It’s a busy time around the Athletics farm with 2026 draftees arriving, none louder than first-round pick (No. 8 overall) Drew Burress, who crushed his first pro homer in his Single-A Stockton debut on Tuesday night.
But prime development is still happening elsewhere, namely Double-A Midland, where 2025 first-rounder Jamie Arnold has spent the summer plying his craft. The No. 11 pick, who has ascended to become MLB’s No. 26 prospect, turned in arguably his best performance as a pro yet Wednesday, racking up a career-high nine strikeouts across 5 2/3 scoreless frames in Midland’s 9-1 win over Frisco at Momentum Bank Ballpark.
It wasn't obvious that this would be such a dominant game at the start. Arnold began with a four-pitch walk, putting himself behind the proverbial 8-ball from the get-go. But he quickly course-corrected with his first punchout of the night and then promptly picked off the leadoff hitter, Frainyer Chavez (Rangers).
By the time Arnold called it a night after 90 pitches (56 strikes), just two balls had left the infield. He yielded only two hits and two walks, the fourth time in his past five outings he’s limited the opposition to two free passes or fewer. Each of his first six strikeouts came via his fastball, before the next three all came on his 65-grade slider, one of the best benders of any starting pitching prospect in the Minors.
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Life in the Texas League can be volatile for a pitcher. Arnold has delivered five quality starts during his debut campaign but also endured some clunkers with four starts of 5+ runs on his ledger. That, along with the supremely hitter-friendly environs, has clouded his overall stat line in 2026: a 3.84 ERA, .268 average against, 1.52 WHIP.
But look closer and you’ll see that Arnold’s ERA leads all qualified Texas League hurlers. (The major caveat here being that Kade Anderson -- both Seattle’s No. 1 prospect and the top pitching prospect in the sport -- is just off that threshold with his 1.20 mark over only 82 1/3 innings.) Even if the minimum innings limit was raised to 80 frames, Arnold would rank third.
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Despite the fact that he is still working through an impossible-to-endure .357 BABIP, the Athletics' No. 2 prospect has given up just seven home runs across 96 innings, a testament to just how difficult he is to square up for extra-base contact with his unique throwing motion and ability to work down the hill.
And a poor BABIP isn’t the end-all-be-all. Entering play Wednesday, here are some of the names who rank among the 11 highest batting averages on balls in play among Major League starting pitchers: Cristopher Sánchez, George Kirby, Kevin Gausman, Paul Skenes -- a quartet that has managed to find considerable success in pockets throughout 2026.
A surefire way to not give up a hit? Get the batter to swing and miss. Arnold has done that just about as well as any member of the A's organization this year, big leaguers included. Following his latest outing, his 105 strikeouts tie him with J.T. Ginn (MLB) and Corey Avant (Double-A) for most among all green-and-gold hurlers.
Despite the challenges that have come with the aggressive assignment to open his pro journey, Arnold was still recognized as a member of the All-Star Futures Game squad last month in Philadelphia. He worked a scoreless frame that afternoon, including getting a punchout of MLB’s No. 11 prospect Mike Sirota (LAD No. 2).
The Athletics haven’t been shy about challenging their top prospects. Gage Jump made just nine starts with Triple-A Las Vegas before becoming a rotation stalwart in West Sacramento this summer. As recently as a few weeks ago, general manager David Forst was looking for Arnold -- along with Midland teammate Leo De Vries (ATH No. 1/MLB No. 2) -- to force their way to Vegas. From there, The Show has proven it's not far off.