Athletics Prospects: Jacob Wilson hits IL, Henry Bolte stays hot

Bolte has been the Midwest League’s premier player for the past couple of weeks

It was an unfortunately busy week for the Oakland Athletics minor league teams as two major prospects hit the injured list last week. Fortunately outside of that the prospects mostly had some solid weeks, especially Henry Bolte and the Lansing Lugnuts offense.

Las Vegas Aviators

Game Results

Record: 23-22, 3rd in PCL West, 6 GB

Season stats

• Nick Allen - 3 G, 13 PA, 0 HR, 0.0% BB, 0.0% K, .385/385/.692, 159 wRC+
• Lawrence Butler - 4 G, 18 PA, 1 HR, 16.7% BB, 16.7% K, .400/.500/.800, 214 wRC+
• Logan Davidson - 30 G, 114 PA, 4 HR, 6.1% BB, 35.1% K, .302/.351/.500, 108 wRC+
• Aledmys Diaz - 6 G, 17 PA, 0 HR, 17.6% BB, 11.8% K, .143/.294/.143, 27 wRC+
• JT Ginn - 8.1 IP, 3.24 ERA, 8.1% BB, 35.1% K, 0 HR, 3.07 FIP
• Max Muncy - 22 G, 87 PA, 2 HR, 9.2% BB, 23.0% K, .274/.379/.438, 108 wRC+
• Ryan Noda - 15 G, 64 PA, 2 HR, 25.0% BB, 34.4% K, .191/.406/.362, 1-4 wRC+
• Freddy Tarnok - 4.1 IP, 10.38 ERA, 5.3% BB, 21.2% K, 0 HR, 4.03 FIP
• Jacob Wilson - 6 G, 25 PA, 0 HR, 4.0% BB, 8.0% K, .375/.400/.458, 119 wRC+

Top Performers

It was quite the chaotic week again at the Triple-A level, but the Aviators turned it into their best week of the season by taking five of six from the Chihuahas. Much of their help came from the help sent to them by the major league squad, notably a massive week from Lawrence Butler. Butler had a home run peppered into his hot four game run, and of his twelve batted balls six were hit over 100 mph. I’m not really sure why Oakland sent Butler down in the first place — while I understand his outputs have been poor the input contact has been among the team’s best and he’s clearly worth of an every day role in the major leagues. The question now is how long they’ll keep him down in Las Vegas, as it doesn’t see he has any trouble handling the pitching at this level.

There is also quite a bit of injury news to discuss, some good and some bad. Nick Allen returned to the field and hit well in his three games on the week, plus Miguel Andujar went on his rehab assignment and went 5-10 with a couple of doubles. On the other end, however, the top two prospects on the team hit the injured list. First it was Max Muncy, who played in just his fourth game back from his last injured list stint only to end up placed back on the injured list again on Friday. Then Jacob Wilson left Wednesday’s game early and was placed on the injured list with a knee injury. Wilson had five hits in his prior two games as was hitting .375 in his six games with Las Vegas, but appears to have had trouble on a force play to end the first inning and while he jogged off with no issue did not reappear in a game.

Logan Davidson has been playing outstanding ball for the Aviators really all month, and last week he fell a single short of the cycle in one game and totaled two home runs. Notably he has cut his strikeouts significantly recently, though that trend didn’t follow into last week when he had nine strikeouts and didn’t draw a walk.

Midland Rockhounds

Game Results

Record: 25-14, 1st TL South, +0.5 G

Season stats

• Denzel Clarke - 33 G, 142 PA, 3 HR, 8.5% BB, 38.7% K, .197/.275/.323, 67wRC+
• Ryan Cusick - 10 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 11 K, 0 HR, 2.57 FIP
• Gunnar Hoglund - 44 ⅔ IP, 4.63 ERA, 6.6% BB, 22.5% K, 8 HR, 5.04 FIP
• Brennan Milone - 35 G, 151 PA, 5 HR, 11.3% BB, 22.5% K, .282/.371/.458, 130 wRC+
• Royber Salinas - 31 ⅔ IP, 3.41 ERA, 16.0% BB, 25.0% K, 3 HR, 5.12 FIP
• Daniel Susac - 24 G, 104 PA, 2 HR, 2.9% BB, 33.7% K, .230/.260/.310, 57 wRC+
• Colby Thomas - 36 G, 165 PA, 10 HR, 4.2% BB, 21.2% K, .276/.321/.546, 131 wRC+

Top Performers

It was a terrific week for the entire Midland lineup, as top to bottom they were able to produce throughout the week on the way to four wins for the team. The best of these was Cooper Bowman, who has been on quite a tear and won the league’s player of the week. Bowman had hits in each game last week and more walks than strikeouts, and in every game he has played in May he has recorded one or more hits. Bowman has a 1.113 OPS this month to go along with a perfect 11 of 11 on stolen base attempts, putting behind him what was an abysmal start to the season.

