The Athletics may have found their latest fast-track pitching prospect in Jamie Arnold.
After years of leaning on first-round bats, the A’s finally used their top pick on a pitcher last year, taking the Florida State left-hander with the kind of pedigree that suggested he could move quickly. He was the first pitcher selected by the club with its top pick since A.J. Puk in 2016, ending a nine-year run without a first-round arm.
That decision is already looking pretty sharp. Arnold didn’t pitch after the draft, then jumped straight into Double-A to begin his pro career and spent most of the season there.
Across 23 starts, he put up a 3.27 ERA. He was especially tough in August, when he allowed just four runs over 23 innings in four starts, a stretch that earned him a move to Triple-A.
The first test at the next level went well, too. In his Aviators debut a couple days ago, the 23-year-old worked five shutout innings, gave up only four hits, struck out five and walked two. For a pitcher seeing Triple-A hitters for the first time, that’s about as clean an introduction as you can ask for.
That performance has put Arnold in the conversation for a September look. The A’s have shown a willingness to move young players along quickly, and if he keeps settling in at Triple-A, the club could decide to give him a brief big league taste before the season ends. A relief role would be one path, though a start isn’t out of the question either.
There’s also a very real chance the organization simply lets him finish the year where he is and then pushes for a rotation spot next spring. At the moment, he’d have a decent shot to land in the top five, though that picture could change depending on how the A’s address the starting staff this offseason.
Either way, Arnold appears to be close. And for an organization that has had plenty of success drafting position players but not nearly enough luck on the mound, that’s a development worth watching.
In Other News...
A's Young Bat Is Making Triple-A Hard To Ignore
The Las Vegas Aviators kept piling up offense in a 14-12 win over El Paso, and right fielder Devin Taylor was right in the middle of it. He homered twice and also came through with key hits as the Aviators turned a high-scoring night into another reminder that their lineup has plenty of thump, with Colby Halter and Johnathan Rodriguez adding their own damage in the win.
For the A's, that's the part worth watching. Taylor's surge at Triple-A has made the promotion look less like a test run and more like a real audition, and every loud night only sharpens the conversation about how soon he might force the issue. The rest of the farm system had its own mixed slate, with Midland, Fort Wayne and Stockton also in action, but Taylor's bat is the one making it hardest to ignore what is happening in Las Vegas. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Head To Seattle With Two Familiar Problems Still Looming
The Athletics left the Rangers series with some offensive momentum, averaging 5.0 runs a game and closing with a nine-run outburst that gave the lineup a much-needed jolt. Even so, the underlying issue was hard to miss: too many innings began with Oakland chasing the game, which put extra pressure on every at-bat and made early traffic on the bases feel like a missed chance rather than the start of something bigger.
As the club heads to Seattle, the focus turns to whether that improved scoring can show up sooner and whether Henry Bolte can be turned into the kind of table-setter this offense needs when he gets on base. The bullpen offered a different kind of encouragement, with Chris Roycroft and Geoff Hartlieb both handling multi-inning work well enough to suggest Mark Kotsay may want to keep leaning that way as he looks for more stability behind a team still trying to solve the same two problems. [Read more 🡒]
Luis Severino Holds A Big Piece Of The A's Offseason Puzzle
Luis Severino is still one of the biggest variables hanging over the Athletics offseason plans, even as the club starts sorting through what the next few months might look like. The right-hander was brought in to anchor the rotation, but his first year in Oakland never really got off the ground after injury interrupted things and kept him out for most of the 2026 season.
His contract now looms almost as large as his health. Severino has an opt-out coming after 2026, and if he decides to stay, the As would get one more season from a pitcher they still need to count on. If he walks, he would head back into free agency just as Oakland braces for a possible front-office change and more roster turnover ahead of the move to Las Vegas. [Read more 🡒]