A's Biggest Camp Question is Already Becoming a Strength in 2026
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When last season ended, A's GM David Forst said that the team would be looking for an upgrade at second or third base. They traded for Jeff McNeil, adding a good chunk of salary to their payroll in the process, and even made a play for Nolan Arenado at third before he invoked his no-trade clause.
That left the A's to roll with internal options at the hot corner in camp, and both Darell Hernaiz and Max Muncy came into spring ready to claim that role. Each put up tremendous stats in A's camp, and Hernaiz even notched a memorable home run in the World Baseball Classic.
Muncy ended up winning the job after batting .380 with a .466 OBP, slugging five home runs and bringing in 12 RBI, and has been at the hot corner in every game for the A's thus far this season. The former first rounder has turned the only position that didn't have an answer for just a few weeks ago into one of the A's biggest strengths with his performance in the early going.
Max Muncy is turning heads early
It's still early, but in nine games, Muncy is 11-for-35 (.314) with a .333 OBP, two home runs, five RBI and eight runs scored. Until Brent Rooker's two-home run game yesterday, he and Shea Langeliers had been the only bats with multiple home runs.
Through nine games, Muncy has racked up 0.4 fWAR, which is tied for second on the team with Jeffrey Springs, behind Langeliers (0.6). His 153 wRC+ (100 is league average) is also second behind Langeliers among full-time players on the A's. Carlos Cortes (10 plate appearances) leads the way among all A's players with a 277.
Not only is Muncy one of the best bats on the A's, which if this continues just deepens their lineup, but he's also one of the best third base bats in baseball. Both his 0.4 fWAR and 153 wRC+ rank fifth among all MLB third basemen. He's also second in slugging percentage among that group with a .571, behind Seattle's Brendan Donovan (.667).
Can Muncy sustain his success?
There are a couple of signs that are a little worrisome for Muncy moving forward. One is that he has only drawn one walk so far this year, leaving him with a 2.8% walk rate, which ranks last among 29 qualified third basemen.
The other is that his BABIP sits at .429, which is the third-highest among the group, and typically suggests a little bit of luck involved in the results. That said, it's very early and there tends to be a little extra noise in those stats because there haven't been a ton of opportunities.
His Baseball Savant page has plenty of red, including bat speed (88th percentile) hard-hit% (98th) and average exit velocity (95th), but he also ranks poorly in the stats that could bring all those numbers crashing down, like chase% (18th), whiff% (7th) and strikeout% (15th).
The big difference between his advanced stats this year compared to last is that he is barelling the ball up more consistently (10.1% to 17.4%), while adding a degree to his launch angle (up to 10.3). He's actually striking out slightly more than he was a year ago (33.3%), but it's still early.
Even in the minor leagues he's never been a huge walks guy, with his highest mark in Triple-A sitting at 8.9%. That said, for the full development of Muncy, more walks may be nice to add to his arsenal when the time comes, but that is more of a long-term goal.
It's certainly encouraging that Muncy is off to such a hot start, given his limited big-league experience, and the fact that the A's have been facing so many tough pitchers of late. If he's having success now, there could be hope that he'll be able to maintain a similar level of production when facing a wider array of talent across the league.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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