Elephant Rumblings: Notes on Cactus League opening weekend

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

The A’s first weekend of 2025 Cactus League play is in the books with one win and one loss for our young, sort of nowhere, sort of Sacramento Athletics. Spring Training scores don’t matter, but don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t meaningful baseball. First impressions are made and final roster spots are won in these early weeks of exhibition play.

A’s fans have the highest of hopes for slugging outfielder Lawrence Butler, and Law did not disappoint on Saturday. Last year’s breakout bat led the A’s offensive charge in their 10-3 loss to the Padres with a pair of extra base hits that included a titanic 423-foot blast.

J.T. Ginn is seen by some as a dark horse candidate for the A’s Opening Day rotation. Martin Gallegos at MLB.com talked to the 25-year-old righty about the state of his development heading into Spring Training. Ginn is eager show the A’s what he can offer this year, and the A’s seem equally eager to see, having given J.T. the ball for the Cactus League opener on Saturday.

Perhaps Ginn was a bit too eager coming out the gate: the only silver lining I can see from Saturday is that he had nearly as many strikeouts (4) as runs allowed (5) in just 1 ⅔ innings. The A’s clearly see a lot of potential in Ginn and hopefully he’ll settle in and get better results next time. Check out the recap on Saturday’s game from Connor Ashford for more details.

If I were to tag just one Athletic as a survivor, it may well be Seth Brown. The A’s veteran knocked in three of the A’s four runs on Sunday. Hopefully this portends a 2025 Brownie Renaissance.

Seth’s efforts availed the A’s of a win on Sunday, thanks to a shutout performance from A’s pitching led by Jeffrey Springs, who looked sharp on the mound in his first start for the green and gold. AN’s FGPolito has the report on yesterday’s 4-0 win over the Rockies.

Up next? Surprise! That’s the name of the town where the A’s are taking on the Royals today as Spring Training continues into its first full week of preseason play. Have a terrific week, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s notch first win of the spring 4-0 over Colorado
• Extensions: They’re Not Just For Cosmetologists Anymore
• Athletics 2025 Community Prospect List: Kuroda-Grauer finally cracks the list
• Athletics Drop Spring Opener In Loss To Padres
• Athletics 2025 Community Prospect List: Daniel Susac blasts into #16 spot
• Ginn eager to show A’s what he can offer in 2025
• A’s broadcaster gets emotional Sac Hall of Fame nod
• New A’s lefty has ‘Springs’ in his step after 1st healthy offseason in 2 years

MLB News & Interest:

• 2025 MLB Draft scouting: A look at UCSB’s Tyler Bremner, other potential first-rounders ($)
• “No Traction” Between Cardinals, Astros In Nolan Arenado Talks
• Brewers Sign Mark Canha To Minor League Deal
• Rangers Sign Kevin Pillar To Minor League Deal
• Dodgers Notes: Kim, Ohtani, Miller
• After 28 years, a Chronicle fixture on MLB coverage says farewell ($)
• Yankees will no longer play Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ after losses ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Sha-boom.

Miss this guy. Happy birthday, CBass!

Law hot out the gate on Saturday.

Double trouble from Brownie and Shea on Sunday.