Daric Barton: Is this the year?

For several years now, A’s fans have been anticipating the year where Daric Barton finally has a breakout season. Well, by the looks of it, this year may finally be the year that Barton has a productive season for Oakland. Through the season’s first 24 games, Barton leads the A’s in OBP (.453) and is hitting .301/.453/.438 with 1 homer and 8 RBIs overall.

Last season, Barton hit .269/.372/.413 in 54 games for the A’s. Despite taking the backseat to Jason Giambi for most of the season, Barton ended up with three homers and 24 RBIs in 160 at-bats. Much of Barton’s hype came after he was called up for the first time in September of 2007. In 18 games with the A’s in ’07, Barton hit an scorching .347/.429/.639 and blasted four homers and drove in eight runs in just 72 at-bats.

However, in 2008, his first full season, Barton struggled and hit just .226/.327/.348 with nine homers and 47 RBIs. This year, however, Barton is beginning to show signs of improvement and is looking like the top prospect he once was.

So, with Barton looking strong through the first month of the season, can A’s fans expect him to continue being one the A’s top offensive players? Sure. He’s shown a lot of progress and growth in this opening month of the season, and his numbers do not lie. This year could very well be the year where Barton has a monster like season.