A's Reportedly Calling Up Prospect Acquired in Matt Olson Deal with Atlanta Braves
Joey Estes is headed to Oakland, as first reported by MiLB Central on Twitter and later confirmed by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. Estes is Oakland's number 13 prospect on MLB Pipeline's most recent team rankings and was part of the trade return when the A's sent first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves ahead of the 2022 campaign.
Estes, 21, made 20 starts for High-A Lansing last season and held a 4.55 ERA with a 5.18 FIP. His strikeout rate was good (9.10 per nine) and his walk rate was solid (2.97), but he was a little homer prone, giving up 17 home runs in 91 innings (1.68 per nine).
This season the right-hander started out in Double-A Midland and got into 20 games (17 starts). totaling 104 1/3 innings to go along with a 3.28 ERA and a 4.67 FIP. His strikeout rate stayed steady (8.63) while his walk rate went down a bit to 2.67 and he gave up a few less homers, too.
Estes is a fly ball pitcher, netting just a 33.3% ground ball rate in Midland this season, and the highest mark he's had in his career is the 34.3% ground ball rate he posted in just over 30 innings in Triple-A. He also gave up ten homers, giving him a rate of 2.76 dingers per nine innings. That's obviously unsustainable, but we'll see what impact pitching at the spacious Coliseum has on that rate.
He holds a 5.23 ERA through six starts (seven appearances) with the Aviators. Two of those outings have come against the Sacramento River Cats, who have hit him pretty well. In two combined starts he went 7 2/3 innings, gave up 16 hits, 11 earned runs, walked three, hit a batter, and struck out six. They've also accounted for five of the ten homers he's allowed in Las Vegas.
In the other 25 innings, he has a 2.88 ERA with 16 hits allowed, eight walks issued, and 25 punch-outs. This has to be what the front office is focusing on as they look to give guys a brief look in the big leagues to close out the season.
In his most recent start, Estes tossed 73 pitches, with 36 of them (49%) being the fastball, which averaged 93.5 mph and topped out at 95.9. He also utilized a slider (21%), changeup (12%), curveball (11%), cutter (4%) and sinker (3%).
With Estes set to join the A's, that makes 15 of Oakland's top 28 prospects on FanGraphs' team rankings that have made it to the big leagues this season. Part of their write-up on him includes a projection for his future. "He looks the part of a backend starter, with a high likelihood of reaching that role barring development-delaying injury."
The A's have not made Estes' call-up official, so there is no word on the corresponding move just yet. His last start was on September 15, and while he's been pitching every six or seventh day in Triple-A, the A's don't have a scheduled starter for Wednesday's game against the Seattle Mariners. It may be a couple of days before Estes officially gets added to the roster if he will be starting on Wednesday.