Elephant Rumblings: Injuries Hitting The Farm Too

Mar 6, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Athletics shortstop Leo de Vries (83) hits against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning at Hohokam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Good morning A’s fans! Things have been tough at the major league level in

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What is the story about?

Good morning A’s fans!

Things have been tough at the major league level in the health department. Key players like Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson are all done for the year thanks to various injuries requiring surgery. Every team deals with big injuries but even that is a bad bill of health.

The injuries aren’t just affecting the big league team either. Earlier this year one of the organization’s top pitching prospects in Wei-En Lin had to undergo Tommy

John surgery, ending his 2026 season prematurely and likely affecting next year’s campaign as well. Considering he’s still only 20 years old the lost couple of years shouldn’t completely derail his career, but it’s always a bummer to lose multiple years of development while you’re ascending the minor league ladder. The team also saw infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer go down with an unfortunate injury, but luckily that doesn’t sound like it’ll be a cause for concern long-term.

Those aren’t the only notable injuries affecting the A’s top prospects. We just learned yesterday that top prospect Leo De Vries, widely considered the top one or two prospects in the entire sport, it dealing with what sounds like a serious shoulder injury. Serious enough that he’s shut down from throwing a baseball while he recovers down in Arizona:

Things continue to snowball. Even being two levels away from the big league team doesn’t provide protection from the injury bug apparently.

If his season is over the 19-year-old ends his campaign with a .290/.378/.458 slash line to go along with 13 long balls and 34 stolen bases. That’s a solid year overall for someone younger than most of his competition in Double-A. There was some hope among A’s fans that the young infielder could get an aggressive promotion here at the end of a lost season but that’s almost certainly out the window now.

Looking ahead, getting De Vries’ shoulder issue fixed has to be the biggest priority for the organization the rest of this season. He’s likely going to reach the final minor league level next year and after that he’s just one phone call away from making it to the big leagues. His ultimate position home is still up in the air considering the A’s have Jacob Wilson at shortstop. The positional alignment of these two and how to fit them both on the big league roster is a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem nonetheless. De Vries spent the majority of this year working at shortstop but he also got his first real experience at third base. That could ultimately be his long-term home, and the Manny Machado comparisons would only get louder if they make that positional move official.

Have a great Tuesday A’s fans!

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