After hot stretch at Double-A, Milone sneakily on cusp of big leagues

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

Perhaps a bit overshadowed by promotions of higher-profile Athletics prospects over the past couple of weeks was Brennan Milone reaching the precipice of the big leagues.

With the Major League callup of Drew Avans last Tuesday creating a roster opening at Triple-A Las Vegas, the A’s rewarded Milone by moving him up a level after a strong start with Double-A Midland, where he hit .271 with an .880 OPS, 10 home runs, 12 doubles and 35 RBIs in 43 games for the Rockhounds.

The fact that Milone has quietly but quickly worked his way up the system fits his profile. He went under the radar through most of his college career with two subpar seasons at South Carolina before transferring to Oregon and earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior. This led to the A’s selecting him in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. From there, he steadily climbed the organizational ladder from a rather unknown prospect to now ranking No. 23 on the A’s Top 30 Prospect list, per MLB Pipeline.

“We really felt like Brennan was a tremendous force last year at age 23 in the Texas League,” A’s Minor League hitting coordinator Jim Eppard said on A’s Cast last week. “The numbers he put up in any other organization would have granted a promotion to Triple-A, but we were pretty stacked in the outfield coming out of Spring Training this year. Now, with all the recent moves, he got hot at the right time.

“He struggled a bit early this year. I think part of it was the disappointment of having such a great year last year and then not going to Triple-A. But I think that’s all behind him now. He had a so-so April and a tremendous May. We hope to have him carry that on into Vegas and continue on his journey here.”

The only remaining question regarding Milone is his long-term position. The A’s moved him all around the infield earlier in his career. This season, he has split nearly an equal amount of time at first base and left field, along with several games as the designated hitter. But with an overall solid approach at the plate with solid bat-to-ball skills and consistent power numbers, Milone will eventually hit his way to the big leagues.

“Brennan is a professional right-handed hitter with plate discipline and sneaky thunder,” A’s assistant general manager and director of player personnel Billy Owens said. “There are similarities in profile and production to Joey Meneses when he burst on the scene with the Nationals. He earned his promotion to Las Vegas and put himself firmly on the radar as officially one step away.”