Jacob Wilson Returns, Kyle Muller Rehabs
The Oakland A's first round pick in last year's MLB Draft and the team's No. 1 prospect according to numerous outlets, Jacob Wilson, returned to the lineup in Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday night after landing on the IL back on May 18.
After missing a month of game action, Wilson led off the bottom of the first with a single. The pitch was a 94 mile per hour sinker on the outer part of the plate, and he just lined it into right. He scored three batters later when Seth Brown grounded into a fielder's choice.
Wilson would draw a walk in the second, single in the third, and walk a second time in the eighth as part of a 2-for-3 night with three runs scored. In seven games with the Aviators, he's batting .407, which is well below the .455 he put up in 22 games in Double-A earlier this season.
It's honestly difficult to figure out when he may get the call to Oakland if he continues to hit at every level. On the one hand, he'd be proving that he's ready for the big leagues, which is typically a major factor for the A's in determining when to call a prospect up. On the other hand, they will be getting Darell Hernaiz back from injury at some point, and he was beginning to make his adjustments to the league before he landed on the IL, so there will be no rush. Max Schuemann has also done a wonderful job at short in the interim.
The answer will probably be: when he's ready, he gets called up. Yet, there are some other factors that could complicate the decision-making process.
Left-hander Kyle Muller also began his rehab stint with the Aviators, tossing a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. He threw ten pitches, and nine of them were fastballs. His heater was down a couple of ticks over his season average, sitting at 90.8 mph on average, compared to the 92.7 he's thrown this year.
With Muller's velo down and him only using two of his four offerings, it's likely that he gets at least one more outing in the next couple of days before returning to the A's roster.
Brett Harris hit two solo homers as part of a 3-for-4 night, and Seth Brown was the team's starting centerfielder. Brown has gotten a look in center since his demotion last week, but the last time he played the position with the A's was back in 2022 when he logged 17 games there. It hasn't been a regular position for him at the big-league level, but he does have roughly 500 innings there in the minors.
2022 third rounder Colby Thomas also logged his first game in right field of the year on Tuesday, though it was a regular spot for him in both Stockton and Lansing last year.
The Aviators beat the River Cats 11-0 last night, improving to 1-0 to begin the second half of the Triple-A season.
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.