The Athletics announced a series of roster moves Monday, notably selecting the contract of well-regarded outfield prospect Colby Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas. The A’s also reinstated Shea Langeliers from the 10-day injured list, recalled reliever Justin Sterner from Vegas and optioned outfielder JJ Bleday, righty Tyler Ferguson and catcher Willie MacIver to Triple-A.
Thomas, 24, was the Athletics’ third-round pick in 2022. He’s steadily climbed the minor league ranks and currently sports a .297/.365/.542 slash with Las Vegas, although given the extraordinarily hitter-friendly setting, that’s only about 11% better than league average (111 wRC+) when adjusted for home park and league run-scoring environment. Thomas’ 26.3% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and massive pop-up rate — a staggering 28% of his fly-balls are infield flies — aren’t ideal, but he’s also hitting plenty of line drives.
Baseball America and MLB.com both list Thomas among the system’s top-five prospects, whereas FanGraphs had Thomas way down at 27th in the system citing concerns over his hit tool and overaggressive approach at the plate. Both BA and MLB raise those flaws as well, but Thomas’ raw tools — above-average to plus grades on his power, speed, outfield defense and arm strength — lead to a more favorable overall rating at both outlets, questions in the batter’s box notwithstanding.
Thomas joins an outfield mix that includes Lawrence Butler in right field, defensive standout Denzel Clarke in center and slugger Tyler Soderstrom in left. Designated hitter Brent Rooker can cycle into the corners as well but has just 202 innings on defense dating back to Opening Day 2024. Thomas’ right-handed bat could serve as a complement to the lefty-swinging Soderstrom, who’s batting just .205/.235/.269 against lefties this year (81 plate appearances) but .268/.367/.485 versus righties.
Langeliers returns after missing nearly four weeks with an oblique strain. He batted .237/.300/.430 with 10 homers in 230 plate appearances prior to the injury, continuing his trend of providing low average/OBP marks with above-average pop.
Ferguson was solid for the A’s in 2024 but has seen his velocity, strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate, walk rate and home run rate all trend in the wrong direction in 2025. He’s currently sitting on a 6.69 ERA in 35 innings.
Last year, Bleday looked to have broken out as a quality hitter and potential core piece with the A’s. His glovework in center field was brutal, but Bleday slashed .243/.324/.437 with 20 homers in 642 plate appearances. He’s drawing tons of walks with slightly above-average power again in 2025, but Bleday’s contact rate, strikeout rate and infield fly rate have all trended the wrong way in ’25. This is now the second time he’s been optioned, and went just 5-for-37 between minor league stints before being sent back down. There’s still room for him to bounce back and reclaim a spot in the Athletics’ long-term plans, but right now his stock is down considerably relative to 2024.
He hits line drives into all the nooks and crannies
He hits and hits and hits some more Good Luck Colby
Can someone who watches the As tell me if Bleday is as bad as the metrics say he is in CF?
Worse.
he makes Seth Brown look like Andruw Jones in CF
sacball – that’s a great description lolol. thanks fellas, i keep hearing how bad he is but sometimes the metrics kill a guy who’s just average
Seems like if JJ Bleday needs a change of scenery. With so many young good outfielders A’s should entertain offers and trade Bleday even if his stokes are a bit low right now…
The A’s seem to specialize in OF who cannot hit.
A’s have some depth at C – MacIver ain’t bad – am sure a team could use him if they cannot.
Susac is ripping it at AAA – he is making it hard for them to keep him there.
The optioning of MacIver hurts the bullpen. He has pitched two scoreless innings.
I wouldn’t overemphasize the ballpark factor for Colby Thomas. He’s making good contact and hitting line drives that would be hits anywhere. His home runs aren’t exactly cheap either. As a Las Vegas Aviators season ticket holder, I don’t recall any of his home runs as being dependent on altitude or the effects of the heat. When they’re out, they’re well out. That said, he does tend to swing for the fences, and miss, far too often when a sac fly would bring in a critical run. His defense is very good on balls hit in front of him. He has a strong and accurate arm. My only quibble is that he has problems judging long fly balls hit over his head. He often drifts slowly back, and then has to panic-sprint-dive at the last second.
Because so few people pass away in their mid 70s.