WEST SACRAMENTO -- As one power arm leaves the Athletics, another will be joining them for his Major League debut.
With spots opening up on the Major League pitching staff in the aftermath of dealing flamethrowing closer Mason Miller and left-hander JP Sears to the Padres for a package headlined by teenage phenom Leo De Vries, the A’s will fill one of those vacancies by calling up right-hander Luis Morales from Triple-A Las Vegas, a source told MLB.com. Rated the club’s No. 3 prospect and the No. 80 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Morales will join the A’s at Sutter Health Park for Friday’s series opener against the D-backs.
It has been a fast rise for Morales, who signed with the A’s out of Cuba during the 2023 international signing period. The 22-year-old began this season at Double-A Midland and earned a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas on May 20. Between the two levels, Morales holds a 3.73 ERA in 23 games (14 starts), with 107 strikeouts and 35 walks over 89 1/3 innings.
In an effort to manage what is the largest workload of his young professional career, Morales shifted into a multi-inning bullpen role with Las Vegas on June 27. Over that time, he has posted a 2.00 ERA in nine appearances with 20 strikeouts and six walks across 18 innings.
Morales might not rev up the fastball quite like Miller -- few pitchers in baseball can -- but his heater is still an electric offering that can reach 99 mph. He also brings a plus slider and a changeup that has improved since joining the professional ranks.
"His fastball/slider combo is electric,” A’s Minor League pitching coordinator Mike McFerran said on A’s Cast in June. “It’s really low slot, it’s high-quality spin, and he throws it really hard. It just gets on hitters really quickly. … He’s learned that his fastball is going to beat hitters, so he’s really not worried about hitters beating him. He’s not afraid to attack hitters.”
Likely to finish out this season as a reliever, Morales is one of a few pitching prospects who the A’s believe could impact their starting rotation as early as next season. That group also includes A’s No. 2 prospect (MLB No. 63) Gage Jump, No. 5 prospect Braden Nett (acquired from San Diego in the Miller deal), No. 7 prospect Jack Perkins and left-hander Jamie Arnold, who they selected 11th overall in this year’s MLB Draft and is expected to rise quickly through the system.