Former Kansas City Royals Prospect Falters in Season Debut

Last season, the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals made a trade, with the A's sending reliever Lucas Erceg over to K.C. in exchange for a package of prospects. Erceg has been terrific for the Royals, and is a key piece of the team's bullpen mix, whether serving as a closer or the set-up man.

One of the prospects the A's got in return was right-hander Mason Barnett, who is ranked as the team's No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and No. 6 by FanGraphs.

Last season after the trade, he made a name for himself in the A's system, posting a 2.61 ERA in seven starts with Double-A Midland, while striking out 31.1% of the hitters he faced and walking just 7.8%. It looked as though the A's coaches had worked their magic yet again.

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Barnett made his Triple-A debut. It did not go as planned.

The righty would last just 2.2 innings, giving up two hits and six free passes, which led to just one run scoring. He also struck out a trio of hitters.

He sat 91-95 with the heater, which generated 20 swings and only five whiffs, though it also tallied another nine called strikes. The four-seamer accounted for 65% of his pitch mix.

His sweeper was his other main offering last night, throwing 20 of them (28%) and sitting at 85 mph. He also threw four changeups and one curveball, according to Baseball Savant.

The Aviators would end up winning the game handily, 10-3, thanks to a huge offensive outburst from the home team. The No. 4 overall pick in last year's draft, Nick Kurtz, hit his first home run of the season, and his first homer in Triple-A as part of a 3-for-4 night that included a walk. He drove in three and scored four times.

There will certainly be comparisons to him in the Royals system, with slugger Jac Caglianone being taken by Kansas City with the sixth overall pick in last year's Draft. There is already plenty of chatter about when Caglianone will make his MLB debut, though he'll be starting the 2025 campaign in Double-A.

In other Royals-A's news, Rule 5 draftee Noah Murdock made his MLB debut on Saturday night in Seattle, and he looked nasty. Coming in with two on and one down in a 3-2 game, Murdock was able to escape the jam he inherited, then go another full inning in the seventh.

He also mostly used two pitches, a sinker and a sweeper, which both exhibited lots of movement. The problem for hitters is going to be that his sinker darts in towards right-handers, and the sweeper is going to jut away from them. That sweeper in particular was filthy, getting four swings and three whiffs.

That mix could make his a big arm in the A's underrated bullpen this season.