Neuse has gone 6-for-19 with a 3:3 BB:K through his first eight games of Cactus League play.

EDGE Analysis

Thanks to the patient eye at the plate he's shown so far, Neuse is sitting on a .409 on-base percentage, but his OPS rests at a less impressive .725 due to all six of his hits being singles. Neuse showed at Triple-A Las Vegas in 2019 that he has more power in his bat than his spring stats suggest, but even if he increases his slugging output in the weeks to come, he won't necessarily be guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster. The Athletics are staging a wide-open battle for the second base job this spring, with Franklin Barreto, Tony Kemp, Chad Pinder and Jorge Mateo all representing candidates to replace the departed Jurickson Profar. Barreto, Mateo and Kemp are all out of minor-league options and would all likely be poached by other organizations if exposed to waivers, while Pinder has been a mainstay on the bench the past three seasons because of his defensive versatility and strong track record versus left-handed pitching. That may be enough to keep Neuse -- who has three minor-league options remaining -- off the Opening Day roster regardless of how he performs the rest of the spring.