A's Minor League Pitchers Database

April 2024 update: I've overhauled the database this year and every entry should be updated for 2024. The database should include every prospect-eligible pitcher who has pitched for an A's affiliate in 2023 or 2024 (this thus excludes players who've exhausted rookie eligibility or who've been hurt/held out of games; the second category, to my knowledge, consists of Steven Echavarria, Cole Miller, Willy De Paula, and Adriel Gonzalez).

The goal of these writeups is to quickly give a sense of where each player is in his development; a brief history for context, a quick arsenal rundown, and a sense of what remains for the player to work on and what's in store for the immediate future. The goal is not to rank players relative to each other (I do prospect lists and other stuff that accomplishes this) or fully evaluate the value of each of the players. I hope it can provide quick information for anyone looking for some context around any of the A's prospects.

Click on the arrow next to any player to expand and view details about them.

Mark Adamiak, RHP

A 15th-round pick in 2022 out of Arkansas, Adamiak didn’t get many innings in college and  missed much of his first full season rehabbing an injury, struggling in his limited pro time in 2023. He’s been healthy in 2024, though, and has served as a late-game lockdown reliever in Stockton. Adamiak has long had good arm strength, reaching 97 mph with his fastball, and he’s developed a solid hard slider to go with it after struggling to come up with a good complement in the past. He also has a playable changeup he’ll throw sparingly to lefties. A key aspect in Adamiak’s improved performance in 2024 has been a shortening of his somewhat awkward, elbowy arm action, which occurred a few outings into the season and immediately led to significantly improved command. Adamiak is ready for Lansing at this point and will look to carry his 2024 breakout to higher levels in the future. (Last updated 8/14/24)

Wilfred Alvarádo, RHP

A 2022 international signee from Venezuela, Alvarádo was one of the DSL A’s youngest pitchers in 2023, yet he emerged as one of their best relievers. That was enough to get him sent to the US as an 18-year-old in 2024, and while he wasn’t as effective stateside, he wasn’t overmatched. Alvarádo has a good pitcher’s frame and an easy delivery, and he already sits in the 91-95 mph range with his fastball and spins a quality upper-70s curve. He also has a slider and changeup, with the four-pitch mix and his overall pitchability giving him a chance to perhaps move to a starting role down the line. Alvarádo’s fastball hasn’t showed bat-missing life yet, and the tertiary pitches need to improve, but he’s already advanced for his age. He’ll likely repeat Arizona to open 2025, still a teenager. (Last updated 8/14/24)

Luke Anderson, RHP

A 15th-round pick in 2021 out of Central Oklahoma, Anderson was alternately electric and erratic as a starter in Stockton in 2022 before being moved to the bullpen the following year, but he hasn’t been able to throw many innings in 2023 or 2024. His fastball has been up to 94 mph with some life, and his ability to elevate the pitch effectively and set up his power slurve make him the sort of pitcher who can pile up the swinging strikes when he’s on. The low-80s slurve appears more like a sweeper at times and a hard downer curve at others, but it’s effective in all shapes when Anderson locates it. He also has a changeup, but it lags behind the other two pitches. The issue that’s plagued Anderson as a pro has been command, which mostly stems from his extra-long arm action that he has trouble syncing up with the rest of his body during his delivery. (Last updated 8/14/24)

Corey Avant, RHP

A 9th-round selection in 2023 out of Wingate, Avant is a hulking presence on the mound, firing in a 92-96 mph fastball with carry and extension and complementing it with offspeed pitches that flash impact potential. Avant has obvious feel for spin and can snap a big upper-70s curve into the zone; he also manipulates the pitch and shortens it into more of a downer slider at times. His changeup began his pro career well behind the breaking stuff but has made strides in 2024 and flashes wipeout sink and fade, though Avant struggles to finish the pitch at times. His deep arsenal and big frame have inspired the A’s to move the college reliever to the rotation for much of 2024, but his size, arm action, and uphill style of pitching (and, to be fair, power stuff) feel like they point to relief work in the end. Avant has spent 2024 in Stockton and has had challenges repeating his delivery, showing the ability to bully his power stuff by hitters when he’s on, but still working on finding consistency. He’s improved somewhat at getting over his front side as the year has progressed, but command is likely going to be a long-term point of emphasis in his development. (Last updated 8/14/24)

Mason Barnett, RHP

The headline prospect in the Lucas Erceg trade at the 2024 deadline, Barnett is a former 3rd-rounder of the Royals who reached Double-A quickly in his old organization and has been effective there across 2023 and 2024. Added to the Midland roster upon his entry into the A’s organization, Barnett has long showed a broad and impactful arsenal of pitches. He’s got about as traditional a pitch mix as one can have: a carrying four-seam fastball, a sharp, tight slider, a big 12-6 curveball, and a fading changeup. The heat sits in the 93-96 range and gets on hitters quickly from Barnett’s athletic over-the-top delivery, the slider gives righties fits by zooming off the plate late, and the curve is a dramatic eye level-changer. The changeup is his fourth pitch and used mostly to lefties, but it’s a credible offering and flashes above-average action at times. Barnett is a strong and athletic presence on the mound with a simple drop-and-drive delivery, though he’s always had a pronounced arm stab that used to leave evaluators wondering if he’d have enough mechanical consistency to start. He’s answered those questions well in his career so far, though Barnett’s pitch efficiency still wavers at times. How deep he can get into games will determine whether he’s a strikeout-heavy back-of-the-rotation starter or something more. (Last updated 8/12/24)

Diego Barrera, LHP

The A’s final pick in the 2023 draft out of Loyola Marymount, Barrera was a very effective starter in college but has moved to bullpen work thus far as a pro, beginning in Stockton in 2024. He’s another in the long line of finesse lefties the A’s often target toward the end of the draft or as undrafted free agents, and his delivery and pitch shapes evoked David Leal when he entered pro ball, with a low-¾ arm slot delivering a three-pitch arsenal of a running four-seam fastball, a slow, sweeping slider, and a diving changeup that’s a swing-and-miss pitch when Barrera locates it. Barrera’s velocity was Leal-esque when 2024 began, topping out around 87-88, but he picked up some oomph as the summer went on and started working in the 87-91 mph range after a midseason promotion to Lansing, where he immediately became the Lugnuts’ closer. Even with that increased margin for error, Barrera is squarely a finesse pitcher, but his deception and changeup are equalizers and he has strong east-west command. He’s put himself in line to get to the upper minors and is already a nice success story for his draft status; Midland will be an interesting test when he gets there. (Last updated 8/28/24)

Brady Basso, LHP

A 16th-round pick in 2019 from Oklahoma State, Basso was a college reliever but immediately looked the part of a starter in pro ball, showing a balanced four-pitch mix and a clean, athletic delivery. The 2020 non-season and a Tommy John procedure in mid-2021 delayed Basso’s progress through the system considerably, though, as he didn’t return to action until a few weeks into the 2023 season and was kept on strict pitch counts throughout that summer. Still, the lefty did nothing but impress, pounding his 91-94 mph fastball and short upper-80s cutter in on righthanded batters and setting them up for his rainbow 75-78 mph curveball. None of the three pitches are huge bat-missing offerings and Basso’s infrequently-used changeup lags behind them, but he’s sequenced and located everything well enough to get taken seriously as a back-end starter prospect and get added to the A’s 40-man roster, protecting him from the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. Basso enters 2024 at age 26 and still in Double-A due to all the lost time, but he could be in the mix for a rotation spot down the stretch if things continue to go well. Last updated 4/15/24)

Tyler Baum, RHP

Seen as an advanced starting pitching prospect when taken in the second round of the 2019 draft, Baum showed up for his first full season in 2021 with a bad case of the yips, which confined him to sporadic duty in Arizona that summer and a mop-up bullpen role in Stockton the following year. To say those mop-up appearances did not go well would be an understatement, but the A’s left Baum there all summer in 2022, and he rewarded their patience and faith not only with a few surprisingly solid outings to end the season, but a sudden return to form the following year, when he flourished as Lansing’s closer and earned a midseason promotion to Midland. Baum utilizes an unorthodox pitching motion which features big spine tilt, a very long stride, and a high arm slot–there’s a bit of the old Tim Lincecum feel to the operation–and it gives him a good deal of deception on top of his strong velocity. His fastball sits in the 93-96 mph range and he can reach back for 97-98 when he needs it, with the extension, deception, and backspin on the pitch helping it further play up. The fastball sets up a mid-80s changeup that doesn’t move much but that Baum sells very well–it seems to freeze in front of hitters’ bats–and his curve and slider don’t have good spin rates or big movement but also seem to gain a lot of utility from his release and feel for tunneling. Baum hasn’t shown any recurrence of the yips since he got things together; though all the moving parts in his motion don’t necessarily give him particularly precise command, he’s done a notably strong job in the mental side of the game, consistently getting back into counts when he falls behind and keeping outings from spiraling on him. He was the first player to be promoted from one affiliate to another in the A’s system in 2024, moving up to Las Vegas after two dominant Midland innings, and he’ll be in the mix for a bullpen spot in the big leagues if he can hang in in the PCL. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Blake Beers, RHP

