Oakland Athletics Should Promote These Five Players In September

Feb 28, 2015; Mesa, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielder Jason Pridie (7) poses for a portrait during Photo Day at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Jason Pridie

Jason Pridie represents a “next man up” for the Oakland Athletics outfield. The reason that the A’s need a next man up in the outfield is that left fielder Sam Fuld officially fell below the Mendoza Line on Wednesday. At .197/.274/.291 for the year, it is becoming more and more difficult to justify having Fuld as an option.

It would be consistent with the A’s philosophy of lineup management to let go of Fuld, too. Consider Josh Reddick’s splits. Bob Melvin benches him against left-handed pitching because he is hitting only .193 against them. Well Fuld’s average is equally that bad, except against all pitching. Furthermore, Fuld’s defense has not been exemplary enough to be worth putting him in the lineup. With a fielding percentage of .981 and a range factor of 1.87 per nine innings, Fuld’s defense is actually slightly below the league average.

More from White Cleat Beat

• Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
• Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
• Looking back at Ruben Sierra with the Oakland A’s
• San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
• Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen

It is difficult to tell at first if Pridie would represent an upgrade over Fuld. He has been given Major League chances before with the Twins, Mets, Phillies, Orioles, and most recently the Rockies. 2011 was the only season that he played more than a handful of games, and he slashed .231/.309/.370 that season through 101 games.

But Pridie’s defensive metrics in Nashville have been incredible this season. His .992 fielding percentage and 2.37 range factor are considerable upgrades over what Fuld is doing in the outfield with the A’s this year. For those that fear that removing Fuld would damage the A’s defense, replacing him with Pridie might actually result in an even better defensive outfield.

Here is the most important part, though. Pridie has been ping-ponging back and forth from the minors to the majors for over ten years, but this is the best year he has ever had. His .298 average in Nashville is only the second time he has gotten it that high, he already has a career-high 16 home runs as well as a career high 46 walks. His 19 stolen bases have him on track to match his career high in that category as well.

It took Pridie awhile to get to this level of proficiency as he is 31 years old at this point, but does that remind you of anyone? It should.

Stephen Vogt spent seven seasons in the minors and was not promoted to the majors until 2012 when he was 27 years old. The A’s did not start using him regularly until after he had turned 28 the following year. Teams do not normally gamble on players that achieve Major League readiness for the first time at that age, but late bloomers do exist. The A’s are reaping the benefits of taking a chance on Stephen Vogt, and Jason Pridie may similarly surprise them if they give him a chance this September.

Next: A Starting Pitcher...