Is Max Muncy Emerging as the Favorite at Third Base?

Feb 20, 2026; Mesa, AZ, USA; Athletics third baseman Max Muncy (3) poses for Photo Day at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

There’s not a lot up in the air for the Athletics lineup this coming season, making one of the biggest question marks throughout Spring Training center around third base.

Max Muncy has received quite a few starts for the A’s at third base early in camp, making him appear to be the early frontrunner, but there’s a lot of competition at the position which could make it a difficult decision. Muncy’s bat has been great so far this spring.

He’s 4-for-12 (.333) with two walks and two strikeouts, and he launched a deep home run just days ago that left the bat at 109.8 miles per hour.

With that being said, Muncy's glove left quite a bit to be desired last season. In 32 games at third base, he had six errors which brought his fielding percentage down to .918 which was a full five percent below the league average for third basemen. By the advanced stats, he had a 0 defensive runs save (league average), and a -2 outs above average in just over 250 innings at the hot corner.

Of course, that’s not a large sample size in the grand scheme of things, but he was much better defensively during his time at second base and shortstop. Regardless of position though, his glove certainly isn’t one of his strongest assets at this point, though he certainly has the tools to be able to learn how to be an effective fielder at third.

Muncy has mainly been splitting time with Andy Ibáñez, whom the A’s claimed off of waivers from the Dodgers on February 6. Ibáñez’s offensive upside is certainly lower than Muncy's, though he has been able to carve out a role against left-handed pitchers in his career. Muncy has the highest upside of anyone in the third base competition, however.

Muncy has shown promise in the minor leagues, and at just 23 years of age, there’s a lot of hope in the organization that he’ll take a massive step up in the near future as a former first round draft pick. 

Ibáñez can play pretty much every position defensively and is an above-average fielder with limited offensive output. Last season, he batted .239 overall with the Detroit Tigers, but hit .258 against southpaws with a .311 OBP and was roughly league average with the bat. That would be a big upgrade for the A's over last season, so he builds in a little bit of a floor for production at the position.

Darell Hernaiz has also been given a few chances at third base this spring, however they’ve mainly been testing him out as a middle infielder with an occasional run at third. Hernaiz has a more reliable bat than Ibáñez overall, and a more reliable glove than Muncy, but doesn’t stand out in any particular way.

He’s a league average defender at third base, but last season he carried a batting average of .231. With that being said, his bat has come alive so far in Spring Training as he’s currently batting .455 with three doubles and two walks. He’s certainly making it hard to ignore him so far.

Coming into this spring, Hernaiz had a total of four extra-base hits in spring games in his career (93 at-bats). This year, in 11 at-bats, he has three. As we wrote back in January, keep an eye on Hernaiz and driving the ball more, because that could end up being what lands him a spot on the roster.

Brett Harris is another option for the third base job, as he brings a reliable glove while also bringing some offense to the table. He's also the only natural third baseman of the mix.

He did struggle mightily in his rookie season, batting .146 in 36 games during the 2024 season, but last year he took a major step forward in that regard, increasing his batting average to .274 in 32 games while only making one error during his time at third base. The sample sizes haven't been huge, so it's tough to tell what the A's would be getting from him with the bat.

It seems like the A’s are giving Muncy every chance to contend for the starting third base job this spring, and he’s doing well with the opportunity. His bat has the ability to become a difference-maker at the MLB level, which would help lengthen an already solid A's offense.

With that being said, it seems like the organization isn’t willing to ignore the risk associated with his glove at this stage, especially since his hitting wasn’t up to standard last season. At this point, it appears that the third base job is Muncy’s to lose.

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