The A’s took a flier on Beers in the 19th round in 2021 despite his rough senior year as a Michigan reliever, but even they probably didn’t expect him to turn into the ace of the Stockton pitching staff the following year, showing much-improved command with a simplified delivery that has allowed him to pound the zone up through the Double-A level. Beers came into pro ball mostly working off his low-90s fastball and signature 78-83 mph sweeper, but he diversified his arsenal in 2023, adding a cutter and two-seamer and refining his changeup into a more consistently usable pitch. That allowed the athletic righty to solve the Midwest League and move up to Midland, but he did find the going rougher there and returns to the RockHounds rotation to open 2024. Beers’ fastball ticked up into the 92-94 mph range as the 2023 season went on, but it doesn’t have bat-missing shape, and the sweeper is exceptional at generating called strikes but is also not a huge swing-and-miss offering, so Beers’ future as a starter is dependent on his ability to find ways to end at-bats more conclusively with those or his other offerings. Failing that, his strong east-west command and ability to spin the ball could play up in a relief role. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Hunter Breault, RHP

Breault was the A’s final pick in the 2021 draft after being a relatively little-used reliever for four years at Oregon, but he quickly showed good control of a powerful three-pitch mix in pro ball and was effective as Stockton’s closer in 2022. Breault has reached 98 mph and often sits 95-97 with his four-seam fastball, and though it doesn’t have bat-missing shape, his splitter certainly does when he locates it. Breault has played around with a couple of different slider shapes and velocities in his pro career and has had some success with that pitch at times as well. Despite his velocity, strike-throwing, and the movement of his offspeed pitches, Breault was alarmingly hittable in Lansing in 2023, perhaps due to a lack of deception and inconsistent pitch patterning. He’s had pro outings where he throws the fastball 80-90% of the time and others where it’s closer to 30%, and he seems to still be figuring out his identity on the mound. After missing a couple of months with injury in 2023, he returned late in the season with a dramatically shortened arm action and seemed to gain some deception from it; he’s retained that look in a return to Lansing in 2024. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Ryan Brown, RHP

Brown was a dominant closer at Oregon State despite lacking overwhelming velocity, with his three-pitch arsenal and command being enough for the A’s to take him in the 16th round in 2023. Despite some thought that he might convert to starting as a pro, he’s opened his first full season as Stockton’s closer. Brown has experienced a bit of a velo bump since turning pro and now sits 90-94 mph with a fastball that finishes with good firmness. He has a very clean, repeatable motion and is a plus athlete on the mound, projecting to potential above-average command. Though he does use the fastball a lot, Brown is confident in his offspeed pitches, throwing a diving changeup to both lefties and righties and manipulating the shape on his three-quarter breaking ball. Brown is still a bit short of a traditional power relief look, but moving to the rotation remains a possibility. If any of his pitches can take a further step forward into out-pitch territory, he could start to dominate in relief. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Luis Carrasco, RHP

Signed out of Venezuela in 2018, Carrasco skipped the DSL entirely and came to Arizona the following year, immediately pitching fairly well in the ACL at age 17. Between the missed 2020 season and the oddities of the post-contraction landscape, though, he didn’t get a real shot in full-season ball until several weeks into the 2023 season, at which point the 21-year-old became a dependable member of the Stockton rotation. Carrasco is a control-oriented pitcher with a low-three-quarters arm slot who pounds the armside half of the zone with his 91-94 mph sinker. Along with the occasional four-seam fastball up in the zone to change eye levels, he relies on his heat an extraordinary proportion (over 70%) of the time for a starter, in part because of the strong movement on both fastballs, but also because his changeup and rolling slider lag behind. Moved up to Lansing for 2024, Carrasco will need to find more consistency with those pitches to finish at-bats off decisively, and he still is searching for a way to get to the glove side effectively. He’s reportedly working on a cutter, which could be productive to that end. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Felix Castro, RHP

It took Castro, signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, two years to make a substantial pro impression, but he got on the map as the DSL A’s closer in 2023, pushing his fastball into the mid-90s with carry and finish and shutting down DSL opponents as a 19-year-old. He’ll presumably come stateside in 2024 and try to do it again in Arizona. Castro could begin to move quickly as a relief prospect if his slider and changeup can make strides; the fastball was enough to make him effective at the minors’ lowest level and the offspeed pitches were effective when he turned to them, but they’ll need further polish for him to continue dominating. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Paúl Chacón, RHP

Signed out of Venezuela in 2022, Chacón was seen as one of the A’s more promising pitching signees from that particular international class, though he was not consistent in his pro debut in the DSL the following season. Still, he sat 90-94 with a carrying fastball and showed confidence in his slider and particularly his changeup, both of which understandably need further development but have solid potential. Chacón also turned the slider into a bigger curve at times, though he’ll need to tighten up both breakers for them to be effective down the line. Built a bit like a catcher, Chacón’s inconsistency in 2023 stemmed from trouble repeating his delivery and getting his shoulders off line with the target in both directions. If he can get that straightened out with more reps, he could find a lot more success soon. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Chase Cohen, RHP

A 9th-round pick out of Georgia Southern in 2018, Cohen’s pro career has been marked by velocity fluctuations. Sitting 90-94 in his first full season in 2019, he was a reasonably effective but inconsistent Low-A starter; after the pandemic layoff, though, he showed up to fall camp sitting in the upper 90s. Skipped to Midland to start 2021, he dominated for two months and looked like one of the organization’s best pitching prospects, then got hurt in the summer. When he returned in 2022, now a RockHounds reliever, he was back down into the low 90s. The carry on the fastball and the good action on Cohen’s two breaking balls–he’s ditched his changeup as a reliever–still were enough to get him up to Las Vegas early in 2023. In June that year, suddenly the extra giddyup was back after being gone for over a full year, and Cohen topped out around 98 in most of his outings the rest of the way. Though he met with more effectiveness in the season’s final few weeks, Cohen overall struggled in Vegas enough in 2023 that a logjam of relievers saw him back in Midland to open 2024. The fastball/slider/curveball combination he wields is certainly potent enough to make him an MLB reliever if he can get more consistent with his over-the-top release, as Cohen tends to spike a lot of pitches in the dirt and run a lot of deep counts. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Drew Conover, RHP

Conover was seen as a good flier for the A’s to take in the 11th round of the 2023 draft, as the Rutgers product boasted stuff that rarely falls that low. His sinker routinely hit 97 mph as an amateur and Conover throws two different biting breakers as well as a credible changeup. The reason he fell as far as he did is his trouble throwing strikes with his complicated low-¾ crossfire delivery. He was assigned to Stockton’s rotation to open his first full season, and in the campaign’s opening weeks, he’s struggled with command trouble and mostly sat in the 91-93 mph range. When Conover locates, everything is at the knees and he’s tough to stand in against because of his release point and how much everything moves, but though his walk numbers are almost in yips territory in the early going, it’s more than he’s had trouble keeping the sinker from running off the plate armside and the slider from bouncing just past the plate. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Danis Correa, RHP

Correa mostly pitches off a carrying fastball in the mid-90s that can get over bats up in the zone, and the diving action of his power change and the downer look of his 78-82 mph curve make them tough to square up as well. Though true wildness has only beset him in his brief Triple-A time, Correa has never been a very precise pitcher, and his mechanics still have roughness to them despite his long career: he doesn’t get great extension and has some stiffness in his arm action. His stuff is good enough to get him a big league look if his command can hover around average. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Derek Corro, LHP

This diminutive Venezuelan southpaw was signed in 2021 and was inconsistent in the DSL in 2022, but the A’s put him in the ACL rotation as an 18-year-old the following year anyway, and Corro’s ERA ballooned to over 10, walking 28 in 23 innings. Still, there’s a smoothness to Corro’s mechanics that suggest he can become much more consistent as he fills out more–he was probably above his listed 145 pounds in 2023, but probably not by much–and gets more experience. His fastball has a lot of running life, and his slider and changeup flash some decent action as well, but he didn’t show much confidence in them in 2023, especially since he was so frequently behind in counts. It’s not hard to imagine Corro regrouping in a significant way when he presumably repeats the ACL in 2024. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Jonathan Cortes, RHP

Cortes was signed out of Mexico in the middle of the 2023 season and immediately sent to the DSL A’s bullpen for a few inconsistent outings. He showed a bit of deception in his delivery and the makings of a solid changeup that could turn into more of a swing-and-miss offering as he gains more experience. Cortes also throws a fastball and slider. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Jack Cushing, RHP

