Sorting through the A’s second-half auditions is getting tricky, because the answers are anything but clean.
At 38-38, this looked like a club in the middle of a contending season and even “on pace to win the AL West,” but the collapse that followed has left them at 52-80 and deep into evaluation mode. With injuries wiping out seasons for Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, Tyler Soderstrom, and Luis Severino, a bunch of reserves have been pushed into bigger roles. The problem is figuring out which of them actually belong in the future picture.
Henry Bolte is one of the more fascinating cases. His year has been a roller coaster in thirds - “great/awful/great” - and the raw numbers are encouraging: .270/.345/.369, 103 wRC+, 14 stolen bases, plus-4 DRS and plus-2 OAA in center field.
He’s only 23 and has played just 88 games, so there’s still plenty of runway. But there are real questions under the surface.
Bolte has been much better at home than on the road, hitting .313/.380/.422 with a 124 wRC+ at Sutter Health Park, compared with .226/.311/.315 and an 81 wRC+ away from it. The split against pitchers also bears watching: versus lefties he’s at .274/.333/.442 with a 116 wRC+, while against righties he’s at .267/.353/.322 with a 95 wRC+. A lot of his damage against right-handers has come on choppers he beat out on the infield, not loud contact.
The talent is obvious, but the defensive sloppiness is part of the evaluation too. Bolte has already been charged with six errors in center, including bobbles and dropped fly balls, and that’s not new for him after a similar pattern in the minors. The swing is still a work in progress as well, especially if the goal is a player who can lift the ball more consistently and keep the strikeouts from climbing back into the 30s.
Jack Perkins is another player who leaves you wanting a clearer read. The stuff looks like that of a No. 2 or No. 3 starter, but it hasn’t translated to results, as shown by his 6.68 ERA in 90.1 innings. His control can vanish, and there’s a sense he settles in only after the game has already started to tilt against him.
There is some good in his 2026 season. He’s stayed healthy for almost the first time in his pro career, and his strikeout rate - 10.36 per nine innings - shows he can miss bats and disrupt hitters.
But the inconsistency keeps showing up. In yesterday’s bulk appearance, Perkins walked four batters in the first inning and forced in a run with the last one, then cruised for a stretch before an E-6 on Darell Hernaiz extended the inning and led to a two-run homer.
Both runs were unearned, but the sequence still captured the bigger issue: the margin for error is thin when the command isn’t there.
That leaves Donovan Walton, who has forced his way into the conversation in a different way. If the question is which hitter other players should watch and copy, Walton makes a strong case. His at-bats have been disciplined and stubborn, even after falling behind 0-2, and since joining the A’s he has produced an elite 16.9% walk rate while spraying the ball to all fields.
That makes him intriguing as a possible utility infielder for 2027, especially with Gelof, Wilson, and Kuroda-Grauer in the mix. Walton is also the only left-handed bat in that group unless the A’s re-sign Jeff McNeil after undoubtedly declining his club option.
But the fit isn’t perfect. Walton’s defense is a problem, with negative career marks at second, short, and third, including -11 at second.
The bigger question is whether the bat is real. Walton’s career batting averages before this season were .188, .154, 206, .158, .136, and .125 going back to his rookie year in 2019.
So the idea that he suddenly figured it out at age 32 is hard to buy at face value. Still, he has been excellent at the plate this year, and that leaves the A’s with the same puzzle that runs through all of these evaluations: who is actually for real?
In Other News...
A's Top Prospect Suddenly Faces A Big Development Concern
Leo De Vries rise through the Athletics system has been one of the more encouraging developments in the organization this year, with the 19-year-old infielder turning in career-best offense for Double-A Midland. The top prospect had been giving the club plenty to dream on as he continued to build momentum in a season that looked like a major step forward.
Now the picture has shifted. De Vries was placed on the Double-A injured list because of a sore right shoulder, and the concern is significant enough that it may close the book on his regular season in the minors. There is still a possible path to game action in the Arizona Fall League if he is healthy enough by then, but for now the priority is simply getting his throwing arm back to where it needs to be. [Read more 🡒]
A's Keep Getting What They Need From Bolte Except Where It Counts
Henry Bolte has given the Athletics plenty to like this month, and Sundays loss to the Twins was another reminder of how quickly he is becoming part of the conversation in Oakland. The rookie has been swinging it well in August and continues to stand out as one of the clubs more encouraging young pieces, exactly the kind of player manager Mark Kotsay has pointed to as part of the groups future.
What Oakland could not get, though, was enough help behind him to turn that promise into a win. The bullpen let Minnesota build and extend its lead, leaving the As to chase the game late before a ninth-inning rally fell short in a 9-6 defeat. For a team trying to find out which parts of the rebuild can travel with it, Bolte keeps checking important boxes, but the rest of the roster still has to match that pace. [Read more 🡒]
A's Add Another Arm As A Costly Roster Consequence Emerges
Roster churn brought another arm to the Athletics on a week when they had to make room elsewhere. Tampa Bay had designated right-hander Chris Roycroft for assignment to clear a spot for Manuel Rodriguez's activation from the 60-day injured list, and two days later Oakland stepped in and claimed Roycroft off waivers. It gives the A's another live option on the pitching side and marks his third team in 2026.
The move did not come without a cost, because Oakland had to open a spot on its 40-man roster to make the claim work. That shuffle sent shortstop Jacob Wilson to the 60-day injured list, a reminder that even a seemingly straightforward waiver pickup can ripple through a roster in a hurry for a club trying to keep depth intact. [Read more 🡒]