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