White headlines A's AFL contingent that is 'cooking up something special' for the future
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Tommy White stood in the dugout at Truist Park during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on July 12 and was starstruck. One of college baseball’s most captivating personalities and a veritable cult hero on campus in Baton Rouge, La., White established himself as a player that people know.
But CC Sabathia? Never could White – who grew up going to games at Tropicana Field to watch the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee pitch – imagine that the 6-foot-6 hurler would bound over and ask him how he was doing. He knew his name and was familiar with his game.
After White’s first full foray into pro ball this season, it’s also A’s and prospect fans alike that are becoming more familiar with what the 22-year-old brings to the table.
White donned the hat of the High-A Lansing Lugnuts during Futures Game Weekend but shortly thereafter earned a bump to Double-A Midland.
The jump from High-A to Double-A is often described as the most difficult on the Minor League ladder. Pitchers go from merely having explosive stuff to also having the improved command to match. But that jump in talent brought out the best in White for 27 games down the stretch. His line-drive rate rose (24.7 percent, up from 18.1). His average spiked to .311.
“It’s always, ‘see ball, hit ball,’” White said. “My focus is just to hit the ball as hard as I can, low in the gaps. … I'm not really a stat guy. I let the higher-ups deal with the stats. I just go out there and try to play as hard as I can in between the lines.”
A year ago, the Athletics sent their first-round pick from the 2024 Draft, Nick Kurtz, to the Fall League. After an impressive 13-game spell with Mesa (1.058 OPS), and a subsequent dominant 20-game run at Triple-A (1.040 OPS), Kurtz got the call to The Show and emerged as the odds-on favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Now it’s time for their second-round pick from that Draft, White, to get his chance in the desert.
Combine Kurtz with a young nucleus already up in the bigs of Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom, plus White, Leo De Vries(ATH No. 1), Henry Bolte(ATH No. 5) and others still down on the farm, and there’s a definitive vibe change around a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2020.
“It’s really super special,” White said. “We have a really, really good clubhouse at all levels. Everybody really works hard and is striving towards a goal that's just [focused on] winning. We're just cooking up something really special and I'm really happy and grateful to be a part of it.”
Other A’s hitters in the Fall League:
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, SS (No. 10): Another 2024 A’s draftee to join the Solar Sox, Kuroda-Grauer is coming off a solid first full pro campaign that saw him hit .296 across two levels, including a .301 clip in a 41-game stint with Midland. He boasts an extreme-contact profile (8.9 percent K rate, second-lowest among all qualified A’s Minor Leaguers) and his above-average wheels carried him to 27 steals on 33 attempts.
Ryan Lasko, OF (No. 17): Fitting the mold of a gritty, grind-it-out Northeast player to a tee, Lasko made it up to Triple-A for a late-season cameo, skipping Double-A entirely. Viewed as a strong defender with the arm strength to match in center, the 23-year-old has yet to post an OPS above .700 at any of four Minor League stops since joining the organization as a second-round pick in 2023. But there’s definite juice in his right-handed swing: he hit a 458-foot homer during his time with Las Vegas and posted a 38.2 percent hard-hit rate, albeit in a sample size.
A’s pitchers in the Fall League:
Will Johnston, LHP (No. 18): After opening the year in Midland’s rotation to the tune of a 5.65 ERA, the A’s converted Johnston into a multi-inning reliever. His power arsenal – a mid-90s heater that can touch 96, a low-80s slider and a whiff-heavy split-change – fits well in that role and he found success to close the year, posting a 2.12 ERA and .540 opponents’ OPS over his final 17 appearances. Both his 28.9 percent K rate and 11.2 K/9 ranked inside the Top 10 of all Athletics Minor League pitchers this season.
Mark Adamiak, RHP: In his first season as a full-time closer, Adamiak led all of the Minor Leagues with 21 saves (in 23 chances) for High-A Lansing. The MLB Draft League alum works with a 92-95 mph heater – which has some natural cut to it – in addition to a sweeping breaking ball that dives away from right-handed hitters. A 15th-round pick in 2022 out of Arkansas, Adamiak threw just 15 1/3 innings in college before injuries slowed the start of his pro career; his time with Mesa will serve as a proving ground against upper-level talent as he enters his age-25 campaign.
Corey Avant, RHP: After two seasons at D-II Wingate University spent almost exclusively coming out of the bullpen, and a debut campaign in ‘24 as mostly a bulk reliever, Avant made the transition to the rotation this past year. Across his 22 starts for Lansing, he posted a 3.76 ERA and spun five starts of five scoreless frames or more. The 23-year-old MLB Draft League alum works with a mid-90s heater that has sniffed triple digits on occasions, 86-87 mph changeup and a low-80s breaker. He reigned in his BB/9 rate this year (4.1), a drastic improvement from the 6.1 of his first season.
Nathan Dettmer, RHP: The club’s fifth-round pick in the 2023 Draft began the year strong for Stockton with a 1.00 ERA and .148 BAA over four outings before things went south. After posting a 22.9 percent K rate at Single-A in ‘24, that number took a nosedive to 14.2 percent upon his promotion to Lansing over the summer. Equipped with a low-90s fastball and a solid changeup and slider, Dettmer, 23, will get a test against experienced bats in the Fall League after he finished the regular season back in the California League.
Blaze Pontes, RHP: Talk about a complete 180-degree turn: one year removed from posting a 7.36 ERA and .323 opponents’ average against while with Lansing, Pontes worked to the tune of a 1.79 ERA and .222 OAA this regular season. The 25-year-old native of Hawaii works with a 94-96 mph heater, as well as a pair of devastating breaking balls – a low-90s slider that darts away from right-handed batters and a mid-80s curve. After allowing 11 homers in 88 innings last season, Pontes didn’t yield a single homer in ‘25 across 50 1/3 frames.