This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos' Athletics Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Year Two of Athletics baseball in West Sacramento is going to bring some changes to Sutter Health Park.
After gathering feedback from players and coaches throughout their inaugural season in their new temporary ballpark, the A’s are making improvements to the stadium for 2026.
The biggest change will come in the dugouts. One main difference between pitching at Sutter Health Park as opposed to other MLB ballparks last season was the lack of a connected clubhouse. It was something brought up at times by A’s starter Luis Severino, who had grown accustomed to heading inside the clubhouse between innings to either watch film or move around to keep his body warm, as a difficult adjustment.
The A’s clubhouse will remain situated beyond left field. But for next season, Severino and the rest of the A’s pitchers will have a place to go besides the bench. During last week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, A’s general manger David Forst told MLB.com that work is already underway on a room within the dugout designed for pitchers to utilize if they'd like to when they are not on the mound. The room, which Forst jokingly referred to as "The Severino Room," will be added to both the home and visiting dugouts.
“We’re going to build a spot in both dugouts that is sort of like a 'privacy' area, for lack of a better word,” Forst said. “It’s where a starting pitcher can kind of get away from the game without having to go to the clubhouse. … We’ll get [them] some privacy in between innings.”
Other changes to Sutter Health Park will include a full replacement of the playing field for the new season, as well as enhancements to the batting cages.
“We’re putting a brand-new field in again,” Forst said. “They’re totally replacing the sod. That’ll happen in January or February. Some cosmetic stuff in the batting cage, too. But that little room in the dugout is the only real big challenge.”
Playing at home proved to be a challenge for the A’s in '25. They finished with a home record of 36-45, as opposed to a 40-41 road record. As the year went on, though, they seemingly got more and more comfortable with their new environment.
Through their first 27 games at Sutter Health Park, the A’s went 8-19. After that, they finished strong by going 28-26 over their last 54 home games.
“I think our guys ultimately got past it,” Forst said of the early home struggles. “Second half of the season, we didn’t hear about it as much. Guys were used to the rhythm of it. I don’t think the ballpark was an issue after the first couple of months.”
The second-half success is what gives the A’s some optimism heading into next season that they can get off to a better start at home. Last year from around this time through Spring Training, there were constant questions about how the team would handle playing at Sutter Health Park. Now, there is a comfortability in knowing how the ballpark plays, along with its advantages and disadvantages, which became a non-issue amongst players by the end of the year.
“I think our guys will go into the season with a good mindset,” Forst said. “You won’t hear anything about the ballpark when we get there.”