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Major League Baseball is returning to your TV set this week. The A’s and Giants are playing two exhibition games on Monday and Tuesday, and then Oakland has Opening Day of its 2020 regular season on Friday against the Angels. This is not a drill. (Well, technically the Giants games are drills, since they’re just practice. But they’re really on your TV, and here’s how to watch.)
To help Athletics Nation get hyped for tonight’s long-awaited live baseball action, here are some dinger videos!
Since teams haven’t been able to play each other during the preseason as they would in a normal spring training, their Summer Camp workouts have included intrasquad games against their own teammates. The A’s have posted some highlights from these scrimmages, so of course, there will be homers.
We can almost go through a full lineup with these video clips. There’s nothing from the catchers, which is too bad since they have tons of power themselves, but there are enough to fill all the other positions. A couple of these aren’t quite homers, but six of the eight are.
1B: Matt Olson
He hit 36 homers last year in only 127 games. One day we’ll see Peak Olson play a full season.
Turns out that even your cutouts love to see an Oly #CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/y5RclMmVfO
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 16, 2020
2B: Franklin Barreto
Can he finally secure an MLB job this summer? If so, his power will be one reason.
We're hitting home runs in the Coliseum so *now* it's officially summer #CampColiseum
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 11, 2020
@barreto0227 pic.twitter.com/Hn6ySBy2NO
SS: Marcus Semien
This one’s only a double, but that’s all you need from your MVP-caliber leadoff hitter. And anyway, we know Marcus can go yard too, with 33 last year.
Mashing our way closer to the season #CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/0NPFJnJwDI
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 16, 2020
3B: Matt Chapman
If only his last name was Blatinumglove, we could make a cool rhyming nickname for that too.
We tried to tell you that Bat Chapman is ACTIVATED #CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/OTwISmWZHF
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 18, 2020
LF: Chad Pinder
What position will he play, with Robbie Grossman and Stephen Piscotty also in the outfield mix? We’ll just call him lefty-masher for now.
A little #PinderPower for your Saturday night #CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/chnIMRnsFX
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 12, 2020
CF: Mark Canha
Imagine this one with a huge bat flip and a sad Giants or Angels pitcher on the mound.
.@outtadapakmark's saving the bat flips for next week, but walks it off to end another day at #CampColiseum! pic.twitter.com/Z2qVmuGoqW
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 19, 2020
RF: Ramon Laureano
Yeah that’s right, I have Canha in center and Ramon in right. That’s how things should be. Don’t @ me.
Here’s Laser hitting a mere single (he’s saving the dingers for Friday against Andrew Heaney), but it’s in slo-mo so it’s extra cool.
Go Ra-món, it’s ya birthday
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 16, 2020
Get hits in slomo for ya birthday!#CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/qDlJBFowjz
DH: Skye Bolt
In real life, Khris Davis would be in this spot, but there aren’t any game videos of him yet even though everyone says his swing is back. And if Bolt were really playing, he’d probably be in the outfield for defense, with someone else taking a half-day off at DH. But let’s not overthink this. Dingers!
Oakland's sky: Clear
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 19, 2020
Oakland's Skye: ⚡️#CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/Et5Eol8iwS
Try not to think about the fact that these homers were all hit off of A’s pitchers. How can you blame them, against this powerhouse lineup? The good news is the staff won’t have to face their teammates in real games. For now, just enjoy the crack of the bat and get excited for tonight.