All of a sudden, the A's have a crowded outfield.
Oakland will have six different players battling for three starting spots next season: Stephen Piscotty, Ramón Laureano, Nick Martini, Mark Canha, Chad Pinder, and Dustin Fowler.
Piscotty and Laureano have separated themselves from the pack and are good bets to lock down right and center field. Piscotty slashed .267/.331/.491 with a career-high 27 home runs and 88 RBI, while playing a solid right field. Laureano burst onto the scene as a rookie in August, slashing .288/.358/.474 in 48 games and making several highlight reel plays defensively in center field.
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That leaves Martini, Canha, Pinder, and Fowler battling for the starting left fielder job. Martini and Canha primarily split the final month of the 2018 season, with Martini starting against right-handed pitchers and Canha starting against southpaws.
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Martini was the ultimate pleasant surprise, a 28-year-old rookie who came up from Triple-A in June and led the team with a .296 batting average and .397 on-base percentage. Martini filled an important void as Oakland's leadoff hitter the second half of the season and impressed manager Bob Melvin and company with his sophisticated approach in the batter's box.
Canha put together a productive season in limited action, slashing .249/.328/.449 with a career-high 17 home runs and 52 RBI in 365 at-bats. The 29-year-old feasted on left-handed pitching, batting .282 with 13 homers, second most in the American League.
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Pinder can play just about anywhere on a baseball diamond, but the A's infield is pretty set, leaving left field as his primary opportunity as well. Pinder, 26, slashed .258/.332/.436 with 13 home runs and 27 RBI in 298 at-bats this past season.
Fowler might be the most intriguing outfielder of the group. The 23-year-old entered 2018 as the A's third-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, but struggled in his first Major League season. Fowler slashed .224/.256/.354 with six homers and 23 RBI in 192 at-bats. He performed much better in Triple-A, however, slashing .341/.364/.520 in 55 games.
Fowler clearly has talent and great upside, and the A's are still high on him. It will be interesting to see if he can grab the starting left fielder job by the horns, the way Laureano did in center field. For now, the four-man race still looks wide open.