However it was more than just Bowman getting the job done. Colby Thomas put up a couple of home runs in five games last week, padding what has been a strong year for him all season. Thomas’s hard swing produces a lot of power and he has produced more pop than anyone on the team this season, although he really hasn’t shown the progression I had hoped with his approach. Thomas makes enough contact to get away with swinging as hard as he does, but his lack of feel for spin or the strike zone has eaten away at his on base percentage a bit and I do worry how he will fare against more experienced pitchers once he hits Triple-A.

The big development from the past couple of weeks has been the ever-increasing production of some of the top prospects in the lineup. Denzel Clarke and Daniel Susac struggled out of the gates as they both are coming off of injury - Clarke’s last season and Susac earlier this year. Clarke in particular has been striking out too much, though it has lately become more of a case of bad vs good games and it was a similar situation last week. Clarke had three multi-hit games and capped off his week with a home run, but he also had a couple of multi-strikeout games that particularly impacted his final line. I’ve been saying it for a few weeks now but I think that the progress is being made and Clarke is rounding back into a form that could break out in the next couple of weeks. Good contact is being made and he’s gone from looking overwhelmed in some at bats to putting up competitive plate appearances even when he struggles. With his longer swing and active mechanics it is sometimes harder for guys like that to find their timing after a long layoff and Clarke is showing enough signs of life that I’m not particularly concerned with his struggles.

On the other hand Daniel Susac has been a major source of frustration this season as he has quite often seemed lost at the plate. His approach is all over the place and he hasn’t made particularly good contact when he has connected, but over the past few games there has been at least some semblance of life from him. Susac hit safely in all four games last week and has a six-game hitting streak going, during which he has hit .310. Unfortunately he hasn’t drawn any walks in that span and only has one all month, and that’s a nice presentation on where his approach is at the moment and what he needs to do to move up the ladder. Susac has to lay off pitches out of the zone and especially early count breaking balls, and right now that Double-A adjustment is proving to be a challenge for him.

Lansing Lugnuts

Game Results

Record: 20-19, 3rd in MWL East, 2 GB

4-2 last week

Season stats

• Euribiel Angeles - 35 G, 150 PA, 4 HR, 6.0% BB, 12.7% K, .300/.340/.486, 127 wRC+
• Henry Bolte - 37 G, 174 PA, 7 HR, 14.4% BB, 32.8% K, .278/.402/.521, 158 wRC+
• Brayan Buelvas - 38 G, 176 PA, 6 HR, 15.3% BB, 19.3% K, .267/.381/.486, 141 wRC+
• Will Johnston - 14 ⅔ IP, 3.07 ERA, 6.8% BB, 33.9% K, 1 HR, 2.55 FIP
• Luis Morales - 12 ⅓ IP, 5.84 ERA, 14.5% BB, 16.4% K, 1 HR, 5.11 FIP
• Will Simpson - 32 G, 143 PA, 2 HR, 18.9% BB, 25.2% K, .327/.455/.522, 172 wRC+

Top Performers

No player in the system has had a better past couple of weeks than Henry Bolte. In fact, no player in the Midwest League has either as he leads the league in OPS across his last 11 games. I had some criticism for Bolte early in the year over approach and ground ball rates, and he has made progression in every single aspect of the game that I had concerns over. Bolte has cut his strikeout rate significantly and is hitting for power in basically every game he plays, and has been one of the most impressive players in the system this season. Bolte is a machine and has started putting up stellar plate appearances and working deep into counts to get the pitches he wants to hit. Bolte had a single 0-3 game last week — his only hitless game out of his past 11, and even then drew a couple of walks and stole a base. Bolte has shown a capability of impacting the game in every facet, and it’s hard not throw flowers at his feet given what he has done in recent weeks.

Start number four for Luis Morales wasn’t very good. The first batter of the game hit one out against him, and he had a lot of action on the bases in every inning and failed to complete three innings. Morales also didn’t have any strikeouts. The problem facing Morales right now is his lack of feel for any of his secondaries, as he hasn’t landing anything remotely close enough to the edges of the zone to get swing-and-misses. Because of this hitters are able to sit dead red with him, and even sitting 96-98 professional hitters are good enough to make serious contact against him. The positive for Morales is that his fastball command is starting to get better from the first couple of outings, as he was closer to the glove with his fastball and hasn’t been wildly out of the zone as often. He also flashed his changeup quite often last game — Lake City had something like seven left handers in the lineup — and the shape and velocity on the pitch looked improved over last year. That said he didn’t really land competitive pitches with the changeup, though again that’s really the problem with all of his secondaries and it’s hard to pass judgement on a guy who clearly is working on trying to get his feel for his pitches back after missing the start of the year.

