3 questions the Athletics have yet to answer during spring training

Who will back up Shea Langeliers?

All signs seem to point to Carlos Perez earning the backup catcher role to start the year. He has the experience advantage over Kyle McCann and thanks to spending last year in Oakland, he has a level of familiarity with the pitching staff that McCann doesn't.

Whether the Athletics front office determine that to be an asset is unclear. For one thing, Perez has been atrocious at the plate during spring training. Through 14 games, he's hitting just .107/.194/.179 with an almost 26% strikeout rate.

He's neither hitting for power or contact and his primary skill set at this point seems to be veteran leadership. It's always great to have that kind of guy in the clubhouse, especially in one like the Athletics have that's filled with younger guys and role players.

Part of the problem is that McCann hasn't truly seized the role. He's been hitting a bit better than Perez, posting a .733 OPS in his 16 games, but he's striking out nearly 42% of the time. If he was doing that in Oakland, that'd be one thing. But he's doing it against a bevy of minor league pitchers in Arizona.

McCann has run high strikeout rates in the minors and has typically been able to make up for it with a little extra power. Unfortunately, a strikeout rate that high isn't going to work at the highest level. It's possible that McCann just won't be able to hit major league pitching and at that point, it doesn't matter how good his defense is.

PREDICTION: Carlos Perez earns the backup role to start the season and Kyle McCann heads back to Triple-A. Tyler Soderstrom flounders in Las Vegas and is traded at mid-season.