Former Tampa Bay Rays Prospect Shines in A's Triple-A Debut
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This winter, the A's and Tampa Bay Rays made a trade, with the two big pieces swapping spots being left-hander Jeffrey Springs headed to the Athletics, and big righty Joe Boyle going to the Rays. But there was another piece in the deal that the A's received, and he had a terrific debut in Triple-A Las Vegas last night.
Las Vegas Ballpark is known as a hitter's paradise, but on Tuesday night in his season debut, Jacob Lopez absolutely shut down the Sacramento River Cats--the co-tenants of Sutter Health Park with the Athletics.
Lopez started the evening off by striking out the first two batters he faced, and working a quick one-two-three opening frame. In the third, he struck out the side.
With a 6-0 lead to work with entering the top of the fifth, an error by left fielder Drew Avans placed Brett Auerbach on first to begin the inning. After recording two outs, Lopez gave up his first hit of the contest, a double to Hunter Bishop, that would score Auerbach.
After walking the next batter, Lopez was pulled from the game at 77 pitches. The hit and the walk were the only blemishes on an otherwise perfect outing for Lopez. He finished the game going 4.2 innings with one hit and one run (unearned) allowed, walking one, and striking out eight.
When he was acquired, A's GM David Forst said that they wanted to keep Lopez as a starting rotation option, and after one game you can see why.
His velocity was mostly up year-over-year, with his four-seamer averaging 90.7 (+0.1), his slider coming in at 79 (+1.1), and his cutter clocking at 87.7 (+0.7). The only pitch that lost some velo was his changeup, coming in 1.6 mph slower than in 2024 at 81.4 mph. This is actually a good thing, as it separates the change from the heater, which disrupts hitter's timing a bit more.
Lopez threw 39 fastballs, good for 51% of his pitches, and 13 of those pitches were swung at. Six of those 13 were swung on and missed, good for a 46% whiff rate. That extra bit of separation could have helped generate those whiffs.
Since he was unable to complete five frames, Jake Walkinshaw, who relieved Lopez, ended up collecting the win in this one, as Vegas won 14-2. Both runs for Sacramento were unearned as the Aviators committed three errors total.
Just three of the nine starters in the Vegas lineup ended the game batting below .300 on the young season, with Colby Thomas (.286), CJ Alexander (.294), and Daniel Susac (.231) being fairly close.
No. 2 prospect in the A's system Nick Kurtz started the game 0-for-2 with a pair of groundouts, then hit a single in the fourth, a home run in the fifth, and another single in the seventh. The homer left the bat at 105.8 miles per hour.
Just 9 prospects received a 65 or higher power grade to start 2025 -- Nick Kurtz was one of them 💪
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 2, 2025
MLB's third-ranked 1B prospect (@Athletics) ups his Triple-A slash line to .467/.529/1.000 with this @AviatorsLV homer. pic.twitter.com/jKhNbmbvp6
Kurtz finished the night 3-for-6 with a run scored and three RBI. He is now batting .471 with a .526 OBP through four games. The perceived timeline for him to reach West Sacramento was around midseason, but if he keeps this up for a few more weeks, then the A's may need to find room for him sooner than they previously thought.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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