Friday, July 24

Hello! Welcome to another edition of the A’s beat newsletter.

In recent club history, playing in the All-Star Futures Game has served as a precursor to a big league promotion for Athletics prospects, with Tyler Soderstrom (2023), Lawrence Butler (‘23) and Shea Langeliers (‘22) all debuting in the Majors after participating in the Futures Game earlier that year.

Could a similar path be in store for Leo De Vries and Jamie Arnold? Ranked as the club’s top two prospects and part of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, De Vries (A’s No. 1/MLB No. 2) and Arnold (A’s No. 2/MLB No. 27) represented the A’s in the All-Star Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park earlier this month. The duo has shined as teammates at Double-A Midland this season, each practically doing all they can to force a promotion to at least Triple-A Las Vegas.

“It was fun to watch both of them in the Futures Game,” A’s general manager David Forst said. “I think they’re both in a really good place with their development. Jamie’s first full season [in the Minors], he’s competing at Double-A and racking up strikeouts. He’s had some games where he’s given up some hits and has had to work his way out, but that’s part of the process, similarly with Leo. Everyone talks about his age, and it’s deserved. This is a 19-year-old playing really well at Double-A. He’s had stretches where he’s dominated.”

Let’s take a look at the performance of each prospect so far this year as of Thursday night:

De Vries

Double-A stats: .290/.386/.452 slash line, 12 home runs, 14 doubles, 45 walks, 77 strikeouts, 33 stolen bases in 365 plate appearances.

After an impressive showing in big league camp in his first spring with the A’s, De Vries has more than held his own as a 19-year-old in the Texas League. The shortstop has flashed all the tools that make him such an elite prospect. De Vries has unleashed his speed more on the basepaths this year. After swiping 11 bases between his time in the Padres’ and A’s system in 2025, he leads all A’s Minor Leaguers with 33 stolen bases just over halfway through this season.

Defensively, De Vries has expanded his versatility, with 15 games at third base so far. While his majority of playing time continues to come at shortstop, De Vries’ athleticism opens up the possibilities for his eventual long-term position in the big leagues with the A’s.

Arnold

Double-A stats: 4.11 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 41 walks in 81 innings pitched, 1.60 WHIP in 17 games.

The A’s did not waste time moving Arnold, the 11th overall pick of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Florida State, aggressively through the system. After getting a look in front of the big league staff this spring, Arnold was immediately assigned to Double-A to begin his professional career. As expected, it hasn’t always been smooth for Arnold in the Texas League, but the left-hander has steadily improved as he acclimates to the pros. Over his last seven starts, Arnold is 3-2 with a 2.62 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 17 walks in 34 1/3 innings while holding opposing batters to a .217 average.

For an organization that has struggled mightily in the pitching department at the big league level this season, Arnold represents hope for a brighter future as one of three left-handed pitching prospects who all ranked as MLB Top 100 prospects at one point this season, along with Gage Jump and Wei-En Lin. Jump is already part of the A’s rotation, and Arnold may not be far away from joining him if he can keep up his performance.

“You’re looking for both guys to force their way to Triple-A,” Forst said of Arnold and De Vries. “I can certainly see that happening in the second half of the season. As far as the big leagues, we have not talked about either guy in that context. But once they get to Vegas, we’ve shown that there are plenty of guys here now who didn’t have to be [in Triple-A] very long.”

“As a team, just being around each other during this rough stretch and coming into the second half, the big thing is just being positive. Having fun and enjoying our time together. I think we’re doing that. … We enjoy being with each other. We’ve all been going through it together, and I think that does form a unique bond. We went through it last year a little bit. But we just continue to learn and get better. When all the pieces fit, we’re going to be really tough to beat. Right now, we’re still trying to figure that out, but I think we’re definitely taking steps in the right direction.” -- A’s right-hander Jack Perkins, on the team sticking together amid a tough stretch that has now seen the A’s lose eight consecutive series

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