A's Calling Up Top Prospect Colby Thomas

The Athletics are in a perpetual state of calling up their top prospects. When one graduates, they just call up the next. Last year they called up Jacob Wilson, who was still a prospect when the 2025 season began. Before long, new top prospect Nick Kurtz had made it to the big leagues. His prospect eligibility ran out recently, and now the A's are calling up Colby Thomas, who at a point was the No. 1 prospect on the team before Gage Jump leaped over him.

Thomas, 24, is batting .297 with a .365 OBP and 17 home runs this season swinging from the right side of the plate. He was selected by the A's in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Mercer, and his best tool is his power, while the rest of his skills rate as average or above.

It will be interesting to see how the A's use him, given that Denzel Clarke patrols center and is arguably the best defender in the game, while Tyler Soderstrom has been in left and Lawrence Butler has been in right. Both Soderstrom and Butler have sat against lefties in recent weeks, so that could be where Thomas is able to slide in initially.

In addition to calling up Thomas for his MLB debut, the team has also announced that they have reinstated catcher Shea Langeliers from the IL and recalled righty Justin Sterner.

In three games on his rehab stint, Langeliers went 8-for-13 (.615) with a home run and four RBI. Sterner began the season in the A's bullpen and was un-hittable until May 10 against the New York Yankees, holding a 0.00 ERA to that point. Things began to unravel quickly for him, and he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas at the beginning of June.

After a brief stint on the IL with Vegas, Sterner has made three appearances in the minors, racking up three innings of work and allowing four hits and three earned runs.

The corresponding moves for these additions to the roster were the A's optioning catcher Willie MacIver, right-hander Tyler Ferguson, and outfielder JJ Bleday.

MacIver was the fairly inexperienced option behind the dish, but he impressed in his time with the Athletics, while his energy was a huge boost to the clubhouse. Bleday hadn't been receiving much playing time of late, starting just two of the team's past 12 games. He's also batting .191 with a .288 OBP in 2025 after his breakout 2024 campaign.

Ferguson has been the A's eighth inning guy for much of the season, but back at the beginning of May he pitched four consecutive days while the team was rolling, and he just hasn't been the same since. He held a 15.58 ERA in the month of June, giving up 15 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings of work. His command has been shaky this month as well, allowing eight walks in that span. This will likely be a quick tune-up for Ferguson in an effort to give him a chance to reset.