Five Athletics players to watch during promising 2025 season

The Athletics enter a promising 2025 MLB season with a secure core of stars ready to prove their worth, and several prospects eager to accumulate service time.

A year ago, then-rookies such as outfielder Lawrence Butler and closer Mason Miller were up-and-coming players to follow, as the pair weren’t yet big names. Nowadays, that’s old news -- and there are other players fans will need to familiarize themselves with.

Here are five Athletics players to watch before the Green and Gold begin their inaugural season in West Sacramento.

Luis Severino

Severino is expected to be a guy in the rotation for the foreseeable future.

In MLB free agency, the right-handed ace signed an Athletics franchise-record three-year contract worth up to $67 million -- a deal that aligns with the team’s move to Las Vegas in 2028 -- and will start Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.

Severino, 30, is a nine-year veteran with a 3.81 ERA over 172 games (156 starts) and, though more of a reserved person, is expected to be a leader in the Northern California clubhouse where the average age was 26.8 a season ago.

“If they need me, I’m going to be that leader,” Severino said during his introductory press conference on Dec. 6. “I mean, I’m not going to be bossing guys around. I’m just going to let my talent talk. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to compete, help out. If they need me, I’m going to be out there for anything they need.”

Severino also has formidable MLB playoff experience with a 4.62 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 14 career games. His latest October outing was a three-hit bid against the future champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the 2024 NLCS. Remember, the Athletics haven’t reached the postseason since the coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign.

Jacob Wilson

The 22-year-old shortstop is the franchise’s top prospect and should develop profoundly over a 162-game schedule.

Selected No. 6 overall by the Athletics in the 2023 MLB Draft, Wilson reached the majors rather quickly toward the end of 2024 and slashed .250/.314/.315 over 28 big-league games with 23 hits and three RBI.

“From the start … I think it’s been a phenomenal journey,” Wilson told NBC Sports California on Sep. 26 before the franchise’s second-to-last game at Oakland Coliseum. “I’ve enjoyed every step of the way. I just want to come back each year stronger and better and do whatever it takes to help this team and organization win games.”

Wilson put on 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, according to MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos, and followed his limited big-league experience with a strong spring. Over 19 games, he slashed .308/.321/.558 with 16 hits, 13 RBI and four home runs across 53 plate appearances.

Fourth-year manager Mark Kotsay likely will use Wilson as an everyday player, clearing the way for the rookie to stack major-league repetitions.

José Leclerc

A candidate to be MLB All-Star closer Mason Miller’s set-up man, Leclerc is a 31-year-old right-handed reliever looking to bounce back from a lackluster 2024 season – for his standards – in which he posted a 4.32 ERA across 66 2/3 innings in 64 games.

Leclerc signed a one-year, $10 million free-agent contract with the Athletics after spending his first eight MLB seasons with the Texas Rangers, where he won the 2023 World Series. Leclerc posted a 12-20 record with a 3.27 ERA, 473 strikeouts and 41 saves over 360 1/3 innings as a Ranger.

“I think any time you can add experience, you can add guys that have a track record or the back of a baseball card, it helps in depth, right?” Kotsay said about the Athletics’ older offseason additions like Leclerc and Severino on Feb. 12.

Leclerc transitioned from closer to set-up man in 2024. Despite his ERA, Leclerc carried an attractive 3.48 FIP and pitched more than one inning in 26.6 percent (17 of 64) games last season.

He has a sturdy six-pitch repertoire led by his four-seam fastball and cutter, and last season finished in the 96th percentile for both his 36.0-percent whiff rate and his 30.7-percent hard-hit rate. 

The Athletics hope Leclerc’s spring, in which he surrendered a 6.23 ERA and six earned runs over just 8 2/3 innings, won’t matter in the long run.

Joey Estes

The 23-year-old righty recently was named the Athletics’ fifth and final member of the starting rotation, joining Severino, JP Sears, Osvaldo Bido and offseason acquisition Jeffrey Springs..

Estes earned the spot ahead of Mitch Spence after carrying a 4.63 spring training ERA through March 19. 

Behind a four-pitch arsenal dominated by his four-seamer, Estes finished the 2024 season with a 5.01 ERA over 127 2/3 innings in 25 games (24 starts). He ended this spring by allowing eight earned runs over five innings, but like Leclerc, the shaky outing doesn’t define what the future can have in store.

Kotsay and the Athletics will heavily monitor that fifth rotational spot throughout the season. After all, the Green and Gold’s 2024 team ERA of 4.37 was the sixth-worst in baseball, and its 5.48 mark in 2023 was the second-worst.

Estes truly can make a name for himself by being a competent starter. Kotsay is just two seasons removed from tying an MLB record for starting pitchers used with 24.

Max Muncy

The infielder might just be one of the more fun players to remember across MLB throughout the 2025 campaign.

Besides sharing the same name, Aug. 25 birthday and professional beginnings as the star Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman, Muncy is the Athletics’ seventh-ranked prospect and made the Opening Day roster, to his surprise.

“It was surreal,” Muncy said about Kotsay informing him on Sunday (h/t Gallegos). “A little unexpected. I thought I was getting sent down. But he was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to have you out in Seattle.’ I just couldn’t be more excited.”

Muncy, a non-roster spring training invitee, was selected No. 21 overall by the Athletics in the 2021 draft out of Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California. He earned his big-league chance by slashing .282/.383/.385 over 24 games this spring with 11 hits, seven RBI and six walks across 47 plate appearances. 

Muncy's long-term role is unknown, but the fact that he made the roster is tremendously encouraging for his future and the Athletics’ scouting department.