'It's been fun to watch': Cortes makes the most of opportunities in historic April

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Before Carlos Cortes did it this year, only one player in Athletics franchise history had batted .400 or better in April in at least 70 plate appearances.

And anytime you’re mentioned in the same breath as Ty Cobb, you know you’re doing something right.

That’s right, only one of the all-time greats has had an April as productive as Cortes’ in an A’s uniform. The 28-year-old hit four homers, drove in 13 runs and put up an 1.143 OPS in 22 games, adding another layer of depth to a talented lineup.

“We’ve all known Carlos is a professional hitter, and the track record’s there,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He had some success with us last year. It doesn’t shock me that the at-bats are really good and he’s contributing to the offense.”

Cortes has spent time at designated hitter and in both left and right field this season. (The rare “switch thrower” can also play the infield and throw right-handed there, but that would be more of an emergency case.)

“Then we're probably in a weird situation, so probably not,” second baseman Jeff McNeil said when asked if he wanted to see Cortes try to switch things up.

Cortes came up in the Mets system while McNeil was with New York, so the two crossed paths often during Spring Training or when McNeil played Minor League rehab games. But Cortes, a third-round pick out of South Carolina in 2018, never made the Majors with the Mets. He signed with the A’s as a Minor League free agent after 2024 and earned his way to the big leagues in late July 2025.

He showed few problems with the adjustment to MLB, batting .309 with an .866 OPS in a hybrid role: Cortes started 21 of the 42 games he played in his debut season.

Thanks to his continued hot hitting, Cortes has already started 20 of his 27 contests through his team’s first 34 games of 2026. But when the A’s face a left-handed starter, he’s typically on the bench. He has started just one of the A’s 11 games against a southpaw (Thursday, against the Royals’ Noah Cameron).

The lefty-hitting Cortes has actually had surprising success in his limited Major League at-bats against fellow lefties: He’s 5-for-7 with two doubles this year and 7-for-12 in his career. But in the Minors, Cortes had a .238/.304/.413 slash line against lefties with a 23.3% strikeout rate, compared to a .259/.350/.446 line and an 18.4% K rate against right-handed pitching.

Those numbers -- as well as an abundance of other options -- explain why Cortes, despite his incredible production, hasn’t been in the lineup much against lefties. The A’s have a veritable weapon against left-handers in outfielder Colby Thomas, who cracked his first homer of the season Sunday off Guardians lefty Parker Messick.

“The track record shows the splits are there, but in terms of left-handed at-bats, there’s guys in our lineup that have had success against lefties,” Kotsay said. “We’re going to need everyone to be contributing, obviously. Whether or not those opportunities come as starts or whether it’s late in games when he gets to stay in and hit against lefties, I think those are all things under consideration.”

Those opportunities for Thomas mean Cortes won’t be a regular fixture in the lineup, but he’s clearly making the most of his role. Appearing all over the A’s batting order when he does start -- including six games in the No. 3 spot -- he has helped stabilize a club that has sometimes been shorthanded.

“For Carlos, he’s definitely helped us through times right now this season when we’ve been without Brent Rooker, today without Shea Langeliers,” Kotsay said Sunday. “I think there’s ways that he’s helped us both offensively and to a certain extent, being able to fill a role in the outfield.”

Cortes’ ability to put the ball in play has been big, too. With just seven strikeouts this season, his 8.3% K rate is the lowest among hitters with 80 or more plate appearances. And with five doubles, a triple and four homers, he has the ability to slug as well.

Not every month might draw comparisons to Cobb, but Cortes has still been stellar to start the year.

“It's been fun to watch,” McNeil said. “He's taking really good at-bats, and he’s seeing the ball really well. He has a really good idea of what he’s trying to do at the plate.”