Mark Kotsay Singles Out Player to Watch in A's Camp, Projecting a Breakout Season

The A's will begin their spring schedule on Saturday in Glendale taking on the Chicago White Sox, and the most contested position battle in camp is going to be at third base for the green and gold. We have run down projections for all three candidates, mentioned how the WBC could impact the ultimate decision and also made the case for certain players based on what has been said in camp.

Tomorrow, it will be time to finally get a glimpse of how each player (Max Muncy, Darell Hernaiz and Brett Harris) is looking in 2026.

When Foul Territory was in A's camp this week, they talked to manager Mark Kotsay about a number of topics, but the final question of the interview is what stood out. They asked him which player that they haven't talked about is the one that Kotsay has his eyes on.

Who Mark Kotsay has his eyes on

"Max Muncy. Max Muncy is a talented young player. We drafted him, he was a high school draft pick. He's got electric pop. For us, as a team, we're still looking to solidify that third base spot. This kid's got that chance to have an impact here.

"Projections, in some sense, we're hopeful that he has a Tyler Soderstrom type of projection, where Sodey scuffled a little bit, and then had a decent year, and then it was this last year that he finally put it all together. That's what we're hoping for from Max."

While this isn't quite an endorsement that Muncy will be the team's third baseman, it's certainly one heck of a statement. We have said all offseason that Muncy has the highest ceiling of the group at third, and would likely be the frontrunner for the job, but that he hadn't quite separated himself from the pack just yet. Kotsay believes this is the year he does that.

It's also worth noting that this is a similar tactic to the one that Kotsay deployed late in camp last season, asking Muncy to "leave an impression" on them before the end of the spring. Muncy's game picked up at that point, and after Zack Gelof's injury late in camp, Muncy was able to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Comparing Muncy's path with Soderstrom's

Tyler Soderstrom was called up to the A's roster back in 2023, alongside Zack Gelof. His counterpart immediately took off, and looked to be the face of the franchise moving forward. Soderstrom ended up hitting .160 with a .232 OBP and a 34 wRC+ in his initial 45 games.

Soderstrom began the 2024 campaign back in Triple-A, but when he was back in Oakland for 61 games, he ended up dropping his strikeout rate by about six percent, down to 24.9%, and held a 114 wRC+. He batted .233 with a .315 OBP and hit nine home runs in that span.

Last year Soderstrom got off to an incredibly hot start, matching his career-high home run total of nine by the end of April. He was then asked to relocate to left field, where he became a Gold Glove finalist by the end of the season, all while batting .276 with a .346 on-base and a 125 wRC+. He's expected to be a stable force in the A's lineup for years to come.

Muncy made his big-league debut last season, getting into 63 total games while getting time at second, third and his natural shortstop. He ended up hitting .214 with a .259 OBP and a 72 wRC+, so some of the results were better in a slightly larger sample size, but he also walked just 4.5% of the time, which ranked among the worst rates in baseball.

Muncy was also whiffing at a high clip (32.6%) and chasing (31.2%) a fair amount. Turning those around, along with drawing some walks, will be the keys to him taking that step forward that his manager has envisioned.