A 22nd-round pick out of Georgetown in 2019, Cushing surprisingly emerged as a dominant low-minors starter when minor league baseball resumed in 2021, carving his way across three levels that season on the back of precise command of his 89-92 mph four- and two-seam fastballs and an above-average 79-83 mph slider. There was reason to doubt that that finesse arsenal would hold up at higher levels, especially with Cushing’s mid-80s changeup lagging behind the other pitches, and though he remained effective in Midland’s rotation in 2022, Cushing was hit very hard in Las Vegas’ unfriendly environment in Triple-A trials in that season and the next one. However, moved to the Midland bullpen late in 2023, the then-26-year-old looked like a different pitcher, powering the four-seamer, now 92-94 mph, past hitters up in the zone with increased deception and finish. Returned to that level and role in 2024, Cushing will look to continue to impress, then finally conquer the minors’ highest level. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Ryan Cusick, RHP

It’s been an odd odyssey in the A’s system for Cusick, even though that odyssey has mostly had a singular geographical stop, in West Texas. Atlanta’s 2021 first-rounder out of Wake Forest laid waste to low-minors hitters after signing and was included in the Matt Olson deal, the A’s clearly as impressed as the Braves were by the big righty’s imposing fastball-slider combination. Sent straight to Midland to start his first full season, Cusick was erratic, sitting 94-98 mph with bat-missing carry and showing the good low-80s slider, but allowing too many walks and a seemingly endless stream of opposite-field line drives, fueling an astronomical batting average on balls in play and a resulting high ERA. An oblique injury took him out of action for much of the middle of the campaign, further hampering his ability to adjust and, in particular, work on adding a changeup, a pitch he hadn’t needed in college. Over the 2022 offseason, Cusick (reportedly independent of the A’s) changed his mechanics to a notably lower-effort, lower-extension, lower-slot motion, likely in an effort to find more consistency. Though his control improved early in 2023 as a result (and, maybe relatedly, the BABIP came mercifully back to earth), the motion seemed to sap some of Cusick’s special arm strength, as his fastball sat 92-93 and peaked around 95 for the season’s first few months.

Finally, after a few midseason overhaul weeks in Arizona in 2023, Cusick returned to Midland with (more or less) his old delivery, the velocity came back, and though efforts to develop a changeup still had not come along significantly, he did begin to incorporate a hard cutter and a two-seam fastball to give his arsenal more variety. Now 24 and on his third year with the RockHounds, Cusick is off to a very promising start in 2024, and the cutter gives him a chance to hang in against lefties even without a credible changeup, though he’ll still have to prove he has enough command and arsenal depth to start. Despite all the hiccups, Cusick remains an imposing presence with an imposing arsenal, and he’s flashed pitchability at enough junctures to give plenty of hope he can be an effective major-league pitcher at some point. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Micah Dallas, RHP

Oakland’s 8th-rounder from Texas A&M in 2022, Dallas looked the part of a strike-throwing finesse starter as an amateur, but the A’s have curiously used him primarily as a reliever as a pro, partially because his first full season was interrupted by injury. Still in Low-A in 2024 and working in relief, Dallas has a deceptive delivery that involves a ton of spine tilt producing a high arm slot from which he can still throw a sinker with big vertical movement. As a result, he can really flummox batters by moving his sinker and slider east and west when he’s on, as well as divebombing all three of his pitches out of the strike zone for chases. He’s mostly been in the 90-93 range as a pro and will have to prove he can miss bats, though, particularly as the sinker has yet to translate into big groundball numbers. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Dairón De Jesús, RHP

A 2021 Dominican signee, De Jesús has piled up the strikeout numbers in Rookie ball since, despite being one of the DSL A’s youngest pitchers in 2021 and the ACL A’s youngest pitchers the following two years. He’s worked mostly in relief as a pro, presenting a tough look with his open-stride, over-the-top delivery and fastball-curve combination; the latter pitch in particular has overwhelmed low-minors opponents. De Jesús also has a decent changeup. Just 20 in 2024, he hasn’t seen his velocity tick up into the mid-90s yet (he’s sat around 90 for much of his career), but he has some interesting possibilities as a reliever if he does, and the three-pitch mix gives him a chance to move to a starting role at some point on his minor league journey. The first step will be to get a full-season assignment, which he should be up for when the call arrives. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Franck De La Rosa, RHP

Though he looks shorter than his listed 6’8”, De La Rosa’s stuff is much louder than his short and relatively unspectacular minor league track record would suggest. Signed in 2019 out of the Dominican Republic, he pitched in the DSL as a 21-year-old when he finally got to debut in 2021, then missed the entirety of the 2022 season. By the time he got stateside for Rookie-level action in 2023, he was already 23, but he showed up firing a 97-99 mph fastball and a hard downer breaking ball at 85-88 that he calls a slider but has enough depth to look like a curve at times. De La Rosa is a good athlete with a relatively easy delivery, but he’s understandably raw with so few pro reps. He needed just three ACL innings to convince the A’s he was ready for full-season ball, but was inconsistent in Stockton down the stretch in 2023. The organization is experimenting with him as a starter in a return to the Cal League in 2024. That’s unlikely to be De La Rosa’s long-term role, as his low-90s changeup and command lag far behind the electricity of the fastball and the breaker, but it might be a good way to get him more innings to accelerate his development in the short term. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Eliazar De Los Santos, RHP

A big-bodied Dominican righty who the A’s signed in 2022, De Los Santos has struggled to throw strikes in the DSL since. He employed an understandably fastball-heavy approach in 2023 in an effort to find the zone, tossing in an occasional curve and changeup. On the occasions he had some feel on the mound, his physicality and nascent feel for spin stood out. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Joelvis Del Rosario, RHP

Selected with the first pick in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, Del Rosario was an inconsistent but promising starter in the Pirates system before moving over to Lansing for his A’s organizational debut in 2023. He remained promising but inconsistent there, working in the low-to-mid-90s with his fastball and showing a slider and changeup with wipeout action, but the fastball didn’t miss bats and he couldn’t command either offspeed pitch. A change to his slider late in the year gave the diminutive righthander much-improved command and velocity on the pitch, and that rocketed him up to Midland by the end of the year. Del Rosario’s easy delivery, fastball command, and the newfound slider improvement give him a chance to be a big league starter, but he still has to prove he can consistently put all of his positive attributes together in upper-minors outings. He’s on Midland’s IL to start 2024, his age-23 season. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Nathan Dettmer, RHP

Dettmer was the A’s highest-drafted college pitcher in 2023, a 5th-rounder out of Texas A&M. Like some of their other recent highly-drafted college pitchers, Dettmer entered pro ball with a reputation for his stuff outpacing his command and consistency. Given a fairly conservative assignment to the Stockton rotation to start 2024, Dettmer has showed an athletic if slightly unconventional delivery and an arsenal that’s all about movement, headlined by a 92-96 mph sinker with a lot of tailing action and a slider that flashes big bite. Along with a decent changeup and the ability to change the shape of the fastball a bit when aiming up in the zone, Dettmer has a lot of similarities–even the mechanics share some features–with J.T. Ginn. Dettmer is bigger and more physical that Ginn, though, and getting his big frame down the mound in a consistent enough fashion to get all these high-movement offerings to the right place thus proved to be a bigger challenge for him than it ever was for Ginn in the SEC. If the A’s can unlock that consistency, Dettmer could rise like previous 5th-rounder Jack Perkins did. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Jose Dicochea, RHP

Drafted in the 7th round in 2019 from an Arizona high school, Dicochea’s early career was defined by massive statistical struggles hiding potential premium stuff, as he posted double-digit ERAs frequently while still reaching 98 mph and showing off an array of very promising secondary stuff. Tommy John surgery in early 2021 delayed his ability to actualize that talent until basically the start of 2023, but he dominated Cal League opponents as soon as the season started, albeit with reduced velocity from his pre-surgery days. Even at 91-94 mph, though, Dicochea’s funky double-pump arm action and the explosive late life on the fastball can make it a swing-and-miss offering, and it can set up his big power curve. He’s played around with the shape of his harder breaking ball and turned it from a slider into more of a hybrid cut/slider pitch in the mid-to-upper-80s, and his diving changeup flashes above-average finish but isn’t yet at a point where he’s consistent with it. Dicochea’s long, unorthodox arm action–in an otherwise smooth, athletic delivery–and lack of pro experience contribute to bouts of spray command, which became more of an issue after a midseason bump to Lansing in 2023. He returns to the Midwest League in 2024 looking to progress further, and has touched 96 mph in the early going. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Steven Echavarria, RHP

The A’s gave Echavarria a way-over-slot $3 million bonus as a third-rounder in 2023 to lure him away from his Florida commitment and into pro ball, and the New Jersey righthander became the first 18-year-old pitcher to amass significant full-season time in the A’s organization in a decade the following year. Echavarria was hit around in Stockton in the early going but has come on more strongly in the summer and reinforced the organization’s excitement about him. He brings big arm speed and can already crank his running fastball up to 96 mph, he shows two different breaking balls that already have tightness and finish, and he’s got the makings of an above-average changeup with late dive and good arm speed. He’s also a solid on-mound athlete who attacks hitters and is around the zone at a young age. Like most teenage pitchers, Echavarria will need to get stronger to finish his delivery more consistently and get his command to a big league level, and he’s got all sorts of health and pitchability hurdles in front of him, but it’s so far, so good for him in his pro career, and his upside is clearly among the highest of A’s pitching prospects. (Last updated 8/12/24)

