The Athletics are about to kick off their second Spring Training season while “on loan” to West Sacramento. But the feeling leading up to 2026 is different from last year — when everything was just experimentation, adaptation, and waiting. This time, the Athletics are hoping to return to the playoff race. And that makes Spring Training more intense than ever.
Official practice sessions with pitchers and catchers begin Wednesday, before the entire team convenes on February 16th at Hohokam Stadium, Mesa. On the surface, the schedule is unremarkable. But beneath the surface, an organization is quietly tightening every detail.
The presence of the World Baseball Classic adds another layer of pressure. A group of Athletics players — including Luis Severino — will report earlier, with schedules divided between international responsibilities and season preparation. It’s both an honor and a test of managing workload in a context where the Athletics have little room for error.
Hohokam Stadium and Lew Wolff Training Complex continue to serve as training centers. Fans can watch practice sessions open from around 9 a.m. — a small detail, but one that reflects an effort to stay connected with fans during a period when local identity is still in limbo.
What makes this Spring Training noteworthy is the young roster. Fifteen of A’s Top 30 prospects will be participating in the big league camp. Names like Leo De Vries, Jamie Arnold, and Gage Jump are not just distant prospects — they are a gauge of whether A’s are ready to accelerate. The Spring Breakout on March 22nd further reinforces this: a stage for fans to see the future… sooner than expected.
On the schedule, A’s kick off the Cactus League on February 21st, and have iconic matches: against Team Brazil as a “WBC crossover,” and the Big League Weekend at Las Vegas Ballpark — a reminder that Vegas is no longer an abstract concept. It’s coming.
No further exhibition after March 23rd. A’s flew straight to Toronto to kick off the season on March 27th against the Blue Jays—the team that just qualified for the World Series. No warm-up game. No trial and error. A bold decision showing the organization believes what needs to be done must be completed during Spring Training.
The broader context of MLB further highlights this. A winter full of surprises: the Giants hired college coaches, the wave of Japanese stars didn’t arrive on the West Coast, the Mets underwent an incredible rebuild, the Orioles chose to invest in bats instead of pitching, the Blue Jays made a big bet on Dylan Cease. Amidst this upheaval, A’s chose a quiet path: preparation, accumulation, and waiting for the right moment.
Spring Training 2026, therefore, is more than just practice. It’s a test of belief: can a team living between two cities, two futures, muster enough focus to play serious baseball? If the A’s truly want to return to the playoffs, it has to start in Arizona, on those bright, quiet mornings — where stability is built on habit, not on declarations.
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