A's Opening Day Roster Projection, Starting Lineup and Pitchers Prediction
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The A's will have pitchers and catchers reporting on Wednesday, and the club will be playing in their first spring game against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, February 21, which means that the 2026 MLB season is closer than we think.
Of course, in between the start of spring games and the regular season there will also be the World Baseball Classic, which will have 12 A's players competing for their countries this year. One of those players could have their participation in the WBC also hurt their chances to make the A's Opening Day roster.
We have talked all winter about which players will be fighting for a spot on the initial 26-man roster, and which upgrades the team needs to make, but now we have a pretty good idea of where the club stands roster-wise. So let's see if we can put together the club's 26-man roster for Opening Day, along with lineups and the starting rotation.
Note: This was written before the A's signed Aaron Civale, so he is not included in the roster projection, though we did leave a caveat for just such an occasion down below. Civale will be placed on the roster in our updated projection next week.
Projecting the A's 2026 Opening Day roster
With the A's having gone through a rebuild the last few years, this could be the season that we see them finally return to the postseason for the first time since 2020. Part of the reason for that is that we know a decent amount of the starters for the club around the diamond, and they have some legitimate bats that will cause headaches around the league.
Catcher: Shea Langeliers (1), Austin Wynns (2)
First base: Nick Kurtz (3)
Second base: Jeff McNeil (4)
Third base: Max Muncy (5), Andy Ibáñez (6)
Shortstop: Jacob Wilson (7)
Left field: Tyler Soderstrom (8)
Center field: Denzel Clarke (9)
Right field: Lawrence Butler (10)
Designated hitter: Brent Rooker (11)
Bench: Wynns, Ibáñez, OF Colby Thomas (12) and OF Carlos Cortes (13)
A decent amount of these guys are sure things if they stay healthy in camp, but there could be some wiggle room in a couple of spots, too. First off, we're projecting Max Muncy to be the starting third baseman to begin the season based off of his ceiling being the highest in the group. Of course, we also laid out how Darell Hernaiz could also make that job his own this spring, too.
While it appears as though Wynns is the favorite to back up Langeliers this season, the A's have also brought in three different backstops on minor-league deals, and all three have non-roster invites to camp. That would seem to suggest that the A's are open to rolling with the hot hand to begin the year, whether it be Wynns, Bryan Lavastida, Chad Wallach or Brian Serven.
Thomas seems like a great fit to serve as a platoon option with Butler in right field, as he is better against left-handed pitching, while Butler excelled against righties.
Cortes gets the nod for the final bench spot primarily because he was terrific as a pinch-hitter in 2025 and also provides another left-handed bat off the bench. There could be room for non-roster invitee Cade Marlowe to sneak into that role as well.
This construction would seem to provide coverage for the club in case of injury, providing little boosts (Thomas, Cortes) to the roster, while mostly relying on the big horses to propel the offense forward on a day-to-day basis.
A's starting rotation projection
The first four names are the ones we've had circled since last season ended, but that fifth starter role could go to any number of options. Here is our pick.
Luis Severino (14)
Jeffrey Springs (15)
Luis Morales (16)
Jacob Lopez (17)
J.T. Ginn (18)
We have Ginn starting the season as the fifth starter, mostly because he has the highest floor of the options available. The 26-year-old has a solid slider that had an expected batting average of .202 and a whiff rate of 38.3%. He also had a ground ball rate of 52.3%, which ranked in the 89th percentile across the league.
While Ginn finished with a 5.08 ERA and a 4.62 FIP, his expected ERA sat at 3.74, and his xFIP was just 3.52. He was pitching better than the results would indicate, which will earn him a long look this spring.
Part of the reason for that would be the .312 BABIP he held last season, while he was also giving up quite a few home runs. In 90 1/3 innings he surrendered 17 bombs, good for a 21.5% HR/FB rate.
Of course, the A's could also make a late signing of a veteran pitcher to add to the rotation, which would knock Ginn out of the race entirely. That said, it seems like there is more there with Ginn, and the A's are typically a team that will provide chances to guys that have something left in the tank. Ginn looks to be that guy.