The two older international prospects continue to impress and Euribiel Angeles is on an eight game hitting streak. Angeles only struck out once in his 29 plate appearances last week, going 12-29 with two triples. I could still see Angeles’s hitting ability turning him into a utility infielder at the major league level, though I don’t think there is enough power and especially not enough walks coming from Angeles to profile that as a guy that can be an everyday shortstop. Brayan Buelvas on the other hand I could absolutely see starting at the major league level one day. Buelvas had yet another big week with five extra base hits in six games, coming up a home run short of the cycle on Thursday and drawing as many walks as strikeouts. More and more this strong tear from Buelvas seems more like him showing who he is when he is 100% healthy, and I’m very hopeful we’ll see him against higher level competition later this season. Buelvas’s approach has taken leaps this year and he isn’t settling for as much weak contact, and he may be just one of those guys that has develop at his own pace.

Stockton Ports

Game Results

Record: 14-23, 4th in CAL North, 10 GB

Season stats

• Cole Conn - 35 G, 159 PA, 3 HR, 17.0% BB, 22.0% K, .283/.439/.425, 144 wRC+
• Steven Echavarria - 10 ⅔ IP, 10.12 ERA, 15.6% BB, 15.6% K, 0 HR, 5.24 FIP
• Ryan Lasko - 34 G, 154 PA, 0 HR, 15.6% BB, 28.6% K, .195/.331/.258, 73 wRC+
• Nate Nankil - 32 G, 132 PA, 5 HR, 10.6% BB, 17.4% K, .270/.386/.486, 137 wRC+
• Myles Naylor - 32 G, 141 PA, 4 HR, 18.4% BB, 33.3% K, .157/.312/.287, 72 wRC+
• Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang - 25 ⅔ IP, 1.40 ERA, 2.0% BB, 27.6% K, 1 HR, 2.65 FIP

Top Performers

It was not a pretty sight for the Stockton squad last week, as the offense was largely non-existent and they dropped five of their six against Fresno. The one exception to this was their Thursday game in which Luke Mann went ballistic and led them to a 13 run outburst and blowout win. Mann has been highly productive for the Ports this entire month, and coming into last week had hit three May home runs. He took it to another level on Thursday, hitting two home runs and going 5-5. Add in a home run the next day and it was an overall huge week for Mann. Cole Conn also produced quite well, and while he has been a consistent bat for Stockton this season last week was the first time he showcased his power. On Wednesday Conn came up in a big spot in the first inning, and when he got a fastball up he turned on it and hit a no-doubt shot to right field that the defender barely moved for. On Saturday he got in on the action from the right side of the plate, hitting a wall scraper for a first inning home run.

On the other side Myles Naylor just had an awful week. Naylor managed only two hits - both singles - while striking out in over half of his plate appearances. Naylor has largely kept his strikeouts at least in a reasonable range early in the season, but as the season has worn on he has seen more and more secondary offerings and he is in need of an adjustment to recognize those pitches more effectively. Stockton’s best pitching performance came in a game that they probably didn’t even need it, as Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang threw five scoreless innings in that 13-1 win. Zhuang has been fantastic in his return to action this year, as he has a knack for pounding the edges of the zone with his running fastball to force weak contact and can locate multiple secondaries well. He seems quite well-polished after missing all of last year with injury and given his age is a guy whose development the A’s should prioritize and push through the system.

ACL Athletics

Game Results

Record: 4-9, 2nd in ACL East, 4 GB

0-6 last week

Season Stats

• Cesar Gonzalez - 5 G, 20 PA, 0 HR, 5.0% BB, 45.0% K, .368/.400/.526, 135 wRC+
• German Ortiz - 13 G, 53 PA, 0 HR, 17.0% BB, 18.9% K, .357/.481/.405, 145 wRC+

Top Performers

The Complex League Athletics squad struggled last week and didn’t win a game, but there was quite a bit of intrigue down there with the rehabbing pitchers. Luis Medina got to run it out there in Wednesday’s game last week, and it wasn’t a particularly good outing for him. The lower level hitters did get their licks in and notched six runs, but Medina pitched into the third inning before being pulled and now heads up to Vegas where he is scheduled to start again on Wednesday. Medina is eligible to come off of the 60-day IL on the 27th according to Martin Gallegos, though the official transaction backdated his IL placement to the 25th of March so I think he should be eligible to return on Friday. In either case that won’t matter as he wouldn’t be in line to make a start until after that point anyways, and I would expect him to get at least one more start in Vegas before returning.

Sean Newcomb pitched a scoreless inning of rehab on Saturday, and he struck out two batters. Finally last Thursday Jack Perkins pitched two perfect innings of rehab and struck out three batters. Perkins should be making his next appearance within the next couple of days before heading back to join Midland’s rotation. Perkins had a solid first full year in the system last year and will be one of the pitchers to watch at Double-A moving forward.