Stephen Piscotty would not have started the regular season as previously scheduled. The A’s outfielder was dealing with an intercostal strain and the frustration of another injury setback.
He never even took an at-bat last spring, a major disappointment for someone trying to get right after a down year in 2019 due to knee and ankle issues that limited him to just 91 games.
Then baseball hit pause in deference to the coronavirus pandemic, and the months-long shutdown gave Piscotty time to rest and recuperate. He reported to A’s training camp in full health, a good sign for the Green and Gold.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
When Piscotty’s healthy, he can mash and defend and be a valuable contributor to a stacked group of position players. He showed great signs of that during Monday night’s exhibition loss to the Giants, launching a home run to left-center before making a tough catch look easy in right field.
Piscotty has been locked in during intrasquad games and seems poised to enter the regular season in top form. We last saw that in 2018, when he slashed .267/.331/.491 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI.
“He looks like a different guy,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “If anybody benefited from the time off it was Stephen. He had been struggling to get healthy for quite a while now and wasn’t going to be ready for the season (coming out of spring training). Now he looks like he did a couple of years ago. He’s using his legs like he normally does. He’s hitting the opposite way and pulling it well. The time away was great for him and he looks like the player he was a couple of years ago.”
Getting that version of Piscotty would make the A’s lineup super dangerous. Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Marcus Semien are as steady as they come atop the order. Khris Davis is feeling better after dealing with hip issues in 2019 and could be a power source in the cleanup spot.
Athletics
Find the latest Athletics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
[RELATED: Projecting A's roster as Opening Day nears]
Adding Piscotty’s pop in the lineup’s lower half could mean the A’s don’t have a discernible weakness in the first six spots. That makes life hard on pitchers and could ensure the A’s remain productive even if one of their top hitters goes on a slump.
Piscotty is pretty darn good when he’s locked in. Right now, his timing is on and he’s seeing the ball well. That’s a great sign for the A’s in his shortened 60-game season where every contest weighs heavy.
“The consistency is what has been really encouraging for me,” Piscotty said Monday night. “Being able to put the barrel on the ball day after day is key, whether you’re getting a hit or not. Hard contact is important. I feel like I’m seeing the ball well and I’m going to try to keep that going. Baseball’s a game of adjustments and I’ll have to keep working and pushing. Hopefully, it will continue to go well, but I like where I’m at right now.”
They could have a true murderer’s row that’s tough to handle every night, regardless of who they see. The A’s have six players in the regular starting lineup who hit at least 23 home runs. Piscotty returning to 2018 form and health would make it seven. That’s hard to handle, even for an ace.