Following Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Braves, A’s manager Mark Kotsay was asked if there were any adjustments that he’d be making to the lineup, even though it’s still plenty early in the season. The A’s skipper said that it’s four games into the season and that they’re not going to hit the panic button.
On Tuesday with a left-hander on the mound for Atlanta, there was one glaring adjustment that was made to the A’s lineup, and it may have won the team their first game of 2026.
Sitting at the top of the lineup for the first time this season was shortstop Jacob Wilson, a contact-oriented bat that had success leading off last season, going 25-for-80 (.313) in 20 games there in 2025. Last night he ended up going 2-for-4 with a key hit in the top of the second inning.
With the bases loaded and two away, the score was tied 1-1, and Wilson had a chance to do some real damage. The first pitch he saw was a changeup down in the zone that he roped into left field and then bounced over the fence for a double. This scored two more for the A’s, and they never looked back, though Atlanta would threaten a couple of times.
Kotsay told reporters before the game that Wilson sitting at the top of the lineup was more matchup-based with the lefty on the mound, and putting him up there certainly worked out for the A’s on Tuesday. He was followed by Shea Langeliers, who hit his fourth home run in five games, and then a struggling Nick Kurtz, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Kurtz had been the one in the leadoff spot in three of the previous four games, and if he’d been there again on Tuesday night, the A’s may not have pulled off their first win of the season. With another lefty on the mound for Atlanta tomorrow, we’ll have to see if the top of the lineup holds.
A less obvious key move