For the A’s it’s pretty obvious who will be manning left field the majority of the time.
Khris Davis
Slugger Khris Davis will be the Oakland Athletics starting left fielder after hitting a whopping 42 home runs in 2016. That number had him tied for third in entire league tied with Brian Dozier and Edwin Encarnacion.
Had Davis been on a National League team, he would have beaten the Milwaukee Brewer’s Chris Carter for the honor of league leader by one long ball.
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Still, Davis’ power came with a low batting average (.247), an even lower on-base percentage (.307) and a high number of swing and misses (166).
Davis played in 150 games for the A’s in 2016 with 93 of them being in left field. Even the biggest slugger needs a day off from playing the field leaving him having played 53 of those games in the designated hitter’s spot.
There is also the issue of Davis not really having the world’s greatest arm as well as his 2016 fielding percentage being below the .986 league average (.970).
Now, the A’s will need a player or players to take over when Davis is resting or acting as the team’s DH for the day.
Below are some of the choices they may choose to use.
Jake Smolinski
Jake Smolinski was selected off waivers by the Athletics in June 2015 from the Texas Rangers.
He is slated to be the main backup for all three outfield positions after Davis in left, Rajai Davis in center and Matt Joyce in right field.
Smolinski played at all three positions in 2016 but spent the fewest of his 99 total games playing in left just 18 times.
He hit .238/.299/.345 with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Smolinski didn’t make in error last season while playing left but the sample size is small and he’s obviously no offensive match for Davis, but the occasional spot start in left for should be in the cards for Smolinski in 2017.
Currently, Smolinski is dealing with an injured right shoulder, however, he is slated to be ready for the start of the season.
According to CBS Sports, manager Bob Melvin has said that Smolinski will hopefully even get a few at-bats during Cactus League play this spring.
If Smolinski is not ready the A’s are still going to need a fourth outfielder and they still have a few options, if needed.
Mark Canha
Mark Canha was technically a Rule 5 draft pick of the A’s in 2015, who clearly wanted the now 28-year-old. He was taken second in the Rule 5 draft by the Colorado Rockies from the Miami Marlins but a deal for the UC Berkeley alum had already been put into place.
The A’s traded pitching prospect Austin House to the Rockies in exchange for Canha.
He played in 124 games with the big league club that season. The majority of those starts were at first base (75) but a good number (58) were in left field, so clearly he knows what he is doing out there.
Canha, who hit .254/.316/.426 with 16 home runs and 70 RBI in 2015, is a better offensive substitute for Davis than Smolinski, but a hip impingement, along with back issues kept him on the disabled list for all but 16 games of the 2016 season.
Thankfully for Oakland Canha is already looking good and healthy to start the spring, homering Monday as the A’s defeated the Giants by the score of 5-4.
Matt Olson
First base-turned-outfield prospect Matt Olson is a fourth but unlikely candidate for the A’s in left field.
With both Smolinski and Canha likely to be ready to start the season, Olson should start the season at Triple-A Nashville.
Next: A 2017 Oakland A's bullpen preview
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