The Athletics lost their ninth straight game entering the All Star break, swept for a third consecutive series. But, they turned an eye towards the future with some aggressive roster moves and as Drew Burress headlined an exciting 2026 draft class.
Results
FRI: CWS 14, ATH 1
Surprisingly, this game was scoreless entering the bottom of the 5th inning. Aaron Civale, working as the bulk man after Jacob Lopez opened the game, imploded in the 5th. He allowed back-to-back doubles to start the inning, the latter double opening the scoring. After walking Kyle Teel, he allowed back-to-back RBI singles to make it 3-0. The White Sox added a sacrifice fly off of Elvis Alvarado to complete their four-run inning.
Tyler Soderstrom hit a solo homer in the 7th, one of just five total hits for the A’s. In the bottom of the 7th, Justin Sterner and Mason Barnett combined for a disaster-class. Sterner’s outing went like this: walk, HR, walk, double, double. Barnett replaced him and allowed an RBI double and an RBI triple. The HR and triple in that inning both belonged to Tristan Peters, who hit for the cycle. With the score 12-1, Carlos Cortes did the honorary position player pitching and allowed two more runs to complete a horrendous series opener.
SAT: CWS 1, ATH 0
Neither team could get their offense going on Saturday. The White Sox went with a bullpen game, including Erick Fedde working as the bulk man. On the other side, Gage Jump started for the Athletics. The rookie allowed just five hits in 5.2 innings of work. But, one of those hits was an RBI double by Chase Meidroth in the 6th inning that scored Colson Montgomery.
The A’s had a decent chance to tie things up in the 7th as Joshua Kurdish-Grauer doubled to start the frame. Then, Lawrence Butler was walked. With two on and nobody out, Colby Thomas, Alika Williams, and Henry Bolte went down in order. In relief of Jump, Luis Medina and Hogan Harris didn’t allow a hit in their combined innings, striking out four. But, it didn’t matter as the A’s couldn’t snap their losing streak, dropping their eighth game in a row.
SUN: CWS 9, ATH 1
With the Athletics looking to avoid a third consecutive sweep, Shea Langeliers put his team ahead with a 1st inning solo home run. But, that was only a brief sliver of hope for the visitors. Sam Antonacci took J. T. Ginn deep to lead off the bottom of the 1st to tie the game. After a walk and a double, Ginn struck out Colson Montgomery. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, he fell behind 2-0 against Andrew Benintendi and proceeded to intentionally walk him. Kyle Teel followed that with a two-run single and Braden Montgomery delivered the big blow with a three-run home run to make it 6-1.
The A’s threatened in the 4th as they loaded the bases with one out. But, Lawrence Butler struck out and Henry Bolte hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Ginn allowed a single and walked Benintendi in the 5th with one out to end his outing. Jose Suarez relieved him and proceeded to allow back-to-back singles, the latter making it 7-1. Tristan Peters hit into a fielder’s choice to add another run. Suarez spiked a slider to Chase Meidroth and Langeliers’ throw to second to stop Peters from advancing went into the outfield and allowed another run to score. The blowout loss sent the A’s into the All Star break on an L9.
What Else?
- While some teams would try to stay the course despite a major rough patch, the Athletics seem poised to get creative and aggressive with their roster construction as we enter the unofficial second half of the season. Struggling veteran starter Aaron Civale was DFA’d and replaced by hard throwing Yunior Tur. Brady Basso is also being called up from Triple-A on the pitching side as Mason Barnett goes the opposite direction (potentially to be stretched out as a starter). For the offense, recent waiver claim Donovan Walton is being activated and according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, former LSU star Tommy White is getting called up for his MLB debut. Known for his bat (.818 OPS this season, 75 home runs in three NCAA seasons), “Tommy Tanks” will be looked upon to give this lineup a boost. Defensively, he has played considerably more 3B than 1B in his career thus far, but he could fill in for the injured Nick Kurtz and to spell him once he returns. Also, if the team continues to cut into Jeff McNeil’s at-bats or decides to move on from him entirely, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer could take over at 2B and White at 3B. Brian Serven and Joey Meneses are heading down to Las Vegas to make space for Walton and White.
- The changes weren’t limited to the players on the roster. On Monday, the Athletics dismissed pitching coach Scott Emerson. Bullpen coach Dan Hubbs takes over as interim pitching coach for the rest of the 2026 season. Emerson was hired as the bullpen coach back in 2014 and has been the pitching coach since 2017. It’s tough to know how much blame to assign the coaching staff compared to the players, but I’ve written extensively about how brutal the pitching staff has been and this, combined with the Civale DFA, is at least a step towards acknowledging that.
- With Nick Kurtz missing the game due to injury, only Shea Langeliers saw the field in Philadelphia. He drew a walk and singled in his All Star Game appearance. Also, both representatives for the A’s in the Futures Game performed well. Leo De Vries hit a leadoff single off of Philadelphia prospect Gage Wood. Then, he stole second and third before scoring on a groundout. Jamie Arnold struck out Mike Sirota after a leadoff walk and got an inning-ending double play line drive to first.
- The 2027 schedule (barring any games being missed due to a lockout) was announced yesterday. The A’s will open their season in Pittsburgh on 3/25 and open their home slate on 4/5 against the Cubs. The Las Vegas Series 2027 will be against the Padres (5/31-6/2) and Reds (6/3-6/5).
Draft Spotlight
Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech (Round 1): As expected, the A’s took a college bat with their first pick. They went with Drew Burress, who leaves Georgia Tech as the career leader in home runs, doubles, runs, total bases, and RBIs. He was a first-team All American in both 2025 and 2026. MLB Pipeline gives him a 60 grade on power and arm, plus 55 on hit tool, running, and fielding.
Jacob Dudan (Round 3): A reliever earlier in his career at NC State, Dudan moved to the rotation this season. He logged a 3.60 ERA in eight starts before an elbow injury led him to Tommy John surgery and ended his college career. Overall, he threw 128 innings and struck out 159 batters for the Wolfpack. He’ll be on the shelf until 2027 and he could find his way back into a bullpen role with his electric stuff.
Javar Williams (Round 11): The former Wake Forest outfielder displayed steady improvement across his three seasons with the Demon Deacons. Playing with Nick Kurtz back in 2024, his batting average was .228 and he did not hit a home run in 114 at-bats. Fast forward to 2026, he hit .343 with ten home runs and 31 stolen bases.
Anthony Marnell IV (Round 20): As the team prepares to move to Las Vegas in 2028, they picked up a Vegas native and Bishop Gorman product in the final round of the draft. He redshirted at Oregon State, then transferred to the College of Southern Nevada. After a successful stint there, he finished his college career at San Diego State. Marnell’s father played in the minor leagues and has served as a chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
What’s Next?
The second half gets underway with the Washington Nationals coming to Sutter Health Park. Then, the Athletics travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks.
(Top photo of Tommy White, courtesy: Athletics)
