Oakland Athletics’ Prospect Chad Pinder Dazzles In Arizona
The Arizona Fall League had their first games of the season on Tuesday, and the Oakland Athletics have sent seven of their prospects to Mesa to play for the Solar Sox. Representing the Athletics in Mesa are pitchers Sean Manaea, Aaron Kurcz, Kris Hall, and Brendan McCurry, as well as infielders Renato Nunez and Chad Pinder, and outfielder Jaycob Brugman.
Pinder is certainly one of the people to watch this Fall. He had an outstanding season in Midland this year. The notoriously pitcher-friendly Midland ballpark that stalled number two prospect Matt Olson’s offensive production proved to be no match for Pinder. Pinder finished 2015 high on the Rockhounds leader boards, as he was second in batting average (.317), third in home runs (15), and first in RBIs (86).
This is incredibly encouraging news for an A’s organization that is searching for an answer for their middle-infield woes from within. The club is keeping a particularly watchful eye on this prospect because he has a potential Major League ETA of late-2016. His presence will weigh heavily on any decisions made for the middle infield roster this offseason.
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The Mesa Solar Sox are only two games into their young season, and Pinder only appeared in one of those two games. But how did the young infielder do in his Solar Sox debut on Tuesday?
Pinder only went three for five with two home runs, a base hit, and four RBIs.
Obviously, nobody can sustain a .600 batting average, but this is an incredibly promising start to a Fall League that will hopefully hone Pinder’s skills to help him be successful in Nashville next season.
If you’re the kind of person that follows A’s prospects carefully, keep an eye out on the Solar Sox this month. You might see their second baseman on Oakland’s big league roster next year.