Stevie Emanuels, RHP

Oakland’s final pick in the truncated 2020 draft, Emanuels was billed mostly as a finesse-oriented pitch-mixer who could move quickly, but his first season was abbreviated by injury, slowing his progress. When he returned in 2022, his velocity had ticked up into the 92-95 mph range, and he still showed three strong offspeed pitches from a clean, easy delivery, but it wasn’t enough to give the big righty much consistency at the High-A level, as he tended to fall victim to disaster innings where his command would desert him in the midst of otherwise good outings. After a midseason demotion to Stockton that season and an injury that wiped out the first two months of his 2023, Emanuels returned to Lansing firmly off the prospect map, but moved to a relief role, he suddenly found much more consistency while still wielding the quartet of formidable weapons. His fastball now sits 93-96 mph and touches 97 with ride and run, he still spins in his signature downer curve that reaches 81 mph, his changeup can bottom out late, and he’s turned his vertical slider into more of a hard cutter in the upper 80s, providing much better differentiation from the curve and giving him better access to the glove side of the plate. Emanuels quickly moved up to Midland in late 2023 and returns there in 2024 looking to build on his breakout year; he has the arsenal to be an effective big league reliever if he can maintain mechanical consistency. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Richard Fernández, RHP

Like a lot of the A’s organization’s more notable international prospects, Fernández was an older signee, and he was already 19 when he debuted in the DSL in 2022. He became one of the DSL A’s top starters the following year, though, showing good on-mound athleticism and a broad and effective four-pitch mix that could get him moving through further levels more quickly. Fernández sits in the low 90s with his fastball, both his slider and curve have good depth, and he’s got the makings of a solid changeup as well. He may not need much time in Arizona in 2024 before moving to full-season ball. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Jackson Finley, RHP

An 8th-round pick in 2023 out of Georgia Tech, Finley was a notable two-way player in college, though he wasn’t really productive on either side of the ball until his senior season; as such, he didn’t get to throw his first pro inning until he was 23. Stockton’s Opening Day starter in 2024, Finley has big stuff for his draft status, operating in the mid-90s with good life on his fastball and showing good spin on a firm, biting slider and bigger curveball. His changeup is also a useful pitch, and Finley is coordinated on the mound and attacks the strike zone, though he’s dealt with a couple of outings in 2024 where his command has deserted him. The question is really just putting all of these ingredients together into a whole that’s as much or more than the sum of its parts. As Finley split his attention between sides of the ball the last four years and didn’t even throw 70 collegiate innings, time remains for that to happen. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Jake Garland, RHP

A 17th-round selection in the 2022 draft out of Miami, Garland’s 2023 was much like Blake Beers’ 2022: quickly becoming the ace of the Stockton staff despite his late-round status, then running into more inconsistency after a midseason promotion to the Midwest League. One thing that was consistent between both stops was the burly righthander’s ability to induce a ton of ground balls via his 89-91 mph sinker. He’s obviously not overpowering at that velocity, but the big movement on his fastball–which comes in at a steep angle from his fairly high release point–can make him a very frustrating pitcher for opponents when he’s on. Garland complements the sinker with a sharp low-80s slider and big mid-70s knuckle curve, and he’ll also mix in an occasional changeup and four-seamer. He’s very mechanically consistent and has shown particularly strong command of the sinker-slider combination, though he turned more to the curve than the slider in Lansing, which raises some tunneling questions. Garland’s back in the Lugnuts’ rotation in 2024 looking to make the same kind of jump that Beers did the year prior. (Last updated 4/15/24)

J.T. Ginn, RHP

The headliner of the Chris Bassitt trade–and the only player involved, Bassitt included, who hasn’t since changed teams–Ginn has shuttled on and off the IL an alarming number of times in his two-plus years in the A’s system, though he’s avoided major surgeries and is healthy to start 2024. All his healthy time has been spent in Midland, where he’s been inconsistent, but that’s probably in large part because he’s seemingly always been coming off of or coming down with an injury of some kind. He still always has his trademark heavy sinker that is very tough to lift, but the rest of the package–a biting slider with depth, a changeup that dives off the sinker’s trajectory, and Ginn’s strong on-mound athleticism and east-west command–has been clearly visible as a complete unit at only a couple of fleeting moments. The slider has sometimes not been crisp, the changeup often blends in with the sinker and is very hittable, and Ginn’s feel for pitching was understandably not really there in 2023, when the injuries were a particularly rough specter. His velocity has also fluctuated between the 90-93 range to 92-96. The good news is that one of the few times he’s looked as advertised when he was acquired is the beginning of 2024, so the talent is still there if Ginn can avoid further setbacks. (Last updated 4/17/24)

James González, LHP

González was a 2018 Panamanian signee who was quietly effective in Rookie ball and moved up to Low-A at the end of 2021. Once there, he showed good shape on all three of his pitches–a firm carrying fastball, a big curve, and a sinking change–but he himself was clearly out of shape in a way that hampered his effectiveness. In particular, González’s arm slot was all over the place, ranging from a low-¾ look (usually with his changeup) to overhand, and his arm tended to be late (especially at the lower slots), leading to an inordinate amount of pitches that would miss badly to the arm side. He continued to have a lot of inconsistency in Stockton’s rotation in 2022, but he showed up for 2023 in notably better shape, perhaps under his listed 260 pounds after being likely over it in the previous campaigns. Though he still wasn’t a great on-mound athlete and still had bouts of inconsistency, González became a much more reliable pitcher as a result, and he ended up leading the A’s organization in strikeouts in 2023 with 135 in 108 innings. The A’s still waited most of the year to finally move him to Lansing, but he continued his excellence at that level. In 2024, he’s seemed to improve his conditioning yet again, and though the mechanical repetition still isn’t all the way there, González has experienced a bit of a velocity spike and his fastball is now pushing into the mid-90s after previously topping out around 93. The three weapons also give him a lot of ability to mess with sequencing, and he’s never been shy about doubling or tripling up on pitches or pitching backward. González should get to the upper minors in 2024 if he can stay healthy, and if the velo spike holds, he could potentially take off in a relief role if the A’s ever opt to go that direction. His strong 2023 performance outpaced the scouting report by a fair bit, but the scouting report is beginning to catch up in 2024. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Wander Guante, RHP

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2018, Guante had solid enough performance as a Rookie-ball swingman in 2019 and 2021 to get a late-season 2021 look in Stockton age 20, but that wasn’t enough for him to escape the complex until the beginning of 2023, when he became a regular member of the Ports rotation. After a rough start that year, he settled in as the summer went on, showing a balanced three-pitch mix of a hard running fastball in the 91-94 mph range, a tight slider, and a changeup with good diving action. Guante’s arm slot is on the low side and he releases the ball way over toward third base, but he’s a good on-mound athlete who stays balanced enough over the rubber to repeat the motion more often than not, presenting a tough angle on righties. Moved up to Lansing in 2024 and now topping out at 96, Guante’s balanced arsenal still sees him starting for now, but the deception and velocity might play up in relief. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Freilyn Guzmán, RHP

A 2022 Dominican signee, Guzmán got off to a rough start in the 2023 DSL A’s rotation but found more command and consistency as the season wore on. Guzmán has the makings of a potential plus changeup and shows the ability to move his fastball around. The next steps for him are to gain more confidence in his rarely-used slider, get down the mound more consistently, and carry that late-season momentum into 2024, perhaps in the ACL. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Dylan Hall, RHP

A minor league free agent signed before the 2024 season, Hall is a longtime Mets farmhand who made it all the way up to Triple-A in that system, but he’s starting 2024 in Lansing at age 26. Hall has changed his arsenal a bit from his Mets days already, working with a four-pitch mix of a 92-93 mph fastball that has surprising carry given his three-quarter release, a change with late sink, and a credible cutter/slider combination that is well-differentiated. The mix of offerings gives Hall a lot of ability to move the ball around and he has an intelligent approach on the mound, though his command is more serviceable than pinpoint and he can get hit when his pitches run out over the middle of the plate. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Camilo Hernández, RHP

A 2021 Dominican signee, Hernández didn’t stand out in his debut the following year in the DSL, but the A’s moved him to Arizona anyway for 2023 at age 19, and he became one of the ACL A’s best relievers and was moved into a starting role toward the end of the season. That makes sense, as Hernández’s combination of an 89-91 mph fastball, a power changeup with good action, and an upper-70s curve with decent spin is the sort of balanced arsenal that seems like it can hold up multiple times through the order. This is particularly true given Hernández’s easy, simple delivery and improving command. Like most young pitchers, Hernández is going to need to pick up some velocity and further refine everything to get into true prospect territory, but his progress in 2023 was exciting. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP

Hoglund was the biggest name in the Matt Chapman trade other than Chapman himself, even though he had yet to make a professional appearance at the time. Hoglund had Tommy John surgery before the 2021 draft and still was Toronto’s first round pick. Though he was initially expected to be healthy for much of 2022, a biceps injury derailed him after just a couple of late-season appearances, and he wasn’t able to return until the end of May 2023. 

