My A's Prospects Short-Form Reports Database () has now been fully updated for early 2024 stuff. Basic notes on just about every single prospect-eligible A's org player, 33K words in total.
Will update more as the season progresses. Hope it's of use!
In his first full pro season five years ago, Lawrence Butler was a *first baseman* who struck out over 40% of the time in short-season ball on the way to hitting .177/.276/.287. He stole one base.
One of the most remarkable developmental arcs in baseball in those five years.
This is a perfect illustration of the dichotomy between folks who really enjoy modern baseball and those who clamor for the pre-TTO days. If you read this as "uneventful" and wish the batter hit a grounder to second base instead, I don't know what to tell you.
I ♥️⚾️
Even just a random pitch in a game where I don't care who wins. Pitcher animated follow-thru, Catcher frame and Umpire emphatic called strike, while the Hitter passively disagrees.
@NateSilver538
I've found a lot of the immunity-related headlines to be atrociously worded. It's often framed as "there's no evidence for immunity," whereas it's really "we can't confirm immunity yet."
LHP Diego Barrera, the final pick in the A's 2023 draft, has been promoted to Lansing after a strong bullpen run in Stockton. Command/finesse/deception lefty with a low slot, good fastball run, changeup flashes plus.
Positive update on Gunnar Hoglund. He was up to 94 tonight. Also, so far in the two starts on video, 43 offspeed pitches, 12 swinging strikes. Stretched out to 63 pitches, a career high.
To those who have started playing
@ootpbaseball
for the first time recently because of isolation, here's a tip: the "Shop a Player" function is your friend. Use it often.
Y'all,
I have not seen a minor league baseball game in person in 3,267 days.
Today, the streak ends. I'm in Lansing to watch the Lugnuts take on Cedar Rapids.
I'll be here all week. Only baseball I'm seeing live this year, but happy I could make time in my schedule, finally.
Note again in the Montas trade something I've been hammering on all season: When the A's make these deals, they're not for random A-ball fliers. The headliners are almost always near-ready guys. The aim is a quick retool, not a five-year teardown.
Okay, I'll probably be doing some sort of A's system coverage this year--we'll see what it is exactly. Just writing for now. Time will tell how things go.
As always, I hope to make it interesting.
Well, here it is, folks: my Midseason Top 50 A's Prospects:
Plus 32 Others of Note. 14,441 words in all...the most comprehensive pre-draft look at the system there is. Happy reading! Would love to know what reactions y'all have.
Excited to share with y'all that I'll be doing some stuff at
@ProspectsLive
this year. I'm still figuring out exactly what the shape of my content there will look like, but I'm looking forward to branching out and trying some new things.
One thing I hope this produces is some vindication for the A's baseball ops folks. We're very few months removed from widespread allegations that they were purposely building the worst team they could, and that they were like a decade away from being a non-laughingstock.
“That’s what makes baseball fun: Those games right there. We’re in the moment right now and enjoying it.”
The A’s — now 31-22 since July 1 — continued to look like a team on the rise with a second consecutive walk-off win over the Mariners.
Santos has been up to 99 this year. His cutter, which tops out at 96, might be the best non-Mason Miller pitch in the entire A's organization. And yeah, the curve is a dynamo too.
Cuban RHP Pedro Santos (24) has been promoted to the Las Vegas Aviators, Triple-A, per sources.
He posted 1.80 ERA, 15 IP, 26 SO in Double-A.
Santos signed for 10,000 in 2018. One of the best curveballs in the organization, fastball 95-98 mph.
Just so y'all know, I probably will resume tweeting about A's minor league stuff tonight, albeit with perhaps less vigor than prior. Pressing forward is my own way of coping, plus I feel like I've invested too much time & energy understanding these players to just bail.
One of the fun things about being on Year 3 of doing this is that finally people are getting to enjoy stuff like this I've enjoyed while some of these guys have been in the minors.
It's a show every day. Wilson is the same at short.
I truly do not understand how an A's top 30 list can omit Zhuang at this point. It was one thing when he had two plus pitches but you could question the results, but he's been the best statistical performer in the whole org (pitching wise) now too.
