 25th in OBP (.301), which explains why Oakland finished so far down in runs scored despite the power in their lineup.
Wilson, with his bat, can help solve that problem.
The Bad
The numbers from Bleday, Butler, and Rooker were very promising. However, the A’s still lacked depth, hence why the team finished in the bottom half of so many offensive categories.
Arguably the most concerning development was from Zack Gelof. Gelof posted a .840 OPS with 14 home runs and 14 stolen bases over the second half of 2024. However, the former UVA star posted just a .632 OPS in 2024 and struck out an AL-high 188 times.
Gelof is a big power guy who will overswing — regularly. He can beat up fastballs but hit lower than .200 on both breaking balls and offspeed pitches. What adjustments he’ll make over the years will be interesting to watch.
The A’s also didn’t receive major production from Max Schuemann (82 OPS+) or Abraham Toro (87 OPS+).
Depth issues were also present in the A’s rotation.
Oakland saw 13 pitchers make at least one start last season, and several yielded less-than-stellar results. Luis Medina, Joey Estes, and Alex Wood all had ERAs north of 5.00. Ross Stripling had an ERA north of 6.00, although his FIP (3.89) indicated he gave up fewer home runs and walks, and more hits. The veteran also saw his Whiff% drop almost seven percentage points, to a gnarly 16.9% Whiff%.
Then, there was Joe Boyle. Boyle, known for his power stuff, walked 40 over 47.2 IP with the A’s.
Early Projected Lineup for 2025
- C: Shea Langeliers
- 1B: Tyler Soderstrom
- 2B: Zack Gelof
- 3B: Darell Hernaiz
- SS: Jacob Wilson
- OF: Seth Brown (LF), JJ Bleday (CF), Lawrence Butler (RF)
- DH: Brent Rooker
- SP: Osvaldo Bido, JP Sears, Mitch Spence, Joey Estes, Brady Basso
- RP: Mason Miller, T.J. McFarland, Joe Boyle, Michel Otanez, Tyler Ferguson, J.T. Ginn, Hogan Harris, Grant Holman
Over the last two seasons, the A’s have accumulated key building blocks, ones who will follow the team to Sacramento and be under team control for years to come. Brent Rooker is a dream hitter from an analytics standpoint, while Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson are both young and have loud tools.
The big question going forward is how the A’s will go about things moving forward. The Athletics have hitting prospects, like Nick Kurtz and Denzel Clarke, who could be in Sacramento as early as 2025. However, their pitching pool isn’t as deep, nor do the Athletics have any big names near the Majors.
The Athletics aren’t planning on moving Mason Miller to the rotation after a great 2024 in the bullpen. Meaning, the A’s may need to get creative to piece together games in 2025.