It took Hoglund still further time to find a pro rhythm, as he proved very hittable in Stockton when he returned, in part because his fastball sat just 89-91 mph. Even as is ERA in the Cal League inflated to over 7, though, Hoglund still showed a number of those first-round traits, with big life to his fastball that allowed it to miss bats even at the lower velocity, lengthy, sharp slider break, and conviction in a changeup with big movement. Most notably, he still showed the ability to command all three pitches effectively to multiple areas, which was his biggest superlative as an amateur. The swing-and-miss he generated puzzlingly didn’t seem to translate to many strikeouts in Stockton, but the A’s took a chance toward the end of the year and moved Hoglund up to Lansing, where he immediately found much better results. Moved up again to Midland to open 2024, Hoglund’s pre-TJ velocity has come back a bit more, as he now sits closer to 92 mph, and he’s exaggerated the hip turn in his delivery to get more deception. He can get away with that exaggerated movement because he’s so mechanically consistent, hence the strong command. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Grant Holman, RHP

A 6th-round pick in 2021 from Cal, Holman strikes a hulking presence at 6’6” and 240 pounds, but the former two-way college star showed enough on-mound athleticism to pound the zone with strikes in the Lansing rotation in his first full season. Holman began his career pitching heavily off his sinker at 93-96 mph and racking up ground balls, but he showed up in 2023 with a very different look out of the bullpen. Whereas the prior season saw him struggle to find a swing-and-miss offering among his offspeed pitches, he’d made huge strides with his splitter and was now setting it up with a four-seamer at least as frequently as he was using the sinker. Holman immediately proved very effective with the fastball/splitter duo and struck out a ton of opponents in Midland in the summer of 2023. He’s still had trouble finding a breaking ball that comes in with sufficient bite and power, though his slider looks better in 2024, where he’s begun the season as Midland’s closer. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Garrett Irvin, LHP

An undrafted free agent from Arizona in 2022, Irvin has pitched exclusively in relief as a pro, but he still has his four-pitch arsenal from his college starting days, and all four pitches have good life to them. Irvin pitches off an 89-91 mph fastball with good spin and carry, and both his slider and curve have big break and depth. His changeup isn’t as much of a swing-and-miss pitch as the other three, but it still boasts credible sink, fade, and arm speed. Irvin was Stockton’s best reliever in his first full season and will try to maintain that stellar performance in Lansing in 2024. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Jefferson Jean, RHP

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, Jean’s only got 12 ⅔ professional innings, but he’s made an impression in them, already coming stateside in 2023. Reports have alternately put the projectable righty’s peak velocity since signing at 99 or 100 mph; he worked at 92-96 and touched 97 at age 18 in his brief official action in Arizona in 2023 before going down with an unspecified injury. Like a lot of young flamethrowers, Jean has plenty of work to do on the rest of his game: his slider still comes in too soft (80-83) and his changeup too hard (88-91), and his long arm action and somewhat busy mechanics may need some smoothing out if he’s going to pitch with precision. Still, Jean has made some mechanical strides since signing and hasn’t been wild in his brief pro action, so he’s already on the path of moving from thrower to pitcher. It’s unclear where his health stands heading into 2024; once healthy, he could be a fast riser if his talents begin to coalesce. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Colton Johnson, LHP

A 16th-round pick in 2021 from Illinois State, Johnson impressed after signing but then missed all of 2022 and 2023 after Tommy John surgery. He was sent to Lansing in a late-relief role when finally healthy to open 2024. Johnson pitches heavily off a big-breaking curveball that helps him sneak his carrying fastball, which sits about 90, past batters up in the zone. He also has a usable changeup from his days as a college starter. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Will Johnston, LHP

A 13th-round pick from Texas A&M in 2023, Johnston was mostly a reliever in college, but the A’s are trying him as a starter in Stockton in 2024, and he’s off to a big start in that role. Johnston comes at batters with an extreme overhand arm slot that delivers a carrying 90-94 mph fastball and a low-80s slurve with big depth that sometimes almost backs up like a screwball because of the extremity of Johnston’s release point. He also has a credible changeup that he manages to turn over with big depth at times, but he’s working on his command and consistency with that pitch and doesn’t use it a ton. Johnston’s motion is fairly high-effort and he’ll have to work to stay consistent with it if the starting role is going to take, but the extremity of his mechanical look and the credible fastball-slider combination already makes him a very interesting late-round selection. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Grant Judkins, RHP

A 2020 undrafted free agent out of Iowa, Judkins has moved very slowly through the A’s system, finally reaching High-A in 2024 at age 26. That’s more due to a litany of injuries, including a missed 2023, than Judkins performing poorly, as he had stretches of dominance in 2021 and 2022. He works with a clean overhand delivery and four pitches with notably strong shapes: a carrying 90-94 mph fastball, a big sweeper, a huge slow curve, and a changeup with late dive and fade. In part because of the injuries, Judkins’ command has been very inconsistent as a pro–there have been many outings (notably including the start of his 2024) where he looks dialed in across the board, but others where he starts throwing a lot of neck-high fastballs. Consistency and health are going to be imperative for him going forward. (Last updated 4/17/24)

David Leal, LHP

Leal was a 38th-round pick in 2019 from Louisiana Tech, immediately becoming one of the slowest non-sidearm throwers in recent pro baseball memory. Nevertheless, he was unhittable in Arizona after signing, as hitters couldn’t figure out the wacky rise-and-run movement on Leal’s 79-84 mph fastball, his big sweeping 66-72 mph breaking ball, or his funky low-¾ delivery. Leal made a name for himself by showing impeccable command of both offerings and his mid-70s changeup, enough to find success at both A-ball levels in 2021 and move up to Midland early in 2022, where he remained a dependable starting pitcher. Leal’s ability to miss a lot of bats with his stuff did diminish considerably in the Texas League, however, so the A’s moved him to relief in 2023, where he did experience a bit of a velocity spike late in the year that saw him topping out at 88 mph. He’s experimenting with a true sidearm look in 2024. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Alejandro Manzáno, RHP

Nicknamed “El Profesor” for his goggled appearance on the mound, Manzáno has shown a fittingly cerebral approach to pitching after being signed out of Venezuela in 2021. He was already 20 by the time he debuted in the DSL the following year, but Manzáno stood out for his very low walk rates in Rookie ball and made it up to Stockton late in 2023. Back in the Ports rotation in 2024, Manzáno has taken up more of a sinker-heavy approach than he had previously, dropping his arm slot to a low-¾ look. The delivery is simple and Manzáno is quite balanced over the rubber, though a wrist wrap in the back of his arm action occasionally impedes his command and sends the sinker running into the righthanded batter’s box. Manzáno sits 89-92 mph with the sinker and an occasional four-seamer and mixing in an 82-84 mph sinking changeup, a low-80s slider that he’s tightened a bit in 2024, and an occasional upper-70s curve. The change appears to be the most consistent offspeed offering Manzáno has from a movement perspective, and it’s the one he trusts the most, but he actually got superlative results from the breaking pitches in 2023. As he settles into full-season ball in the Stockton rotation in 2024, the question will be how well Manzáno can develop these pitches into putaway offerings. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Cole Miller, RHP

An overslot signee as a 4th-rounder out of a California high school in 2023, Miller has yet to make his pro debut because of Tommy John surgery in spring 2024. When healthy, the projectable 6’6” righthander bumped 94 mph with his fastball while showing off a promising hard slurve and a functional changeup. We’ll hopefully learn more about his professional capabilities in 2025. (Last updated 8/13/24)

Luis Morales, RHP

The A’s gave Morales the biggest bonus for a pitcher ever in the current capped international signing system, and the heralded Cuban defector looked the part in his 2023 pro debut, quickly ascending to Lansing and showing an electric four-pitch mix. Morales has reportedly hit 100 in games, his slider is a wipeout weapon when he locates it, and his curve and changeup are very credible offerings already as well. Given the quality of his stuff, Morales has had an easy time at the minors’ lower levels, but it’s an open question how he’ll handle more advanced hitters, since he hasn’t had to command his pitches precisely to get batters out yet. He is a supremely athletic pitcher with very good balance over the rubber, but his arm action is very long and he’s tended to bury his offspeed pitches in the dirt looking for chases rather than getting them over for called strikes. Morales has plenty of time to adjust and figure out the finer points of pitching, though. After being held out with some arm fatigue to open 2024, he should be assigned to Lansing again early in the season. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Gerson Moreno, RHP

A Tigers farmhand from 2013-22 who was once viewed as their possible future closer, Moreno came over to the A’s organization in 2024 after a year with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate. He’s a classic mid-90s fastball/mid-80s gyro slider reliever, though he’s leaned more heavily on an intriguing splitter in 2024 than he had in prior organizations. He’s been very hard to hit in his career because of his velocity and the deception he gets from his three-quarter release, but the stiffness of his arm action can lead to bouts of spotty command. At age 28, he’ll look to more emphatically solve Triple-A and get his first big league look. (Last updated 4/17/24)

