A's Option Ryan Noda--Who's Playing First?

Jason Burke | May 2, 2024

Apr 12, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Ryan Noda (49) reacts by / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

After a rough start to the 2024 season, the Oakland A's decided to option first baseman Ryan Noda to Triple-A following the team's win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. There was no corresponding move announced, but this is likely to clear a spot on the 26-man roster for the return of third baseman J.D. Davis, who is currently on a rehab assignment.

Noda, whom the A's selected in the Rule 5 Draft before last year, started the season 11-for-86 (.128), which includes an 0-for-28 that is still active.

Ahead of Monday's game, Noda and I had a lighthearted conversation about his Chicago Bears, who had landed a new quarterback, Caleb Williams, in the weekend's NFL Draft. I then said that I had one baseball question for him. "Let's do it." I started the question with "so the stats haven't been there this season" and he jumped in with "oh yeah, no" and had fun with it.

He said that he's trying to help the team win in ways that he's never had to do before, and that trying to stay positive through these early season struggles has been the toughest thing for him to do so far this season.

Noda spoke of when his struggles began, saying, "At first I was kind of like 'what the hell?' But I just have to keep sticking to my day-to-day business and keep going, keep grinding with the boys." With his next slew of games coming in Las Vegas, this will present an opportunity for Noda to get out of his head a little bit and hopefully reset.

As for what happens for the A's at first base with Noda in the minors, the likely answer to that question is that it'll be a bit of a timeshare situation. Abraham Toro has played at first base against left-handers the past week, and Tyler Nevin, who has been seeing more time at third base could slide across the diamond. Both figure to be in the lineup consistently, but in filling different roles on the club.

Some were a little surprised that Darell Hernaiz wasn't the one sent down, given that he, Max Schuemann, and Nick Allen have been rotating a bit, but there isn't necessarily a go-to shortstop to back up Allen (or play against right-handers) aside from Hernaiz. Allen's two starts the past week have come against southpaws. The reason people thought Hernaiz could be the one optioned is because he'd be able to play regularly with the Aviators, but he's been playing regularly in Oakland too.

Since coming back from an early-season option, Hernaiz is 5-for-21 (.238) after starting the year by hitting .103 before his demotion. He's also racked up four walks in seven games and just looks more comfortable out there.

Outside of Nevin and Toro, Seth Brown has a decent amount of experience playing first at the big league level, and Kyle McCann has tallied a number of innings at the position in the minors if the team wants to use both he and Shea Langeliers in the same lineup like they did on Wednesday.

One outside option here is that Davis isn't quite ready for his call up, and it's Tyler Soderstrom that will be called up instead. He's been hitting well over the past couple of weeks and is batting .253 with a .931 OPS in Triple-A this year. He was also hit by a pitch on Tuesday, leaving the game early, and then kept out of both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday.

Either this was a full day off after getting hit, or he was kept out to keep him healthy for his call up. The reason that a Soderstrom call-up makes sense is that it would give him a path to consistent at-bats with first base wide open, and both he and Noda are left-handed bats. If they feel that he's ready, this would be the time to give him another go.

The likely scenario is that it's Davis coming up, however.