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.
The Athletics were recently highlighted by MLB Pipeline when Jamie Arnold and Gage Jump both landed among the top 10 left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball. Soon, a third lesser-known lefty in the A’s organization could join that mix.
Making his professional debut as a 19-year-old in 2025, Wei-En Lin sneakily ascended through the A’s system. He began at Single-A Stockton, dominating hitters with 69 strikeouts and just six walks in 50 innings over his first 13 games before getting a promotion to High-A Lansing in late June.
From there, the A’s limited Lin’s pitch count and utilized him mostly out of the bullpen. The results remained impressive, as he posted a 3.26 ERA in 11 games with 40 strikeouts and 12 walks in over 30 1/3 innings. By September, the A’s felt confident enough in Lin to send him to Double-A Midland, where he contributed to a Rockhounds playoff push by making two starts on a limited pitch count to end his season. In all, he combined for a 3.72 ERA across the three levels with 117 strikeouts and 22 walks in 87 innings.
Signed out of Taiwan in 2024, Lin heavily exceeded his first-year expectations set by the A’s, who likely would have been content if he could just hold his own at Single-A as a teenager. He may not carry the same buzz of an MLB Top 100 prospect like Arnold and Jump, but A’s assistant general manager and director of player personnel Billy Owens believes it may only be a matter of time before the rest of baseball catches on.
“This kid, when all the [prospect] publications come out, I can see him being a consensus top five [prospect in our organization],” Owens said. “I think he’s a Top 100 overall prospect by April 1.”
It’s hard to argue against Lin being a Top 100 prospect based on his numbers, especially for someone who just turned 20 in November. Over his first year, the 6-foot-2 southpaw showed off a solid four-pitch mix -- fastball, changeup, curveball and slider -- while also working on implementing a splitter as a fifth offering.
Though he racked up the strikeouts in bunches, Lin is not necessarily an overpowering pitcher. His fastball can reach up to 96 mph but generally sits around 91-92. His supreme ability to command the heater, however, is what led to his success. Lin can throw strikes with his fastball at will, which helps enhance his other pitches, especially his changeup, which is thrown much slower and generates a ton of whiffs.
The 2026 season will be a big one for Lin. Expected to pitch for the Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic this spring, he will then likely begin the year at Double-A, where he will have to prove that his stuff can play against more advanced hitters in the upper levels of the Minors while also taking on a larger workload.
Owens is already bullish on Lin’s chances to continue that success, even throwing out a lofty comparison to a star pitcher for the Dodgers.
“My comp for him is a youthful Blake Snell,” Owens said. “I call him the 'Taiwanese Snellzilla'. He’s an elite left-handed pitching prospect. … Power, spin, touch and command paired with a fun personality and confidence.”
While most prospect outlets have given Lin either a 2027 or ‘28 ETA to reach the Majors, Owens said he could see him getting here even sooner based on what he’s seen so far.
“I can see him making his Major League debut before his 21st birthday,” Owens said. “This year.”