Kade Morris, RHP

Morris was the Mets’ third rounder in 2023 and came over to the A’s organization in exchange for Paul Blackburn the following summer in the midst of a solid campaign in High-A. He’s an athletic righty with a prototypical and still-projectable pitcher’s frame, employing an east-west sinker-slider sort of approach with a slightly deceptive low-¾ delivery. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate, because Morris throws a four-seamer and huge mid-70’s curve from a higher true ¾ slot, while the sinker, slider, and power changeup come from the lower angle. Whether that slot inconsistency will cause Morris problems down the line is unclear, but for now, the mix of pitches and movement has made Morris effective. He sits 92-95 with good action on both fastballs, which have a shocking difference between them in inducing grounders vs. flies (the sinker proving impossible to lift while the four-seamer is rarely grounded). The slider has been his most-used pitch in the early going in his new organization, a tight mid-80s offering that plays well off the fastballs. The curve and change serve tertiary roles in Morris’ arsenal but move sharply and keep hitters (especially lefties) off balance. Though all of his pitches have something to recommend them, none of them quite function as out pitches right now. That oddly starts to make him sound a lot like Blackburn, more of a groundball/control artist who can throw a ton of different looks at opponents to keep them off balance. Morris still has time and physical projection to try to find another gear, but getting to Blackburn’s level obviously wouldn’t be a bad thing given what Blackburn was able to accomplish in an A’s uniform. (Last updated 8/12/24)

Mitch Myers, RHP

Drafted in the 12th round of 2021 out of Pittsburgh, Myers has been a workhorse starter in A-ball since the start of 2022, taking the ball every week and pitching deep into games, pounding the strike zone with a traditional four-pitch mix and a clean delivery. At his best, Myers has sat 92-94 mph with carry, two distinct breaking balls in his looping curve and a slider he’s modified a couple of times as a pro, and a power changeup that doesn’t get much velocity separation but does sink sharply. He’s a very quick worker on the mound who keeps his defense involved in the game and can make opponents uncomfortable with the rapid pace of their plate appearances, but Myers has also gone through stretches where his velocity has backed up to 89-91, and none of his pitches have ever graded out as clear plus offerings. He’ll look to take a step forward in 2024 repeating Lansing. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Alvin Nova, RHP

A 2022 signee from the Dominican Republic, Nova missed a lot of bats in a swing role in the DSL the following year. Watching him, it’s not hard to see why, because the lanky righty is all about deception and movement. His low-¾ delivery and unorthodox long arm action hide the ball, setting up the wonky late movement on his running heater, sweeping slider, and sinking changeup. All three pitches miss a ton of bats at the Rookie level, and Nova has projection remaining to bring some heat later on. Like a lot of deception/movement-oriented relievers, though, he’ll have to prove he can continue to throw strikes against batters who are less chase-prone at higher levels. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Jack O'Loughlin, LHP

A longtime Tigers farmhand, the Australian O’Loughlin hit minor league free agency at the end of the 2023 season after being skipped straight from High-A to Triple-A that year and turning in a serviceable season as a starter in Toledo. Just 23 when he hit free agency, O’Loughlin elected to sign with the A’s, who kept him in the Triple-A rotation to open 2024. O’Loughlin is a classic four-pitch lefty who operates with a clean delivery and the ability to access all four quadrants of the strike zone. He’s had a bit of a velo spike over the past couple of years and has topped out at 96 in 2024, though he’s struggled to hold that velocity all the way through his starts and tends to settle in at 90-94. All three of his offspeeds have credible shape and can miss bats, but the fastball can straighten out and get hit hard when O’Loughlin leaves it out over the plate. He’ll have to walk a tightrope in Vegas, but O’Loughlin is one of the A’s youngest arms at that level and will look to distinguish himself in the crowded group of upper-minors starters vying for MLB looks in 2024. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Michel Otañez, RHP

Signed in 2023 as a minor league free agent, the flamethrowing Otañez is on his third organization at age 26. The A’s are giving him a crack at Triple-A, where he’s struggled to throw strikes in the Mets and Diamondbacks organizations, but he’s gotten off to a promising start in that department in Las Vegas in 2024. Despite its 98-100 mph velocity–he’s topped out above 102 mph in 2024–Otañez’s fastball doesn’t get a ton of swings and misses, but its sinking shape makes it tough to lift (an asset in Vegas!) and his mid-80s slider can put batters away. With those two massive weapons in his arsenal, any further progress Otañez can make in going from thrower to pitcher should lift him to the big leagues. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Jack Owen, LHP

A 2021 undrafted free agent out of Auburn, Owen has spent most of his career in High-A Lansing, consistently putting up solid numbers at that level as both a starter and reliever. He’s one of the slowest throwers in the system, sitting in the mid-80s with his four-seamer, but he repeats his delivery impeccably and spots the fastball on the corners at will, unafraid to come inside to righties. His most consistent secondary pitch is his sinking changeup that comes in around 80 mph, but he’s played around with a kitchen-sink array of other offspeeds in his pro career, throwing a mid-70s sweeper, a big bloop curve at 70-73, a cutter around 80, and a two-seamer. None of them are plus pitches, though the breaking stuff flashes sharpness at times, but Owen’s craftiness has made him a formidable opponent for even the top prospects at the High-A level. He’s in the Lansing bullpen to open 2024 and is a terrific utility pitcher to have around. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Josnier Parra, RHP

Signed at age 20 in 2022 from Venezuela, Parra was the oldest pitcher on the 2023 DSL A’s and held his own in his pro debut. He’s around the zone thanks to a simple delivery, throwing a mix of sinkers and four-seamers and inducing weak contact. Parra’s curve and change will need to come along further to put batters away at higher levels. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Colin Peluse, RHP

Picked in the 9th round in 2019 out of Wake Forest, Peluse mirrored the A’s organization’s previous 9th-rounder, Chase Cohen, in picking up a ton of velocity across the 2020 layoff and then having trouble holding it. Drafted as a low-90s finesse pitcher, he showed up to fall camp in 2020 hitting 98 routinely, then became one of the organization’s best pitching prospects in 2021 when he blew the fastball–at 93-96 with big ride and run–past hitters up and armside over and over again. Unfortunately, the velocity tailed off into the 91-94 range in 2022 and further to 90-93 in 2023, and even a move to the bullpen in Triple-A didn’t do much to restore it. Peluse still commands the fastball very well and comes right after hitters with the pitch, but his short slider and power changeup have never developed into swing-and-miss weapons, so he’s had to be a fastball-dominant pitcher even at the lower velocity. Peluse was sent down to Midland to open 2024 to try to regroup. If the velocity spike ever returns (as Cohen’s did in mid-2023), the fastball life and command would get Peluse right back on the map. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Manuel Pérez, RHP

Pérez was a relatively unheralded Dominican signee in 2022, but he did dependable work in the DSL A’s rotation that year as the only 16-year-old on an A’s organization roster. Given a repeat of the DSL the following year, he had a few erratic moments but many dominant appearances, striking out well over a batter per inning while still short of his eighteenth birthday. Pérez is still thus very young in 2024, but he already has both significant experience and loud stuff, with a carrying fastball that can hit 96 and three sharp offspeed pitches. Pérez’s slider already has a tightness you don’t often see in pitchers his age, he flashes the ability to sell a changeup with good arm speed, and his slower curveball has enough shape to develop into a weapon as well. Pérez is less projectable than many pitchers his age, however, and though he is relatively mechanically straightforward and consistent, he’s a below-average on-mound athlete who struggles to field his position. The stuff should still play, though, and he could really emerge in 2024. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Jack Perkins, RHP

Drafted out of Indiana in the 5th round in 2022, Perkins arrived in the A’s system with a long history of command inconsistency, but a change to his arm action in his first pro offseason brought about dramatic improvements in that regard in 2023, as he quickly emerged as Lansing’s ace and reached Midland at midseason. Perkins brings a mid-90s fastball with excellent carry that he can muscle past hitters and his hard hybrid breaking ball in the mid-80s is a second putaway weapon. He also throws a solid hard cutter around 90 mph and a changeup that made strides in 2023 after he didn’t throw one in college. Perkins has had some injury trouble since he reached the Double-A level–he’s on the 7-day IL there to open 2024–and that may or may not be related to some velocity fluctuation he experienced down the stretch in 2023. When healthy and right, he looks the part of a very legitimate big league starter, but though he made big strides across 2023, Perkins will need to make a couple more once healthy to cement that as his long-term role. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Jake Pfennigs, RHP

