Happy Wednesday A’s fans.
Last night, the Athletics kicked off their home stand by losing the first game of three against the St. Louis Cardinals. Then, this weekend, the team’s longtime Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, come to Sacramento for a three-game set.
Before yesterday’s game, the A’s promoted hot-hitting outfield prospect Henry Bolte to the Major Leagues for the first time, only to leave him on the bench the whole game. In the ninth, A’s manager Mark Kotsay chose backup catcher Jonah
Heim to pinch-hit over Bolte, a move that backfired as Heim grounded into a double play. With a left-handed pitcher starting for the Cardinals tonight, look for the former Palo Alto High School star to get his inaugural MLB start.
Bolte follows in the footsteps of similar outfielder Colby Thomas, two athletic outfielders who refined their raw but promising abilities while advancing through the A’s minor league system. Unlike more polished hitters such as Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz, Bolte represents another successful long-term development project for an Athletics’ player development system that has shown significant improvement in cultivating hitting prospects. Yet, it is important to note that the A’s Triple-A affiliate plays in an extremely hitter friendly ballpark in Las Vegas, a factor that can inflate offensive statistics.
On the other hand, the Athletics’ pitching development still has work to do. For instance, right-hander Luis Morales looked like a long-term rotation piece during his first several MLB starts over the final two months of last season. This year, Morales has regressed, struggling to throw strikes and retire hitters at both the MLB and Triple-A levels.
The team’s top two pitching prospects, left-handers Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold, are not off to the best starts either. Jump, who excelled in his first professional season last year, is 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA through his first seven Triple-A starts. Meanwhile, Arnold, who is one level down at Double-A Midland, may need a bit more time in the minors than initially expected to work on his command and fully polish his arsenal. Fellow left-hander Wei En-Lin has been a bright spot, carrying over his success from last year into this season. The 20-year-old has dominated Double-A hitters to the point where he appears ready for a promotion to Triple-A.
The Athletics hold the eighth pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. Several mock drafts have them linked to college bats such as Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick and Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia. Given the organization’s recent draft history, should they select a polished college hitter? Or, with pitching remaining a consistent concern, would you prefer they take a pitcher in the first round for the second straight year? If so, who?
A’s Coverage:
- The A’s drop series opener to the Cards 6-4
- A’s roster moves: Bolte, Stefanic recalled; Wilson to IL; Harris optioned, Nuñez DFA’d
- There’s Forcing Your Way Up And There’s Bolte — Is There A Spot For Him?
- A’s Fall To Orioles 2-1
- May Roster Shuffle Could Help The A’s — But They’d Have To Want It
- A’s roster moves: Langeliers reinstated, Wynns DFA’d
- The Blue Jays Just DFA’d a Pitcher the A’s Can’t Afford to Ignore
- Cubs Acquire Tyler Ferguson
- Phillies Claim Grant Holman
- A’s trade for Jonah Heim to fortify catching depth
- Langeliers HRs twice on wife’s b-day, then welcomes 1st child; taking time off
- Athletics’ Wei-En Lin Continues Rising The Ranks
- Now that we’ve seen a two-way player, what about a three-way player?
- He once struck out Giancarlo Stanton. Now he engineers cars for Ford
- A Walk In The Park Is Nice…To A Point
- Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In May
- A Moment To Appreciate The Awesomeness That Is Carlos Cortes
- Kurtz ‘starting to get back to himself’ — and that’s a scary prospect
- What the Athletics’ Hot Start Means for Their 2026 Trade Deadline Strategy
- A’s gave Gelof an opportunity, and he’s running with it
MLB News and Interest:
- Dodgers get OF Alek Thomas for prospect in trade with D-backs
- Schwarber goes deep for FIFTH straight game, matching Phillies record
- MLB trade grade: Guardians land Patrick Bailey from Giants
- Mets promote top outfield prospect Ewing
- Ober-powered: Righty needs just 89 pitches to toss Twins’ first Maddux since ’17
- Why so many good MLB teams have closer issues in 2026
- 1 thing each team can improve upon the rest of the way
- Dodgers activate Mookie Betts
- 1st Rookie of the Year poll of ‘26 shows clear favorites, but plenty of competition
- Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi scratched due to left side tightness
- Blue Jays’ Addison Barger returns to IL with elbow inflammation
- Astros Notes: Imai, Pearson, Peña, Meyers
- Braves place Sean Murphy on IL with fractured finger
- Braves activate Ha-Seong Kim, put Eli White on concussion list
- The Giants’ Long-Term Contracts Are Becoming A Big Problem
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Hopefully the two sides can come to terms on a new CBA agreement, so that there will be a normal MLB season next year.
Shea Langeliers has arguably been the A’s best hitter so far this season. He hit his 12th home run last night, a 450 ft rocket to left field. If Langeliers continues this stellar run of form, he will likely be the American League’s starting catcher in this summer’s All-Star Game.
This tweet rounds up the Athletics’ latest organizational transactions. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer gets the call-up to Triple-A ahead of fellow Double-A infield prospect Leo De Vries, while veteran catcher Austin Wynns was released instead of reporting to Triple-A. Elsewhere in the system, Myles Naylor is finally headed to High-A, and two-way prospect Shotaro Morii will get the chance to hit, pitch and play second base at Single-A Stockton.
Finally, another Las Vegas ballpark construction update:
