Thanks to the loss of free agent outfielders Josh Willingham and David DeJesus, the A’s had a few more picks than usual in the upper ranks of this June’s amateur draft – 5 of the first 75 picks to be exact. And the team used a number of those picks to target high school players this year, something that’s been uncommon for the organization in the past.
Well, it’s now been about 8 weeks since most of those players began playing for either the A’s short-season rookie-ball Arizona League A’s or the Vermont Lake Monsters of the short-season Class-A NY-Penn League. One of the A’s draftees, 21-year-old first baseman Max Muncy out of Baylor, has actually started out playing for the A’s Class-A affiliate in the Midwest League, the Burlington Bees. And 4 of the A’s top 20 picks went unsigned – the most prominent being promising 3rd-round left-hander Kyle Twomey.
With most of the players who chose to sign having almost 2 months of play under their belts now, it seems like a good time to check in for a little progress report on the new kids down on the farm. And the good news is that most of them have been looking awfully good so far. #1 pick Addison Russell has been hitting for both average and power, #2 pick Daniel Robertson and #7 pick B.J. Boyd have both shown a knack for getting on base consistently and #3 pick Matt Olson has demonstrated the ability to hit for real power, while pitchers like Austin House and Dakota Bacus have shown the ability to strike out more than a batter per inning and keep runners off base.
You’ll find the A’s top 20 draft picks of 2012 along with their vital stats through August 15 listed below. All the teams they’ve played for so far this season are noted, with the team they’ve appeared in the most games for listed first and the team they’re currently with in bold. So without any further ado, we now present the A’s top 20 draft picks, the most promising seeds of our 2012 farm crop, in all their splendor…
#1
(1st Round – Age 18 – Shortstop – AZL A’s+Vermont)
7 HR / 18 BB / 33 K / .388 AVG / .456 OBP / .658 SLG / 1.114 OPS
#2
(1st Round – Age 18 – Third Baseman – AZL A’s+Vermont)
4 HR / 17 BB / 21 K / .292 AVG / .390 OBP / .525 SLG / .915 OPS
#3
(1st Round – Age 18 – First Baseman – AZL A’s)
6 HR / 13 BB / 39 K / .283 AVG / .344 OBP / .536 SLG / .880 OPS
#4
(2nd Round – Age 21 – Catcher – Vermont+AZL A’s)
0 HR / 24 BB / 27 K / .311 AVG / .396 OBP / .401 SLG / .797 OPS
#5
(2nd Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont)
8 IP / 5 H / 2 ER / 2 BB / 8 K / 2.25 ERA / 0.88 WHIP
#6
Kyle Twomey
(3rd Round – Age 18 – Pitcher)
UNSIGNED
#7
(4th Round – Age 19 – Outfielder – AZL A’s)
1 HR / 19 BB / 31 K / .298 AVG / .393 OBP / .430 SLG / .823 OPS
#8
(5th Round – Age 21 – First Baseman – Burlington)
4 HR / 23 BB / 25 K / .251 AVG / .344 OBP / .407 SLG / .751 OPS
#9
(6th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont+AZL A’s)
23 2/3 IP / 16 H / 9 ER / 11 BB / 32 K / 3.42 ERA / 1.14 WHIP
#10
(7th Round – Age 19 – Pitcher – AZL A’s)
16 IP / 14 H / 5 ER / 21 BB / 7 K / 2.81 ERA / 2.19 WHIP
#11
(8th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont+AZL A’s)
27 IP / 15 H / 3 ER / 13 BB / 26 K / 1.00 ERA / 1.04 WHIP
#12
(9th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – AZL A’s)
23 2/3 IP / 12 H / 4 ER / 4 BB / 24 K / 1.52 ERA / 0.68 WHIP
#13
(10th Round – Age 21 – Outfielder – Vermont)
0 HR / 20 BB / 21 K / .243 AVG / .326 OBP / .320 SLG / .646 OPS
#14
Alex Gonzalez
(11th Round – Age 18 – Shortstop)
UNSIGNED
#15
John Caputo
(12th Round – Age 18 – Third Baseman)
UNSIGNED
#16
(13th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont+AZL A’s)
22 2/3 IP / 15 H / 8 ER / 6 BB / 26 K / 3.18 ERA / 0.93 WHIP
#17
(14th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont)
22 2/3 IP / 12 H / 3 ER / 8 BB / 29 K / 1.19 ERA / 0.88 WHIP
#18
(15th Round – Age 22 – Pitcher – AZL A’s)
31 1/3 IP / 30 H / 13 ER / 8 BB / 34 K / 3.73 ERA / 1.21 WHIP
#19
(16th Round – Age 20 – Second Baseman – AZL A’s)
0 HR / 7 BB / 6 K / .371 AVG / .443 OBP / .484 SLG / .927 OPS
#20
Tyler Olson
(17th Round – Age 22 – Pitcher)
UNSIGNED
TOP HITTERS
Addison Russell (1st Round – Age 18 – Shortstop – AZL A’s+Vermont)
7 HR / 18 BB / 33 K / .388 AVG / .456 OBP / .658 SLG / 1.114 OPS
Daniel Robertson (1st Round – Age 18 – Third Baseman – AZL A’s+Vermont)
4 HR / 17 BB / 21 K / .292 AVG / .390 OBP / .525 SLG / .915 OPS
Matt Olson (1st Round – Age 18 – First Baseman – AZL A’s)
6 HR / 13 BB / 39 K / .283 AVG / .344 OBP / .536 SLG / .880 OPS
B.J. Boyd (4th Round – Age 19 – Outfielder – AZL A’s)
1 HR / 19 BB / 31 K / .298 AVG / .393 OBP / .430 SLG / .823 OPS
TOP PITCHERS
Kris Hall (8th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont+AZL A’s)
27 IP / 15 H / 3 ER / 13 BB / 26 K / 1.00 ERA / 1.04 WHIP
Austin House (14th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont)
22 2/3 IP / 12 H / 3 ER / 8 BB / 29 K / 1.19 ERA / 0.88 WHIP
Dakota Bacus (9th Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – AZL A’s)
23 2/3 IP / 12 H / 4 ER / 4 BB / 24 K / 1.52 ERA / 0.68 WHIP
Nolan Sanburn (2nd Round – Age 21 – Pitcher – Vermont)
8 IP / 5 H / 2 ER / 2 BB / 8 K / 2.25 ERA / 0.88 WHIP
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