A towering 6’7” presence who was a standout high school basketball player, Pfennigs was the A’s 13th-round pick in 2022 from Oregon State. Even at his height, Pfennigs has a very vertical release that presents a unique look as his pitches descend from the mountaintop. He utilized a kitchen-sink repertoire of a 92-94 mph fastball, a solid cutter and 12-6 curve, and an occasional changeup and slider in 2023, where he was alternately electric and wild in the Stockton rotation in the season’s opening weeks, then hit the IL with arm trouble from which he has yet to return in 2024. (Last updated 4/18/24)

José Pínto, RHP

Pínto was an older signee in 2022–already 19–from Venezuela, and thus he was already 20 by the time he debuted in the DSL the following year. His performance, walking over twice as many batters as he struck out, doesn’t inspire much confidence, but he was up to 94 mph and showed a solid changeup. Like a lot of inexperienced pitchers, Pínto has a relatively clean motion that he nonetheless struggles to finish, leaving a lot of pitches tailing armside and forcing him to rely very heavily on the fastball, in particular turning to his slider very rarely. He obviously needs to get things moving in the right direction in a hurry, but Pínto’s stuff and athleticism clearly outpace his early pro results. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Brayan Polánco, RHP

A 2022 Dominican signee, Polánco is 6’6” and 180 pounds with one of the longest arm actions you'll ever see, all of which means he’s very raw in coordinating his motion to the plate; as such, he struggled with wildness in the DSL in 2023 in his pro debut. He did have a couple of outings where he was able to find the plate, and he flashed some firmness to his fastball to go with a big-breaking curveball and a changeup that has some life. Polánco is obviously a long-term project, but he has the makings of interesting stuff if he can ever find mechanical consistency. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Blaze Pontes, RHP

A 16th-round pick out of Hawai’i in 2022, Pontes served as one of Stockton’s best relievers in his first full season, then moved to the rotation in Lansing to open 2024. That move to starting makes sense, even though he wasn’t a full-time starter in college, because Pontes has shown a balanced mix of pitches and strong east-west command as a pro thus far. His simple delivery allows him to spot his running two-seamer to either side of the plate, and he can go to a four-seamer to change eye levels. He’ll throw a slider with varying shape than can miss bats and a credible sinking change. Pontes reportedly was up to 96 as an amateur but has mostly worked in the 89-92 mph range in pro ball. If he can pick up a little bit more velocity, it would give the rest of his skillset more of a chance to play up as he advances, but he’s already been a nice find for his draft status. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Tom Reisinger III, RHP

Picked in the 10th round of 2023 out of East Stroudsburg University, Reisinger was sent to the Stockton rotation to open his first full season. He’s got a classic pitcher’s build and is a solid athlete, a relatively easy and simple motion, and a wide arsenal to work from. Reisinger was assigned to the Stockton rotation to open 2024 and has had mixed results, showing considerable promise at times and struggling with consistency and hittability at others. His velocity has been a couple of ticks below the 90-93 he sat in college, and Reisinger’s arm slot has been very inconsistent, almost vertical when he throws his impressive 12-6 curve but sometimes down near low-¾. He also has a short cutter, slurvy, deep slider, and a running change to go with two different fastballs and the curve. Reisinger can spin the ball very well, and all of his pitches have their moments, but overall, it feels like he’s searching for a consistent identity on the mound–he’s looked like a different pitcher outing-to-outing early in 2024. Given the early juncture he’s at in his pro career and the number of tools he has to play around with, that’s understandable. He’ll no doubt be looking for that more consistent identity, along with the lost velocity, as the season progresses. (Last updated 4/28/24)

Brayan Restituyo, LHP

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2020, Restituyo has had two solid years in Arizona, first as a starter in 2022 and then in the bullpen in 2023. Still not sent to full-season ball in 2024 at age 22, Restituyo works with a credible three-pitch mix from the left side, with a lively low-90s fastball, a big upper-70s sweeper, and a changeup that flashes wipeout action. He does have a high-effort delivery and can overthrow and lose the zone at times, but Restituyo is a renowned competitor who pitches with a good sense of sequencing and can outthink opponents. He’s ready for a full-season look when he gets it, though he’ll have to prove he can stay consistent against tougher competition. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Royber Salinas, RHP

Salinas was a key part of the Sean Murphy trade in the 2022 offseason after he racked up a ton of strikeouts across Atlanta’s two A-ball levels the prior year. Sent to Midland in 2023, Salinas continued to miss bats, and he found the strike zone more consistently than he had earlier in his career, as the A’s helped him get more consistent pace to the plate after he had previously tended to rush his delivery. Salinas is built like Frankie Montas and cuts a big figure on the mound, and he’s got loud stuff, with a fastball that sits 92-96 mph with carry and finish and has occasionally neared triple digits. He’s changed his breaking ball usage a fair bit over the past couple of years and has shown the ability to throw a cutter, slider, and a curveball with good bite; after favoring the curve more in his Atlanta days, he’s favored the harder breaking pitches with the A’s. Salinas’ power changeup lags behind the breakers, but it has its moments, and he doesn’t need to use it much because the curve and cutter can play to lefties. Salinas did look out of shape in 2023 and still has moments where his feel for pitching looks fairly crude, and he notably tended to get lit up in opening innings in 2023 before dominating the rest of the way. He also battled injuries in 2023 that impacted his consistency, but even with all that considered, the A’s adding him to the 40-man roster over the offseason was an easy call. Salinas is back in Midland in 2024 looking to consolidate his progress and looks to be in better shape. If he can stay healthy, he doesn’t need that much more to come together before he’s a big league rotation candidate. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Yehizon Sanchez, RHP

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2018, Sanchez has long had very loud stuff, but he’s struggled to harness it with much consistency, entering 2024 with a career ERA near 7. Sanchez first made it to full-season ball in late 2021 and immediately showed a mid-90s sinker and a slider that flashed wipeout tilt. He also has an average changeup with similar movement to the sinker. Sanchez is now 23 and still hasn’t filled out physically, and his lack of strength impacts his ability to finish his delivery consistency. He thus has bouts of wildness and tends to fall behind in counts, and though he’s a good enough athlete to find the zone frequently enough to avoid huge walk totals, he allowed an alarming number of home runs–especially for a sinker-oriented groundball pitcher–in Stockton in 2022 and 2023. After a particularly rough start in the latter season saw him carry a double-digit ERA for two months, Sanchez was sent back to Arizona to regroup, and even though that didn’t lead to huge results, the A’s decided not to subject Sanchez to Banner Island Ballpark again and bumped him up to Lansing for 2024 in hopes the power stuff would coalesce in a pure relief role at the High-A level. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Pedro Santos, RHP

Signed out of Cuba in 2019, Santos’ arm strength stood out in Stockton in 2021, as he routinely worked his fastball into the upper 90s, but his secondary pitches were raw and he walked nearly a batter per inning, struggling to get down the mound with consistency. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2022, but he was able to return by Opening Day 2023, showcasing a much-improved curveball in a relief role. The addition of a cutter that May gave Santos a secondary pitch that he could land for strikes more consistently than the curve, allowing him to finally gain some outing-to-outing consistency, move up to Lansing, and pitch well enough there to get another bump to Midland to open 2024. Santos still sits around 96 with the carrying heater, the curve tops out at 81 with massive vertical snap, the cutter sits in the low 90s, and he’s an imposing physical presence on the mound at 6’5” 250. All that separates Santos from big-league bullpen success is increased mechanical consistency: in particular, his motion is rotationally-oriented and his shoulders can get off line to the target as he uncoils his somewhat unorthodox arm action. It is nonetheless a fairly fluid operation overall, so possibilities remain for Santos to take further steps forward. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Tzu-Chen Sha, RHP

Sha was the second-straight notable Taiwanese pitcher signed by the A’s, coming over in the 2022 offseason after Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang the previous year, and like Zhuang, Sha’s career started with a bang, as he was unhittable in Arizona as a debuting 19-year-old in 2023 and became the first A’s-signed teenager to throw more than 15 innings in Low-A since Jesus Zambrano in 2016. Sha’s deceptive cross-body motion hides the ball well, and he’s a notable master of spin, with his fastball and slider coming in at very high RPM and his split-like change coming with way less spin than the other offerings. Sha was much more hittable in Stockton than he was in the ACL, in part because his velocity tailed off as the season went on, falling from 91-93 early to more 89-91. He still threw a ton of strikes in Low-A despite all the moving parts in his motion and could return to his bat-missing ways if he can get stronger–he’s still very skinny and just 20. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Yeferson Sílva, RHP

Signed out of Venezuela in 2022, Sílva was inconsistent in the DSL the following year in a swing role, but he found more success in the command department as the year progressed, and he flashed the makings of a potential plus changeup to go with his fastball and slider. Silva will look to build on that foundation in 2024. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Shohei Tomioka, RHP