Every year, an A's late-round pitcher dominates out of the gate in A-ball. But nobody in that group has ever gotten off to quite the start that Will Johnston has in 2024. How's he doing it? What's next for him? My latest breaks it down in depth:
Alright, I've started my new website, Excessive Prospect Analysis, so named because I can't seem to write anything about minor league baseball without it stretching into thousands of words. A thread on what I'm (maybe) doing, and where I've started: (1/11)
August '24 A's System Q&A is out:
In it, I project the A's 2026 rotation, break down the upcoming 40-man and AFL decisions, explain what separates the top 5 pitching prospects in the system, and a whole lot more.
After 12 years on (and off) this site, I reached 2,000 followers today. Thanks to all of you for having the patience to listen to my excessive ramblings about A-ball organizational relievers or what not.
I reference this fact way too much in discussing Schuemann, but I gotta think that when your pro career begins as a 20th-rounder and you have 1 XBH in 45 G in your first pro season, the chip on your shoulder doesn't go away easily.
Two 105+ EV hits from Lawrence Butler already tonight, including a homer.
Starting to think AAA isn't going to be the highest level he plays at this season.
Tells you something about where Henry Bolte's reputation has gone that he was just intentionally walked in a tie game to get to Will Simpson, who homered in his last AB.
Joe Boyle's stuff is incredible. It's just a question of command. Feels kinda similar to when the A's got Luis Medina last year, though Boyle's command fluctuates more start to start than the month-to-month pattern Medina always had.
Medina hits 100.9 on his final pitch of the fourth. 4 IP, 2 H, 6 K, ZERO WALKS.
It's taken him nine starts in the A's organization, but the guy we hoped the A's were acquiring last July has showed up for at least one night.
Overall was unhittable in that outing. Hard to watch that and not come away convinced he's the
#2
pitching prospect in the org, perhaps even in the
#1
conversation. Sat 95, slider was nasty. Very few comfortable swings off him.
So torn today. Trying to process.
On one hand, I have zero connections to the A's geographical area. Never even been there. The news *shouldn't* affect me. I became a fan of the team randomly, largely because I thought Matt Stairs had a great combo of a name and hitting style.
Quietly, Osvaldo Bido (1.3), Joey Estes (1.2), and Mitch Spence (1.1) have all snuck over 1 fWAR this year. There's a chance all three actually exceed JP Sears' (currently 1.2) despite not spending the full year in the rotation.
J.T. Ginn is now above replacement level.
On the day Cal Stevenson makes his major league debut, the other player in the Christian Bethancourt trade has had by far his best outing in the A's system. Christian Fernandez has gone 5 hitless innings, sitting 92-94. Best his 82-86 mph changeup has looked so far.
Big moves on the A-ball front today:
Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, Casey Yamauchi, Cole Conn, and Luke Mann have been promoted to Lansing
Carlos Amaya, Dereck Salom, and Jose Escorche have been moved to Stockton
If you missed Matt Chapman's defense at 3B in Oakland, Harris will fill that void, and everybody speaks very highly of him as a teammate. He's obviously crushed it at the plate as well. Question is the 84 mph exit velo. We'll see, but he deserves the opportunity.
It's a good time for this move IMO--he's established the Vegas track record now. Notably, had his highest velo of the year last time out, touched 96.7. Usually will show you 93-96 w/extension, plus mid-80s split, mid-80s slider varies in quality/shape but has improved.
A’s are calling up No. 21 prospect Grant Holman.
The right-hander has dominated at Double-A and Triple-A this season, combining for a 0.55 (3 earned runs in 48 2/3 innings) with 54 strikeouts and nine saves across 40 relief appearances.
Luis Morales goes 70 pitches. Still hit 98 mph on pitch
#67
. Struggled out of the windup, leadoff man got on every inning but he settled into a slidestep-y stretch and was very effective. Certainly can't be more encouraged about his health than this.
Working on my midseason A's Top 50 Prospects tonight. It'll be a series next week; I'll do 10 a day. Will start with honorable mentions on Sunday. Hoping to have a summary post the following weekend.
Something that's standing out to me as I watch full Stockton games for the first time in over a month is that all of a sudden, Myles Naylor actually looks like a shortstop. Moves a lot lighter out there. Made an absolutely absurd throw nearly from his back deep in the hole today.
