This A's shortstop prospect is tearing up the Minors

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A's Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There’s a hot-hitting shortstop in the Athletics organization who is knocking on the door of the big leagues, and it’s likely not the one you’re thinking of.

Leo De Vries is probably the first name that comes to mind here, and with good reason. Ranked the A’s No. 1 prospect and No. 2 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, De Vries is off to a great start at Double-A Midland. But we’re talking about a different shortstop here: Joshua Kuroda-Grauer.

Much like Henry Bolte kept on hitting at Triple-A Las Vegas to the point that he left the A’s no choice but to call him up to the big leagues last week, Kuroda-Grauer, ranked the organization’s No. 10 prospect, appears to be making a similar push. The 23-year-old earned a promotion from Double-A to Triple-A on May 12, and since joining the Aviators, Kuroda-Grauer entered Thursday batting .425 with a 1.142 OPS, one homer, four doubles and two triples in his first eight games.

Between the two levels, Kuroda-Grauer is hitting a combined .315 with an .885 OPS. What stands out about his first 41 Minor League games, though, is his 25 extra-base hits.

Since the day he was drafted by the A’s in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Rutgers, Kuroda-Grauer has been lauded for his elite bat-to-ball skills while also dinged for his lack of power. This offseason, "JKG" made a concerted effort to gain muscle by adding about 25 pounds to his 5-foot-10 frame in hopes of generating more pop.

That increase in power is showing through with higher exit velocities from Kuroda-Grauer, and he’s still maintaining those impressive contact abilities with just 19 strikeouts in his first 193 plate appearances.

“He’s a kid that kind of sees the writing on the wall, learns what he needs to work on, and he goes and works on it,” A’s Minor League hitting coordinator Todd Takayoshi said last week on A’s Cast. “With him, we said, ‘Hey, we want the ball coming off the bat. We’re not chasing home runs. But we want you to get down into your legs, hit the ball harder and shorten up the time to contact with the barrel.’ He’s taken it and run with it.”

The shortstop position is a fluid situation for the Athletics right now. Jacob Wilson remains sidelined with a left shoulder subluxation, and while the A’s remain hopeful his absence won’t be too long, the timeline for his return is still very much unclear. That leaves the A’s with Darell Hernaiz – who entered Thursday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium batting .391 (9-for-23) over his previous eight games – as a quality replacement in the meantime.

Kuroda-Grauer has always graded out as a strong defender, and he’s even expanded his versatility this season with nearly equal playing time at shortstop, second base and third base. So, should another need arise at shortstop or anywhere else on the A’s infield, Kuroda-Grauer is positioning himself nicely to be the next man up.

“With his profile as a hitter, it’s getting a lot better, just because now he’s not just trying to collect singles and get on base,” Takayoshi said. “That was the case until college and the first year or two we’ve had him. Now he’s starting to take more leveraged swings and it’s paying off.”