Injuries have forced the Athletics to lean on youth this season, and that has already opened the door for a few unexpected arrivals. Henry Bolte reached the big leagues early in the year, and Tommy White also made his debut, even though White was viewed by many scouts as a future first baseman with Nick Kurtz already holding that spot.
Now Jamie Arnold is pushing toward that same kind of leap.
The A’s used the first overall pick on the Florida State left-hander last summer, and he has wasted little time turning heads in the minors. Arnold has been a standout for the Midland Rockhounds at Double-A, and his rise has become one of the more eye-catching developments in the organization.
That ascent is even more notable given where he came from in the draft conversation. Arnold was projected as a fourth overall prospect before sliding all the way to the A’s outside the top 10, a drop that surprised plenty of people around the game.
His production in Midland has backed up the buzz. Arnold owns a 3.88 ERA across 21 starts and 102 innings, with 45 walks and 112 strikeouts. That strikeout total puts him tied for the organization lead at 105 during his debut campaign, and he recently logged a career high in punchouts in a strong outing for Double-A.
The stuff is what makes the package so intriguing. Arnold’s 60-grade fastball and 65-grade slider give him a profile that could play loudly in the majors, and the A’s clearly have reason to believe he can become a real weapon.
Control has been part of the conversation, too, but not in a way that has slowed him down. His 55-grade control has not been a concern, and he has continued to prove scouts wrong at Double-A while handling the workload of a starter.
The next step is where things get interesting. Promoting Leo De Vries to Triple-A has been discussed as a move that could help his confidence because of the hitter-friendly environment at Las Vegas Ballpark.
But for pitchers, that same stop can be a different story. The Las Vegas Aviators’ ERAs are said to be inflated by the ballpark, which could make that jump less appealing for a pitcher like Arnold.
That’s why the A’s could take an unusual route and leave Arnold in Double-A before calling him straight to the majors. It is not a common path, but it may make sense here. Arnold was dominant in college, has already shown he can be a solid starter, and Oakland is far enough out of contention that it can afford to see whether a potential star arm is ready to help now.
In Other News...
Athletics Rotation Faces A Real Test Against Texas This Week
The Athletics head into this weeks matchup with Texas knowing the rotation is about to be asked some real questions. The series features a run of young and uneven starters on both sides, with Gage Jump and J.T. Ginn giving Oakland different looks and the Rangers countering with arms like Kumar Rocker and Cody Bradford. For a club trying to steady itself, this is the kind of series that can expose where the pitching staff is holding up and where the cracks still show.
One pitcher in particular has quietly given Oakland a better baseline to work from since coming back up from the minors, and his recent stretch has stood out even in a group that has needed innings wherever it can get them. He was also the first Oakland starter in 43 games to get through seven innings, which says plenty about how much the As have been looking for length from their rotation. With Texas looming and the matchups lined up across the series, the bigger question now is whether that stability can carry over when the games start to decide something. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Season Just Hit An Even More Depressing New Low
The Athletics season already had a bleak look, and now it has landed in a spot no team wants to reach in August: no obvious player standing out as a major award candidate. Joel Reuter of The Athletic noted that Oakland does not appear to have a legitimate case for one of the leagues headline honors this year, a reflection of both the clubs rough overall performance and the way its roster has thinned out as the summer has worn on.
Shea Langeliers had been one of the brighter spots for Oakland before his year was cut short, and Nick Kurtz was giving the club another name to point to before his own setback. With those two unavailable, the Athletics are left without a clear path to recognition in categories like Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Reliever of the Year, Cy Young or Rookie of the Year, which says plenty about how quickly the season has slipped away from any individual silver lining. [Read more 🡒]