Here we go: Royber Salinas has been promoted to Vegas.
So now it's a question of who's moving to Midland and Lansing, and then perhaps an extra player to Stockton.
I've really struggled to put thoughts into words, let alone words I want to share publicly, throughout the whole A's ordeal, but the power and will the A's community has shown, regardless of the outcome of everything, is awe-inspiring.
Y'all are so cool.
Worth noting:
Seth Brown was DFA'd in June, really struggling.
He crushed the ball in Vegas, ridiculous line for a month.
Coming into today, since coming back to the A's, was hitting .292/.365/.479. And now two homers today.
RHP Tzu-Chen Sha has been promoted to Stockton. He immediately becomes the A's youngest pitcher in full-season ball (he turns 20 in October). Dominated the ACL with a 38/3 K/BB in his pro debut this season.
Went back to look up when Clarke last changed his plate setup to the current iteration, as he looked comfortable for the first time this year in what I've seen.
Looks like it was May 9, so that'll be the date to monitor from. Since then, he's 5-for-17 with 3 BB, 6 K in 21 PA.
Lansing lost 3-2 in an early game today. 3B Dereck Salom had 3 hits, RF Henry Bolte doubled, drew a walk, drove in a run & notched his team-leading 15th stolen base, and starter Grant Judkins allowed 1 ER & K'd 4 in 4 2/3 IP.
Darell Hernaiz just hit his second homer of the season and is up to a .323 average after a 3-3 start to the day. A lot of tools and talent. The main question is going to be the out-of-zone chasing, which was elevated in my first viewings of him last week.
Henry Bolte has looked good so far. 3 hits of EV 108+ today including his first homer. Approach remaining solid at High-A in the early going. Question is going to be whether he can actually make contact with the offspeeds he offers at. That was the weakness last year.
The Oakland A's are reportedly calling up RHP Osvaldo Bido from Triple-A Las Vegas. He is expected to pitch in one of the two games during Wednesday's doubleheader.
#Athletics
An interesting offseason article idea I have: a cataloging of in-season mechanical changes the A's made with their prospects, and what dividends they paid.
Surprisingly, Thomas' EV isn't all that high in Vegas so far. EV isn't going to be a long-term question, though. Odds he gets to play in Oakland are definitely increasing.
The “0s and 1s” Morning Recap - AA+
🌟 of the night 📽️
*Colby Thomas 4-4, 2 2B, 2 HR, BB 💣💣
#Athletics
10 XBH in last 8 games. L8 .424/1.321 7/3 2B/HR 228 wRC+
Hit 3 balls over 106, HRs had LA of 20 and 52
MLB
*Wilyer Abreu 1-2, 2B
#DirtyWater
4 game XBH streak, Wilyer
Told y'all that Ryan Cusick's command was better than the walk numbers indicated. ERA down to 2.31, threw 56 of 85 pitches for strikes tonight. One hit, no runs in what I believe is a career-high 6 1/3 innings.
Looking forward to a second watch of a Midland series next week.
Jack Cushing (
@Athletics
) laid the foundation 👷
After striking out six and retiring all 15 batters faced, the
@Rockhounds
followed up by carrying a perfect game bid into the ninth inning.
I feel like the September A's are the team I expected them to be all year. Not in the above .500 sense, but that it wouldn't be hard to find encouraging performances from young players with some frequency.
Nate Nankil has gone from 2023 seventh-round pick to one of the top performers in the
#Athletics
system.
More on the 21-year-old who has drawn comps to a current big league outfielder:
Kyle McCann hit .192 on that same Vermont team, by the way, then .166 in Midland in 2021. Max Schuemann, of course, hit .195/.313/.203 (that slugging is not a misprint) in Vermont the year prior. Now they've got ~5 fWAR combined, those three guys.
Cole Conn's throwing has been exceptional this year. His CS% is hovering around 30, which is good not great, but he's been so consistent in delivering strikes to the bag and has had a lot of near-misses on plays you wouldn't expect to even be close when he releases it.
The first homer from the A's incoming draft/signing class goes to NDFA catcher Nick Schwartz, who slugged .709 as a senior at Southern New Hampshire this year.