Elephant Rumblings: Off-Day Before New York, Plus Checking In On The Farm

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 31: Shea Langeliers #23 of the Athletics celebrates with Brent Rooker #25 after hitting a home run during the game between the Athletics and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Cole Carter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB

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Morning A’s fans and welcome to the start of another week!

The Athletics’ first home stand of the season results in a series win over the Houston Astros. After starting the first game with a blowout win they followed than up by getting blown out themselves. It looked like the A’s were about to drop that third and final game of the series yesterday afternoon too before some late-game heroics from our guy Brent Rooker. That win put the A’s at 3-6, not great but also not the worst record in the sport

(hello, Boston).

Now thanks to the schedule makers the A’s have to hit the road again for a six-game road trip. They have an off-day today to head to the East Coast and hopefully get their heads ready for two tough matchups. Luckily for the Green & Gold they won’t have to do much traveling after that flight as they head to the Big Apple to take on both of New York’s teams, first the Yankees starting on Tuesday and then the Mets this coming weekend.

The pitching matchups currently project to be Aaron Civale versus Cam Schlittler on Tuesday night, Luis Severino against Will Warren on Wednesday evening, and wrapping up the series will be Jeffrey Springs taking on another lefty in Ryan Weathers. New York is looking formidable this year as they only just lost their second game of the season yesterday. It’s going to be a tall task for the A’s but they’ll need to string together some wins against these guys or else they’ll dig too deep of a hole to climb out of this summer.

Anyway, looking down on the farm we’ve seen all of the minor league affiliates get their seasons officially underway. Las Vegas has gotten out to a hot start, winning seven of their first nine games. Second baseman Zack Gelof has been the team’s best hitter, slashing .412/.545/.853 with four long balls already. He could be getting a call-up soon if he keeps this up. He’s not the only one off to a quick start as Colby Thomas (.333 with three home runs), Brett Harris (.353, 1 home run), and Brian Serven (12-for-21) have all lead the way for the Aviators on offense. The starting pitching has left something to be desired but two of the top prospects in the system, Gage Jump and Kade Morris, both had quality starts their first two times through the rotation.

A step down the ladder in Midland, the Rockhounds won all three of their first games this past weekend, outscoring their opponent 14-7. The big name there is shortstop Leo De Vries but he’s gotten off to a slow 2-for-10 start, though with an encouraging 3:2 BB/K ratio. On the plus side fellow infield prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer has had a quick start, and #2 prospect Jamie Arnold made his professional debut with five innings of two-run ball, collecting six punchouts with the only damage coming off a 2-run homer. Another quality prospect in Wei-En Lin also had a solid start to his season, though he only pitched 3 1/3 innings as the organization takes things slowly with the 20-year-old lefty.

The lower end of the minors have also gotten started. High-A Lansing split their first two games before seeing Saturday’s cancelled due to weather. Center fielder Rodney Green Jr. was on fire at the plate hitting two home runs in as many games already, while pitching prospects Steven Echavarria and Zane Taylor both had quality outings on the mound, with Taylor in particular looking sharp in his five-inning, two-hit performance for the Lugnuts.

And Low-A Stockton lost their first series of the season this past weekend. Outfielder Breyson Guedez went 4-for-13 this weekend, which is unfortunately the biggest highlight for the Ports. Not many big-name prospects down there but always worth checking in on the lower levels to see how those guys are doing. We should eventually be seeing Shotaro Morii playing at that level, though he’s currently dealing with an injury that could keep him on the shelf for a bit.

No game today but we’ll be back with coverage tomorrow night for the first game in New York. Have a great Monday everyone.