Athletics don't have an MLB home but do have the most surprising record in baseball

No one is quite sure what to call MLB's Athletics.

They aren't in Oakland anymore. They don't want to be called Sacramento, their current home base. And they aren't yet in their hoped-for future home of Las Vegas.

But what's less ambiguous is this fact: The Athletics are the most surprisingly good team in baseball.

They just came back to beat the Yankees with a late barrage on Saturday in a victory that eventually went down as 11-7 on the scoreboard.

With the win, the Athletics improved to 21-19, just 2.5 games back of the AL West Division lead.

This is a team that went 69-93 in 2024.

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The Athletics are in this position in large part because of their bats. They rank seventh in MLB in home runs and third in hits.

Their batting average is fifth, and their slugging percentage is sixth.

That has helped the nameless A's overcome a 4.64 ERA that ranks 25th in baseball.

This is a group that has big home run seasons already from Brent Rooker (10), Tyler Soderstrom (9) and Shea Langeliers (8).

They've got rising stars in right fielder Lawrence Butler (6 HR, 6 SB) and shortstop Jacob Wilson (2nd in MLB with 54 hits).

They have an ace closer in Mason Miller and a veteran starting leader in Luis Severino.

Can they keep this up? That's about as uncertain as what to call the Athletics locationally.

But as long as they're playing like this, they'll keep raising the question of what to call them. The A's will be happy to be in the public consciousness for positive reasons for once.

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