SAN DIEGO -- The rapid ascent of A's rookie Daniel Mengden to the big leagues this season warranted the attention of many a follower, including Minor League teammate and close friend Ryon Healy.
"It's really fun to watch him be successful," Healy said, "and I think the rest of us hope that we end up there with him."
:: 2016 Futures Game coverage ::
Healy, 24, is doing his part to make it happen. The A's corner infield prospect, hitting .325 between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Nashville this season, took his talents to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Petco Park on Sunday, going 2-for-3 with a walk as designated hitter for the U.S. Team, which lost to the World Team, 11-3.
The A's lone representative, Healy made a loud entrance, with a line-drive double down the left-field line on a 100-mph fastball from Cardinals prospect Alex Reyes in the second. He later singled in the eighth, striking out in his other at-bat.
Healy, who has 28 doubles this year in the Minors with half a season still to play, finished with 31 last year and 28 the year before. He's also already totaled 14 home runs, two shy of his professional high. He points to a mechanical change he made in the offseason for the increased power numbers.
Healy said before Sunday's game that he's flattened his swing, which was much too steep last year, and it's allowed him to elongate it more.
"I've just been trying to minimize giving away at-bats, too," Healy said. "I'm really keeping my mind and my approach focused after making some key mechanical adjustments."
Healy was a third-round Draft pick by the A's out of the University of Oregon in 2013; at the beginning of this year, he set a goal of making the jump to Triple-A by the All-Star break.
"I figured that's when I needed to make the move," said Healy, ranked by MLB.com as the club's No. 16 overall prospect. "Fortunately, it happened earlier than it did."
It happened on May 17, to be exact -- just two weeks after Mengden earned his promotion to Triple-A. By the second week of June, Mengden was in the Majors.
"Sometimes people go under the radar but you get rewarded in the end, when you work hard and be successful like he's been," Healy said.