Jeff

McNeil

McNeil, who is 1-for-19 with thres GIDPs in his last six games, played against Carlos Rodón last night, but he’s sitting against fellow lefty Ryan Weathers tonight. Alika Williams is playing second base in his place.

Rob Refnsyder hit a three-run homer immediately after McNeil’s error with two outs in the first. McNeil is in a 10-for-61 slump that has dropped his average from .309 to .257 and his OPS from .780 to .673. If he can’t do any better than this, there’s the chance he could lose some playing time after Max Muncy and Jacob Wilson return.

McNeil was just happy to be in the lineup against Parker Messick, as he started against a lefty for only the fourth time this season. He’s batting .314/.379/.422 on the season, and he’ll probably keep getting more chances against lefties with Max Muncy out.

McNeil led off the second inning with a single, then took Luis Castillo deep for a solo homer in the fourth. The 34-year-old second baseman gets on the board with his first home run of the season while hitting a solid .278/.361/.389 with seven runs scored and five RBI across 83 plate appearances.

Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil each led off for the Athletics over their last four games. The surface-level stats remain underwhelming, but Kurtz has recorded an elite 98.7 mph average exit velocity and 17.9 percent barrel rate this season, per Statcast. It feels like only a matter of time before the reigning AL Rookie of the Year gets things going after hitting .225/.421/.352 with two homers, nine RBI and two steals through 21 games.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay decided to shake up his lineup card on Thursday by moving McNeil to the top of the order with Nick Kurtz hitting third behind red-hot Shea Langeliers. The 34-year-old veteran has gone 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles during that span and is probably going to continue leading off against right-handed starters with Lawrence Butler going to the bottom of the order.

The 103.8-mph double was his first extra-base knock, but McNeil has hit in five straight games after opening the season 1-for-13. The A’s have sat him all three times they’ve faced lefties and they’re hitting him eighth when he does play, so there’s no fantasy value here right now. Still, he might have a stretch or two this summer when he’s viable, in part thanks to his big ballpark upgrade from Citi Field to Sutter Health.

It’s technically McNeil’s first homer of the spring, since the one he hit against Nicaragua last week doesn’t count. He’s batting .368/.478/.579 in his 23 official plate appearances. It’s too bad for McNeil that the A’s like their power hitters at or near the top of the lineup, so he will probably hit sixth initially.

McNeil lifted a Bo Takahashi pitched 401 feet out to right field. He was hitting second in the exhibition today, but it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll bat any higher than sixth at the beginning of the regular season. He still could offer value in deeper mixed leagues while getting a boost from the switch from Citi Field to Sutter Health Park.

McNeil laced a one-out double into the right field corner off of Cal Quantrill in the opening inning that extended the A’s early advantage to 2-0. He also drew a walk and lined out to second base in the ballgame, finishing the afternoon 1-for-2. McNeil batted fifth once again for the A’s in this one and that could be the regular spot that he’s featured in to start the season, increasing his upside for counting stats.