A's new look bullpen
The biggest question for the A's in the bullpen will be who's pitching the ninth. After they traded away Mason Miller, they elected to go with a closer by committee, and it was lefty Hogan Harris that led the way with four saves over the final two months. The bullpen also held a 2.99 ERA after the Miller deal, ranking them second in MLB in relief pitcher ERA from August 1 onward.
This year, they'll be without Sean Newcomb, who has signed on with the Chicago White Sox, but they have a number of returning arms and not enough room for everybody after three additions to the mix.
Closer option one: Hogan Harris (19)
Closer option two: Scott Barlow (20)
Closer option three: Mark Leiter Jr. (21)
Middle relief: Elvis Alvarado (22)
Middle relief: Justin Sterner (23)
Middle relief: Michael Kelly (24)
Middle relief: Tyler Ferguson (25)
Long relief: Luis Medina (26)
Since Harris had the most saves down the stretch last season, we have him as the main returning option in the ninth. Manager Mark Kotsay likes his demeanor on the mound, which is to attack each hitter, no matter the situation. Leiter has nine career saves, and was the leader in the clubhouse until the reported signing of Scott Barlow, who has 59 on his ledger.
This bullpen is an area where there could be some fluctuations as well. The last middle relief spot went to Tyler Ferguson here, mainly because he has been with the club for a couple of years and has done a good job of limiting hard contact. That said, his strikeout rate dipped in 2025 and he was walking 13.8% of the batters he faced. He may need a strong spring to hold onto a roster spot.
That is why left-hander Brady Basso could be the guy to take over that spot. The reason is fairly simple here. Basso has had a hard time staying healthy, and a move to the bullpen may be necessary at this point. Plus, he would give Kotsay a second left-handed option to work with in relief, much like he had with both Harris and Newcomb a year ago.
Having that extra lefty available could be key to unlocking the best version of the bullpen.
We also have Luis Medina here as the long reliever, though his role could also just be a middle relief arm, with Basso taking on more of a long relief role. Medina is out of options and coming off of Tommy John, which is why he's in the bullpen for us right now.
It's unlikely that he'll be able to rack up enough innings to be a starter this season, so he can both stay on the roster, contribute, and build up his arm in the bullpen in 2026.
The one other pitcher we wanted to include but didn't is Jack Perkins, who is an electric arm for the A's. He made his debut last season pitching both in relief and getting four starts before an injury ended his season. He combined for a 4.19 ERA (4.12 FIP) while having some of the best stuff on the staff.
Perkins could easily turn out to be the closer to begin the season, but the front office has previously said that they would prefer to have him as a starting pitcher where he's more valuable if they can keep him there. Leaving him in the minors to start the season is our way of keeping him out of the bullpen—for now.
Opening Day lineup prediction
We saw some interesting lineup configurations over the course of the season in 2026, with both Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz hitting first and second a decent amount when they were red-hot.
The A's will be starting their season in Toronto on Friday, March 27, and all of their projected starting pitchers are right-handers, which takes out some of the guesswork as to which players will be in the A's lineup. The trick will be putting them in order.
Batting first: (L)Jeff McNeil, second base
Batting second: (R) Shea Langeliers, catcher
Batting third: (L) Nick Kurtz, first base
Batting fourth: (R) Brent Rooker, DH
Batting fifth: (L) Tyler Soderstrom, left field
Batting sixth: (R) Jacob Wilson, shortstop
Batting seventh: (L) Lawrence Butler, right field
Batting eighth: (R) Max Muncy, third base
Batting ninth: (R) Denzel Clarke, center field
To start off the season, we like the idea of having McNeil in the leadoff spot because he's a veteran and he gets on base. It also doesn't hurt that the A's would line up four big sluggers right behind him that can drive him in with one swing of the bat. Also, slotting McNeil first allows the A's a nice flow with the left-right combination as well as the types of hitters you'd want in those spots in the order.
Then you have Wilson down in the sixth spot, where his contact-oriented approach could cause trouble for pitchers if there is already traffic on the bases. Butler, Muncy and Clarke are all wild cards at this point, but each has shown tremendous offensive potential at times. Heck, Butler was one of the best hitters in baseball in the second half of 2024.
The Opening Day nod will most likely go to Luis Severino, and it would make plenty of sense to give him the ball for this game. Like McNeil, he's a veteran, but he also seems to thrive in higher pressure situations. Facing off against a team that just played in the World Series seems like a good place to start.
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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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