All right, A’s fans, let’s do this.

Today is my first official day at The Athletic, and I couldn’t be more excited after touching down in the Bay Area this past Friday.

For me, it’s always been about the grind. Baseball has always been a fixture in my life. It’s taken me from my home of New York City as a player to Ohio University, where I earned a baseball scholarship, and then Las Vegas, New Mexico, a small town where I played professional independent baseball.

Still, I always knew journalism, baseball journalism specifically, served as my eventual goal. That was all but confirmed when a ball was hit to me during a game that I had to dive for and ended up breaking my finger that eventually required surgery.

I remember a couple of my teammates saying, “You should maybe just wrap that up and play the rest of the year with it.”

Nonetheless, for me, the goal, from a player’s perspective was already achieved. I played professionally, despite battling a plethora of injuries through college.

I had a voice in baseball that needed to be filled that I felt would echo much louder than the crack of my bat.

I was ready to pursue my next endeavor.

Journalism has always been a part of me, too. My grandfather, who’s my biggest inspiration in life, was a journalist. My mother is a writer who taught me how to put sentences together as a kid.

The grind, matched with the inspiration of my grandfather, as well as my passion for baseball is why I took a job in Greenwood, South Carolina, at the Index-Journal, a small newspaper that honed my craft before landing at The Athletic.

Being a kid from New York City, that’s not an easy jump. Still, I pride myself on adjustments just like a hitter who sees a nasty backdoor slider but responds with a double in the gap the following pitch.

You can expect me to implement everything I’ve learned from a former player’s perspective who played against some of the top players in the majors today.

Let’s be clear, no, I don’t have that major league or minor league experience as a player. I fell short of that. But baseball is something I’ve dedicated my life to, and is something I believe I know a great deal about.

I want to share that with you, the subscribers, and A’s fans, in order to have a healthy, but honest, conversation surrounding this team.

For example, I’ve always been fascinated on the mental approach a player takes into certain scenarios. Baseball is very situational. Counts are vital part of the game of baseball for a pitcher and hitter.

They dictate, more times than not, an outcome of a game. Traditionally, 3-1, 2-0 and sometimes 2-1 counts are considered hitter’s counts, meaning a hitter is looking for a specific pitch in a specific spot. If it’s not there, take it for a strike or ball.

Contrastingly, a pitcher’s job is to keep the ball out of those spots in those particular advantageous counts for the hitter. If a hitter swings late in that favorable count, it usually means something was funky with his mental approach.

But what happens when, say, Justin Verlander is on the bump? A dominant pitcher who’s capable of throwing all pitches for a strike in any count — does the approach at the dish now change?

In-game approaches and adjustments tell a story. That’s part of what I want to tell, of course, coupled with the day-to-day news surrounding the club.

Features on A’s players and articles on player development, coupled with analysis using a traditional approach (eye test) meshed with analytical stats is also something you can expect.

Oftentimes, you either see one or the other being used, but rarely a mesh of the two because there’s been so much divisiveness as advanced stats have become a fixture in the sport. The Athletic has given me the opportunity to use both, which is something I’m excited about.

When assessing the A’s, you see a young team; one that is (hopefully) trending in the right direction. With that, though, comes the rebuilding process after shedding some of the older players last season at the trade deadline in exchange for a younger crop of talent.

With rebuilding comes growing pains, and sometimes frustration on your side. But I promise to always be fair, giving you what I see on the field, what changes might need to be made and what also doesn’t need to change.

The Athletic subscribers and A’s fans are a very knowledgeable bunch. A group that I know will hold me accountable for giving them the best content possible.

I’m ready to prove what I can do. What we’re doing at The Athletic is something I strongly believe in.

My life has been about taking chances, venturing to the unseen. I’ve now landed in the Bay Area and can’t wait to share my passion with you.

Thank you for reading. It’s go time.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, check out a one-week free trial and get 30 percent off the annual plan at theathletic.com/welcomejulian

(Top photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)