Eric Sogard moved into the A’s leadoff spot Friday, becoming the sixth different leadoff hitter employed by Oakland this season.
In taking over for Billy Burns for the night with Burns “a little banged up right now’’ in the words of manager Bob Melvin, Sogard is venturing into uncharted territory. He has played in 381 big league games since coming to the big league with the A’s in 2012, and in exactly none of them has he been the leadoff hitter.
“I’ve batted leadoff before,’’ Sogard said. `I just can’t remember when.’’
What he has done is bat second behind Burns four times in the last 11 days, and he says that experience is almost the same thing.