Kotsay praises ‘confident’ García for recent production originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
After the Athletics’ offense exploded on Tuesday, Oakland’s bats were tamed in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
First baseman Dermis García got the A’s off on the right foot with a solo home run off Nationals’ starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez. Furthermore, the solo shot marked the second straight game that García has homered for the A’s.
García has appeared regularly in the A’s lineup since Aug. 26 and has five hits in his last four games, including two home runs and six RBI. The 24-year-old is taking advantage of the playing time in the final stretch of the 2022 MLB season and showcasing that he could be key to Oakland’s future heading into 2023.
“Demis has done a nice job in his return,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters postgame.
“But there’s a battle’s approach, and we’re seeing some success right now, and I think we’re seeing a little bit more of a confident player, which is great, and we’ll continue to give him as much opportunity as we can to evaluate them.”
On the mound, James Kaprielian went 5 2/3 innings for Oakland, and for Kotsay, it was a step in the right direction.
Despite the loss, the A’s skipper praised the 28-year-old’s outing while also being critical of the defense behind Kaprielian, since the miscues behind the Oakland starter would have helped prevent the four-run fifth inning.
“Overall, I think he did well for four innings, and in that fifth, really, the lead-off walk to Abrams really comes and comes back to hurt him and the defense,” Kotsay added. “As we talk about out, when we play clean, we give ourselves the best chance to win baseball games.
“And tonight, we made some mistakes defensively, that inning that also hurt us. Bride’s ball and the tag at third with Neuse, those things, those plays are made it could be a different outing, could be looking at maybe a one run as opposed to the four that they got.”
Kotsay and Co. will attempt to put the loss behind them and aim for a series win on Thursday before they move on to face the Baltimore Orioles this weekend.
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