DETROIT — Dustin Fowler has all the tools to be a productive leadoff hitter for the A’s. There’s just one problem — he had never done it before this season.
Despite the high batting averages and stolen base totals he racked up in the minor leagues while playing in the New York Yankees, Fowler found himself placed in mostly every spot of the lineup except the leadoff spot. Even when he was traded to the A’s last summer and started out playing at Triple-A Nashville this season, it wasn’t until he was called up to Oakland last month when he finally started his trial run leading off.