What Role Will Max Schuemann Have for A's in 2025?

Jason Burke | Oct 13, 2024

Sep 20, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Max Schuemann (12) flies out in the the third inning against the New York Yankees at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

For the past few seasons, Max Schuemann was always someone that stood out in the A's minor-league box scores, partially because his name is distinct, and partially becuase he was always doing something that called your attention. In 2024 the utility-man made his big-league debut and made his name known not from roaming around at different positions throughout the season, but by filling in at shortstop when the need arose.

Schuemann played in 133 games overall, and 93 of those came at short, including starting 87 over there. That is certainly not how the season was drawn up for Oakland, who started the year with Nick Allen at short, moved on to Darell Hernaiz, and eventually looked ready to hand the reigns to Jacob Wilson before the team's top prospect suffered an injury in his MLB debut.

In between all of those stints from those other three players, Schuemann was the guy holding down the position. According to the splits tool at FanGraphs, Schuemann was the A's best option offensively at shortstop, putting up a 93 wRC+ (100 is league average) while hitting .229 with a .329 OBP. He held an 85 wRC+ on the season overall.

Now, with Wilson more or less penciled in at shortstop, Schuemann will be looking for a new positional home. While there appears to be an opening at third base, Schuemann's mentality heading into the offseason hasn't changed from previous years.

"I think I'm gonna have the mentality going into the offseason just being a utility guy, kind of like I have every year," he said during the final homestand, "and just being available for wherever Kots [Mark Kotsay] decides to put me in the lineup."

As for what kinds of adjustments he'll be looking to make this winter at the plate, he's looking to cut down on his swing-and-miss and lower his strikeout rate a little bit. His whiff% sat at 28.1%, which ranked in the 29th percentile in 2024, and his strikeout rate ended up at 25.9%, which was in the 25th percentile. "If I can get that to like 20% or so, that'd be a good improvement."

There isn't a set plan in place for where his "position" will be, but it seems as though he'll be called upon wherever there is an opening the lineup. If someone goes down with an injury, Schuemann can fill basically any spot on the field, and given some of the success that he enjoyed in 2024, it'll just be a matter of becoming more consistent heading into 2025 and beyond.

"Just looking back and learning from the mistakes, and then also putting in my back pocket, like, hey, I've had good games throughout the year, so I'm definitely capable. I've had good months. Just knowing that I'm capable of doing it, it's just a matter of finding that consistency."

While his position may change from day-to-day, he's focused on consistency at the plate. If he has success with the bat, Mark Kotsay will also find a spot for him in the lineup, consistently.