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Oakland Athletics’ Top Four 2015 Draft Picks Impress In Debut Season

By Katrina Hamrick |
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Apr 4, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of O.co Coliseum as the tarp is pulled onto the infield after the game was postponed due to conditions of the field at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Judging the First Seasons of the Oakland Athletics’ Top 2015 Draft Picks

The season is over for most of the Oakland Athletics’ minor league teams, and all of their top draft picks have headed home for the winter. So how did the A’s first four picks in the 2015 draft fare? It was a mixed bag, but overall, the A’s received some pretty solid output from them as they began their first partial season of professional baseball.

Let’s take a look at their results, and what exactly that means for the future. First up:

Fourth Round: Outfielder Skye Bolt

Skye Bolt might have the best name in the system, but he didn’t exactly thunder his way onto the scene. He showed flashes of what he’s capable of, but just couldn’t put it all together for the majority of the season.

[Sorry, obligatory Skye Bolt puns. Just lightning the mood-  Nevermind. Let’s move on.]

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Bolt hit just .238/.325/.381 over the course of 52 games with the short-season Vermont Lake Monsters, although he did hit four home runs as well. His 11.7 percent walk rate was a good sign, but he’ll need to improve in the contact category to continue to rise up through the system.

As the 19th-ranked prospect, Bolt doesn’t appear to be very highly regarded by the team at the moment. However, there’s a possibility that could change. A broken bone in his foot in 2013 slowed him down, and he hasn’t been the same player since. Infielder Joey Wendle faced a similar challenge – in his case, a broken hamate bone derailed his development, and it wasn’t until the second half of this season that Wendle began to look like the player the Cleveland Indians drafted. If Bolt follows the same trajectory, drafting him in the fourth round would be a steal.

Bolt is a switch hitter, which gives him a bit of added value if he can turn around the very prolonged struggles he’s had since his injury. The A’s gamble cost them just $650,000, which sounds like a lot, but Bolt’s athleticism will be worth it once he gets things figured out.

Hopefully, 2015 was just an anomaly to an otherwise solid career, because Bolt has the potential to become a star for the Oakland Athletics, and their outfield will need a boost by the time he has a shot to make the major leagues.

Next: Dakota Chalmers: Third Round Pick

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Third Round: Right-Hander Dakota Chalmers

Oakland Athletics’ third-round pick Dakota Chalmers started at the lowest level of baseball after he inked a deal with the Green and Gold, making eleven starts for the A’s Arizona Rookie League team.

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Next year, he’s likely to move up at least one level after making an impressive minor league debut in 2015. The right-hander pitched just 20.1 innings in 11 games, but he posted an ERA of 2.66 and struck out 18 batters.

Rookie league isn’t the kind of team that expects pitchers to go six-plus innings per start, so his innings per game don’t matter. Arizona is primarily a developmental league, where high school draft picks like Chalmers can have time to get the instruction and reps they would have received on a college team.

Chalmers is just 18 years old, so don’t expect to see him in the big leagues anytime soon. He has control issue that need a lot of work, and striking out rookie-league batters doesn’t mean you’re capable of striking out Mike Trout within a year or two. Two things do point to success for Chalmers though: a killer fastball, and above-average secondary pitches.

There aren’t many 18-year-olds on the high school showcase circuit who can regularly throw in the mid-90s, with a peak speed of 98 mph. Chalmers made a name for himself by becoming a power pitcher, and it’s not unreasonable to think that velocity will even increase more as he gets older and becomes stronger. At 6”3 and 170 pounds, he’s the prototypical definition of a big, right-handed power pitcher – and he’s nowhere near his prime.

Chalmers’ detractors would point to his control, as well as the messy delivery that is negatively impacting it. But he has made changes, and they’re working. His walk rate for the season was very high, but he gradually decreased the amount of free passes issued as the season progressed. Any time a player makes progress in an area where he needs to improve, it’s a great sign, and that’s especially true in a player’s first season. With time, Chalmers could eventually be an impact starter for the Athletics.

Next: Mikey White: Second Round

May 21, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Oakland Athletics hat and glove lays in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Second Round: Shortstop Mikey White

The A’s second round draft pick was shortstop Mikey White, who crushed Low-A pitching after he signed with Oakland. He batted .315/.405/.459, with two home runs and 16 RBIs in just 29 games. In fact, White was playing so well that the A’s sent him to the full-season Beloit Snappers – where he promptly met his match.

With Beloit, White turned in a .200/.283/.262 performance – far below what he had done with short-season Vermont. That’s not a knock on White. It’s impressive that he was able to make such a statement that he reached the new level after just a few weeks, and it’s not at all shocking that he struggled after his promotion.

The Oakland Athletics’ ranked White 15th on their prospect list not because of any deficiencies, but because he doesn’t excel in any one particular area. Richie Martin, for example, is a stellar defender.  White is a solid defensive shortstop, but not a Gold Glover. He can get on base, run the bases, and make plays, but he isn’t flashy.

If he can continue to post the kind of numbers he did with Vermont, White could find himself moving quickly up the list. He’s 22 years old, but he has better plate discipline than a player like Chad Pinder, and he’s certainly a better overall hitter than Martin. That will make him more likely to succeed at the major league level when he finally reaches it.

The A’s will need to think about moving at least one of these players to second or even third base. White got some reps at third while with Vermont, but second base is probably the best fit for him. If Martin’s bat holds up, his defensive ability at shortstop will keep White out of a job at that position.

Next: Richie Martin: First Round

Jun 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Florida Gators shortstop Richie Martin (12) juggles a grounder against the Virginia Cavaliers in the eighth inning at the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Virginia won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

First Round: Shortstop Richie Martin

In the first round of the 2015 Draft, the Oakland Athletics took shortstop Richie Martin as the 20th overall pick. The A’s have Martin ranked fourth, already ahead of other infielders like Chad Pinder, Joey Wendle and Yairo Munoz.

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The Athletics’ primarily drafted him for his glove, and in that aspect, he didn’t disappoint. Martin’s weakness, however, has always been his offense. It’s a little unusual to take a light-hitting shortstop so early in the draft, but that should explain just how good his fielding abilities are. On scouting’s 30-80 scale, Martin received a 60 grade in the Run, Arm and Field categories. His hitting ability was only a 50, and his power was a diminutive 35. Other comments about Martin included praise for his plate discipline and ability to take a walk, with a fairly low strikeout rate.

Those predictions were fairly accurate for his 2015 campaign with the short-season Vermont Lake Monsters. He played in 51 games, batting .237/.353/.342 with a pair of home runs and seven stolen bases. That’s a bit more power than expected, and he also struck out 20.8 percent of the time – a little on the high side for Martin.

What was impressive is his on-base percentage, which was over 115 points higher than his average. He had a walk rate over 11 percent, which is always a good sign at such a low level.

Martin is a college draft pick, though, so expectations are high for the 20-year-old shortstop. He was actually first drafted out of high school in 2012, but didn’t sign with the Mariners after he wasn’t chosen until the 38th round. A three-year jump from the 38th round to being selected 20th overall is a big leap, and it shows that Martin was able to continue to improve, even while facing tougher competition.

His ability to defend has never been in question, so it’s just his ability to hit well enough to stay in the lineup that remains an issue. The 2015 season didn’t do anything to quell those fears, so Martin has probably earned a solid “B” grade for meeting expectations.

Next: Fundamentals Key to A's 2016 Success

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