Signed out of Japan at an open tryout in 2020 after he’d barely pitched in college and had drifted into company-league baseball there, Tomioka had to wait a year to make his US debut at age 25 in Lansing, and he showed a surprisingly balanced four-pitch mix for somebody with so little formal experience. The A’s tried to make him into a starter due to his clean delivery and that wide array of pitches, but it didn’t take, and an injury scuttled plans to move him to Midland in 2022; he ended up spending the second half of the year back in Lansing and didn’t look right until the season was almost over and he was moved to a closing role. Finally in the upper minors in 2023 at age 27, Tomioka topped out at 97 mph and toyed around with his arsenal a couple of times, turning his cutter into a slider and then dropping it altogether. Back in Midland in 2024 after a brief stint in Las Vegas late in 2023, he seems to still have his arsenal pared down to fastball/curve/change. Though all of his pitches–including the for-now-discarded-ones–have had their moments as a pro, Tomioka has never gotten any of them into consistent plus territory, which has made it tough for him to finish batters off when his command isn’t fully dialed in. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Donny Trocónis, RHP

A 2022 signee from Venezuela, Trocónis was a dependable starter for the DSL A’s in 2023 at age 17 and showed a lot of promise for the future. He has a very prototypical pitcher’s frame and easy delivery with plenty of projection remaining, and his fastball already climbs into the low 90s with some run and ride. He also breaks off a shapely curveball that plays well off the fastball, and while his changeup is a clear third pitch at present, he does have some confidence in it. Trocónis understandably has a long way to go in terms of consistency to enter the big league conversation, and each of his pitches is more about future potential than their current bat-missing ability, but he could prove to be an exciting pitcher to watch if he can get stronger and continue to develop. (Last updated 4/16/24)

Yunior Tur, RHP

A big Cuban who the A’s signed in 2023, Tur debuted in Arizona as a 23-year-old but was quickly moved to Stockton. He’s always been known for his big size, long limbs, and arm strength, as he’s touched 99 mph with solid life as a pro, using his big wingspan to get way down the mound and muscle the fastball by opponents. Tur’s changeup flashes solid-average when he finishes it, and he also has a short gyro slider that can break late and surprise batters. Tur is a solid athlete who is fairly fluid on the mound, but like a lot of big guys, any mechanical inconsistencies can get magnified and lead to sizeable misses in location, and he’s had elevated walk totals dating back to his Cuban pro ball days. Since he signed at age 23, the A’s can afford to take things slow with Tur, so they’ve moved him to the Stockton rotation in 2024 to try to take advantage of his starter’s frame and three-pitch mix. He’s worked more in the 92-94 mph range as a starter, but power relief is always a fallback option, as he’s shown he can dial the velocity up in that role. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Roberto Urdanéta, RHP

Signed out of Venezuela in 2022, Urdanéta struggled to find the zone in his DSL debut the following year, but he did already sit around 90 mph at age 17. The wiry righty mixes in a slider and changeup. (Last updated 4/15/24)

Norge Vera, RHP

A former top prospect in the White Sox organization, Vera’s pro career–which saw him make it up to Double-A–was derailed by injuries and wildness that led to his release in 2024, after which the A’s signed him; they quickly sent the 24-year-old to Stockton after a brief stint in Arizona. Vera hasn’t quite showed the high-octane velocity that he used to have in past years, but he’s still sat 92-95 with big carry and showed a splitter with shockingly low spin rates, often down near 500 RPM. He’s toyed around with his breaking stuff–sometimes showing a bigger curve, other times a tighter, vertical slurve–and hasn’t quite gotten it to come in with imposing shape and finish, but sometimes it spins in nearly 3000 RPM above the splitter. It’s an intriguing pitch mix even at this lower velo, to say nothing of Vera’s old 96-99 mph from his White Sox days, and it’s led to the Cuban piling up the strikeouts in a relief role in Stockton, though that’s hardly a big test given his age and previous success at the Low-A level. Still, Vera has struggled to tame his command and is inconsistent mechanically in maintaining balance and repeating his deep, vertical arm action. Some of that trouble can still be attributed to the fact that Vera is still shy of 100 pro innings because of past injuries, so if further health and experience can allow him to make inroads, he could emerge as a quick-moving reliever from here. (Last updated 8/14/24)

Alvin Véras, RHP

One of the more heralded members of the A’s 2022 international signing class, this Dominican righthander didn’t pitch much in the DSL in 2023, but when he did, he missed a lot of bats. He already can sit in the low 90s and shows confidence in his offspeed pitches, a slider and changeup. Veras is being brought along as a starter but was kept on an extremely short leash in 2023 even by DSL standards, only working three innings in a start once, so 2024 should better reveal how his stuff plays multiple times through the order, perhaps in Arizona. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Jake Walkinshaw, RHP

A 36th-round pick in 2019 out of Southern New Hampshire, Walkinshaw has been quite effective when he’s been healthy, but he hasn’t pitched in almost a year as of this writing and is currently on the 60-day IL. He has way more stuff than somebody with his low draft status typically would, headlined by a fastball that gets tremendous sink despite Walkinshaw’s nearly vertical release. It makes him very tough to lift, and he can dial the sinker up to 96 when he needs to; it typically cruises more in the low 90s. Walkinshaw’s changeup similarly falls off the table, his slider has big two-plane break that resembles a curve at times, and he can surprise hitters who grow accustomed to the vertical nature of his arsenal by suddenly turning to a carrying four-seamer. He’s an extremely intelligent pitcher who plays with velocity and pitch shapes and has spent several years doing R&D work for a pitching lab. For all the fun movement on Walkinshaw’s pitches and his solid command of each, he didn’t miss a lot of bats in Las Vegas in 2022 or Midland in 2023, so whenever he can get back on the mound, that will be the hurdle for him to clear. Chances are he’s spent a lot of time thinking through pitch design solutions while he’s been on the shelf. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Jacob Watters, RHP

The top pitcher the A’s selected in the 2022 draft (4th round), Watters entered pro ball with a reputation for huge stuff but difficulty throwing strikes, and that’s mostly held true as he’s spent basically all of the intervening time in the Lansing rotation. Watters sits in the mid-90s with a four seamer and sinker, and he uses them to set up a curve with unreal break given its mid-80s velocity. He’s also got a splitter that will show wipeout action and big velocity separation. It’s all plenty of stuff to start, but Watters’ tightly wound delivery and stiff arm action subtract from his pitchability, and the top-shelf movement on all of his pitches doesn’t help him locate them. The prognosis since his amateur days is that Watters will eventually move to the bullpen. The A’s have understandably given him time to start given the stuff quality–and the increased reps the role provides–but that move remains a seeming inevitability at this point. When it occurs, the assessment of how much Watters’ command will be a long-term hindrance will become clearer. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Jack Weisenburger, RHP

A 20th-rounder from Michigan in 2019, Weisenburger quickly established himself as a dominant High-A closer in 2021, but he’s been in Midland since fairly early in that season, largely because of Tommy John surgery early in 2022 and somewhat because his command hasn’t held up very well in the upper minors. Weisenburger is best known for a big sweeper that comes in around 80 mph, complementing a fastball that sits 91-95 with good riding life. A decent changeup had long been his third pitch, but he added a cutter in late 2023 in a bid to find the zone more consistently after his command was slow to return post-TJ. He’s still been erratic early in 2024 but remains hard to hit, and Weisenburger is a good athlete with a relatively simple motion, so he could find another gear as he gets further from the injury layoff. (Last updated 4/18/24)

Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, RHP

Zhuang looked like a tremendous find by the Asian arm of the A’s international scouting department in 2022, as the Taiwanese righty blew Cal League hitters away and commanded all of his pitches very well despite having little experience for a 21-year-old. However, arm trouble derailed his season a couple of months in and Zhuang didn’t make it back to the mound until after the 2023 season was over, too. Now 23 and finally healthy again–to my knowledge, he avoided major surgery but instead had a number of rehab setbacks in 2023–Zhuang was assigned back to the Stockton rotation in 2024 and still looks like his old self, touching 97 mph with huge carry and showing vast array of offspeed pitches headlined by a plus changeup with massive depth and fade. He also works in a two-seamer, curve, slider, cutter, and splitter, and seemingly is toying around with different shapes and repertoire options early in 2024. With that in mind, Zhuang tends to vary seemingly everything a lot, adding and subtracting with the fastball in an unusually large–nearly 10 mph–velocity range and employing the kitchen-sink approach with all the offspeeds. When it comes to the breaking stuff, generally harder has been better for Zhuang, who has flashed wipeout action with a cutter/slider look. His slower curveball, originally his primary breaking ball in 2022, can be an effective get-me-over offering but is too slow and loose to miss bats with much consistency. Zhuang’s delivery has some of the features that are often associated with Asian pitchers, driving hard off his back leg and occasionally incorporating some hesitation at balance point, but it’s a simple motion and Zhuang has had little trouble throwing strikes as a pro. He does, perhaps as a result of the vast repertoire, sometimes move his arm slot around and could stand to get his release more consistent to ensure his pitches will continue to tunnel effectively at higher levels. The organization is handling Zhuang carefully in 2024, stretching him out slowly after the long injury layoff. As soon as he’s stretched out, he could jump up to Lansing and beyond and reestablish himself as one of the organization’s best pitching prospects. (Last updated 4/28/24)