Wednesday Potpourri: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Baseball is a game of perspective—the glass is always half full and half empty at the same time. For the 2026 A's, that couldn't be more true. Half full? They're still sitting alone in first place at the quarter mark of the season. Half empty? Their 21-20 record puts them on pace for just 84 wins. Let's break down the good, the bad, and the ugly from this early stretch.
The Good: Shea Langeliers is on fire
Let's start with a bright spot that deserves serious attention. Shea Langeliers isn't just the A's best hitter or the top catcher in the American League—he's making a case as one of the top two or three hitters in the entire AL so far this season. That's not hyperbole. Through the first quarter of the season, Langeliers has played in all but four games (mostly due to paternity leave) and is slashing an incredible .340/.396/.641 with 12 home runs. That's a 48-homer pace and the league lead in batting average, sitting 20 points ahead of Josh Jung.
His 183 wRC+ is elite, rivaled only by Aaron Judge (185) and Ben Rice (198). But when you factor in defensive value and position, Langeliers edges ahead in overall WAR: Rice sits at 1.9 fWAR, while Langeliers is at 2.4 fWAR. That puts him on pace for a staggering 9.6 fWAR season. If he keeps this up, he should be a no-brainer All-Star starter at catcher for the American League.
The Bad: Lawrence Butler's struggles continue
Now for the tough part. It's tempting to dismiss small sample sizes, but Lawrence Butler's struggles have become a growing concern. Since the 2025 All-Star break, Butler has simply been bad. You could attribute his second-half slump last season to a knee issue, but that excuse doesn't hold for his start to 2026.
The sample is now 96 games, and the numbers are stark. In the second half of 2025 (58 games), he hit .203/.268/.351 with a 70 wRC+. In the first half of 2026 (38 games), he's at .175/.277/.275 with a 56 wRC+. Combined, that's a sub-.200 hitter with an OBP in the low .270s and slugging in the low .300s—a wRC+ stuck in the mid-60s. For a player with his talent, this is a worrying trend that the A's need to address.
The Ugly: What's next?
As the A's navigate this season, the contrast between Langeliers' breakout and Butler's struggles highlights the team's Jekyll-and-Hyde nature. Can the pitching staff hold up? Will the offense find consistency beyond their star catcher? For now, the A's are in first place, but the margin for error is thin. Whether you're a glass-half-full or half-empty fan, one thing is clear: this team is never boring.