Welcome to another new week A’s fans!
The homestand was not kind to the Athletics. First they got swept in the middle of the week by the Seattle Mariners before dropping two of three to the Yankees this weekend. They now sit at 28-31, which is tied for second in the AL West and two and a half games behind those M’s. The team’s hot start has definitely cooled, similar to last year when a tough May all but doomed any playoff ambitions. Hopefully things don’t get that bad in June.
Looking for a spark,
the team has decided to promote one of their top pitching prospects in Kade Morris, a right-handed pitcher that ranks among the better pitching prospects in the Athletics’ farm system:
The Modesto native will finally be making his big league debut after just over three seasons in the minor leagues. The right-hander originally was a third-round draft pick by the New York Mets but spent just a season and a half in their system before being shipped over to the Athletics in 2024 in exchange for former All-Star starter Paul Blackburn. Blackburn’s time in New York was brief and bumpy but the A’s were able to extract a quality prospect in Morris for their former staff leader.
Since joining the A’s Morris has shown improvement year-over-year, making it to Triple-A last season where he spent the bulk of the year. The Las Vegas environment didn’t exactly lead to huge numbers but he held his own as a 23-year-old facing the toughest hitters in the minor leagues.
His yearly improvement continued this year as he looked more in control and comfortable now that he’s had some experience against Triple-A hitters. Over 11 starts so far for the Aviators this year Morris has a 4.45 ERA spanning 60 2/3 innings of work. That number was a lot lower for the majority of the season but he recently got roughed up in back-to-back starts where he allowed eight and then five runs, pushing his season ERA from 3.76 to 5.48. The strikeouts are on the lower end of things as he’s just collected 49 punchouts compared to 26 walks but he’s also kept the ball on the ground at a good clip, allowing just eight homers in that hitter-friendly enviornment.
Morris is also on a bit of a roll right now as he’s put together two very strong outings in his two most recent assignments. With the Athletics stumbling right now and having lost Luis Severino to the IL, now seems as good a time as any to let Morris get a chance to show what he can do at the big league level. And after Jacob Lopez’s continual struggles continued yesterday it seems there may be two open spots in the starting rotation. One of those spots will almost certainly be Gage Jump’s spot in the rotation (he’s slated for the start tomorrow evening). The team currently doesn’t have a starter scheduled for the series finale against the Cubs on Wednesday so that may be the day we see Morris take the mound for the first time in an Athletics uniform. Stay tuned.
Have a great week everyone.
A’s Coverage:
- Road, sweet road? A’s ready for reset after rough homestand
- Ginn’s glow-up: A’s hurler coming into his own at right time
- Athletics Early MLB Draft Preview
- The A’s may have finally found their new leadoff hitter
- A’s drop the game and Series to the Mariners, fall into second place
- Latest Athletics injuries and transactions
- A’s lose to Mariners 4-1, Kurtz Streak ends with O-fer
- Is A Jump In Talent Nigh?
- What to expect when A’s Jump makes leap to MLB
- What The Mariners’ Slow First 1/3 Means For The AL West
- Wilson takes swings in next step toward return from IL
- After facing Miller for first time, how is blockbuster trade looking for A’s?
- Athletics Drop Series Opener to Mariners 9-2
- A’s Win In San Diego, Beat Padres 5-2
- “State Of The Rotation”: A Projected Weakness, An Actual…?
MLB News and Interest:
- Blue Jays’ Jesus Sánchez bruises wrist on ball thrown by fan
- Yanks ‘wake up’ with 13-run 3rd, tied for their biggest inning in 106 years
- Reds’ De La Cruz exits with hamstring tightness; set for MRI
- Phillies Notes: Realmuto, Miller
- Phillies’ Bryce Harper concerned over MLB lockout ramifications
- 1 player each team hopes will heat up in June
- Garrett Crochet To Undergo Tests After “Very Minor” Injury Setback
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Will the changes affect the position player side of things?
Could be some big changes after all:
Took a while to make the call but they made that call:
Jump set to get the ball for his second start on Tuesday:
