A's Add Top Arms to Roster Ahead of Series with Arizona Diamondbacks

On Thursday, the Athletics shipped out two arms, Mason Miller and JP Sears, to the San Diego Padres. On Friday, their roster will have a couple of new guys to keep an eye on in Luis Morales and Eduarniel Núñez.

Morales was signed by the A’s on Jan. 15, 2023 and is rated as the A’s third-best prospect by MLB.com. He began the season at Midland and was 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA in eight starts in his Double-A debut when he was promoted to Las Vegas on May 20.

The 22-year-old right-hander went 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 15 games, eight starts, in his Triple-A debut and is 7-3 with a 3.73 ERA in 23 games, 14 starts, overall. Morales ranks third in the A’s farm system with 107 strikeouts and has a .207 opponents batting average and .640 OPS.

His fastball can reach 99 and sits 96, while also using a solid slider and changeup. He used to have a curveball as his fourth pitch, but he has scrapped that one in order to focus more on the slider and change combo. There are still some questions as to whether he will be a starter or a reliever long-term due to his iffy command at times, but that will likely be a question that's answered next season.

Núñez was one of four players acquired yesterday from San Diego for Mason Miller and JP Sears. He made his Major League debut with San Diego this July and appeared in four games, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two in 4 2/3 innings.

The 26-year-old right-hander combined for a 4-1 record, seven saves and a 2.31 ERA in 29 relief appearances with Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso, and had 56 strikeouts in 35.0 innings.

The right-hander slots in as the A's No. 17 prospect, right behind Elvis Alvarado. While Alvarado has an elite fastball, graded at a 75, it's the slider for Nuñez that does his damage, rated as a 70 pitch on the 20-80 scouting scale. That said, Nuñez's secondary offering (his fastball) rates at a 60, while Avlarado's secondary (slider) is graded at a 55.

With Mason Miller now in San Diego, both Nuñez and Alvarado have the high octane stuff that could land them in the ninth at some point.

In addition to the two top-30 prospects that the A's called up today, they also brought up JJ Bleday for the third time this year, taking the spot of Miguel Andujar, who was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He will presumably be a left-handed bench bat since he's not in the lineup tonight. All three starting outfielders of late--Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom and Carlos Cortes--are also lefty bats.

Bleday hit .348 with five doubles, a triple, five home runs, 17 RBI and a .989 OPS in 22 games with the Aviators following his most recent option on June 30. Bleday has a .353 average with six home runs, 23 RBI and a .981 OPS in 28 games overall at Triple-A.