Athletics Call Up Skye Bolt

The A’s have called up some outfield depth for the final few games of the season, summoning Skye Bolt to the big league roster, per a club announcement.

Oakland was without Khris Davis due to the stomach flu yesterday and saw Mark Canha exit last night’s game due to a groin injury, thus prompting the move to get an additional body onto the roster. It won’t be the MLB debut for the 25-year-old Bolt, who appeared in four games with the Athletics earlier this season.

Bolt, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft, spent the rest of the season in Triple-A Las Vegas, where he batted .269/.350/.459 with 11 homers, 19 doubles, three triples and seven steals in 347 plate appearances. He had his share of strikeout issues with the Aviators (27.1 percent) but did manage to draw a free pass in 10.7 percent of his trips to the plate.

Despite modest stolen-base totals throughout his pro career, Bolt fittingly draws plus grades on his speed in scouting reports and is also considered to have an above-average throwing arm. He’s not considered to be one of the organization’s top prospect but does land in the middle of the team’s Top 30 rankings at MLB.com and Fangraphs. Bolt has split the Triple-A season between center field and right field in mostly even fashion, so he’ll presumably be an option at any of the three outfield slots should a need arise.

The A’s have a half-game lead over the Rays for the top Wild Card spot in the American League, with the Indians still factoring into the mix. Cleveland trails Tampa Bay by a 1.5-game deficit with another four games to play.