After Year of Home Struggles, A's Set to Take Advantage of Sutter Health Park

The A's began the year poorly at home, but turned things around as the season went along

Sep 21, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker (25) hits a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

In the A's first-ever home game in Sacramento, they were absolutely walloped by the visiting Chicago Cubs, 18-3. Things didn't get a whole lot better for them for the first couple of months either, as they went 6-9 at Sutter Health in March and April, 3-10 during a disastrous May, and then 6-8 in June.

Jeffrey Springs admitted later in the year that he and some of his teammates needed to come up with ways to get the rush of playing in a big-league park, despite their minor-league home, saying it's hard to replicate that feeling when there are noticeably fewer decks. Luis Severino was plenty outspoken all season about his own thoughts on the team's facilities.

After the club snapped out of their 1-20 stretch from May and June, they began to play better ball overall, even at home. From July through September, the club went 21-18 in Sacramento—a huge improvement from their 15-27 mark from the first three months of the season. They finished 36-45 overall, while holding a 40-41 record on the road.

Heading into 2026, there is some reason to believe that those early-season struggles from a year ago may not follow them into the new season.

Brent Rooker on team's early season struggles

On Foul Territory this week, A's slugger Brent Rooker gave his reasoning for why the A's should be able to avoid those early struggles.

"I think [those struggles] had a lot to do with inexperience and having so many young guys. So I mean, theoretically, we should have some more guys with some full seasons under their belts, and so we shouldn't have that same learning curve that we've had the past few years.

"If we can match the second half we've had the past two years, and do that in the first half and the second half this year, then we're going to be in a good spot."

The A's had the third-youngest group of bats in the big leagues last year at an average age of 26.1, sitting behind just the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. On the pitcher side of things, the A's were a touch older thanks to Severino, Springs, and some bullpen options, but they still came out with an average of 28.6. That was the 11th-youngest group in MLB.

Now, with a number of positions locked down, like Nick Kurtz at first, Jacob Wilson at short, and Tyler Soderstrom in left among others, the A's have plenty of youthful options that also have experience under their belts.

The other part of this equation is that baseball players are creatures of habit. Last season was a completely new experience for every single player that came through the A's clubhouse since there had never been a big-league team in Sacramento. Choosing where to live over the course of the season, where to eat, where to go out—all of that had to be figured out. There was no road map.

Now, heading into 2026, nearly every player on the roster has some sort of a routine in the area. They know where to go for certain things and how to fill their days before coming to the park. They know how to get ready to play big-league games in a minor-league park.

The A's will be ready to go when the season begins.