The Athletics Double-A affiliate, the Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, are set to begin their best-of-3 series against the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Tuesday night. Midland made the dance by winning the first half with a 39-30 record, while Amarillo matched that record in winning the second half.
The clubs just played a six-game set last week in Amarillo to close out the 2025 regular season, and the clubs split with three games apiece. It was a high-scoring series, with Midland outscoring Amarillo 52-47, with 46 of those RockHounds runs coming across the final four contests.
This should be a highly entertaining series, so let’s take a look at some of the top prospects in the A’s system that will have a big impact on how this one plays out.
Since his promotion to Double-A at the age of just 18, we’ve been keeping track of how he’s performed in relation to other 18-year-olds in the Texas League of the past decade, and every time we’ve put something together, he’s reached a new level of play. This kid is special, folks.
His 21 games played are the most by a player in his age 18 season since 2015, and in that span he’s really found a groove with his bat, hitting .281 with a .359 OBP and a .910 OPS. He’s also striking out just under 20% of the time, which is impressive.
This past week De Vries began to let the ball fly, hitting four of his five Texas League homers in the series against the Sod Poodles and going 9-for-29 (.310). His OPS in the month of September is 1.271 through ten games, and he’s peaking headed into the postseason.
In his first season of pro ball, Gage Jump has put together a stellar campaign. On the year he is 9-7 with a 3.28 ERA across 112 2/3 innings with a 1.10 WHIP, 131 strikeouts and just 34 walks. He began the year in Hi-A, then worked his way up to Midland in mid-May. He should be in Triple-A Las Vegas early in the 2026 campaign, and could be helping the A’s before long.
While the season overall has been fantastic, Jump has been struggling a little as the season has gone on. In 24 innings spread over his most recent seven starts, he has given up 21 earned runs, walked seven and struck out 21. He’s also had two starts against Amarillo in that span, totaling nine innings of work and giving up nine runs (five earned).
Jump’s future is bright, and he’ll be getting the ball in the first game of the series tonight in Amarillo.
While Leo De Vries was the big piece of the return for Mason Miller, Nett’s inclusion in that same deal was deemed a “coup” by other teams. While the starters for later in the series have yet to be announced, Nett should be the guy getting the ball for Midland in Game 2 at home.
This season Nett has made 24 starts between both the San Diego system and the A’s, posting a 3.75 ERA in 105 2/3 innings with 116 strikeouts and 48 walks. Back on September 3 against Frisco, Nett recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts, and in two starts this month he holds a 3.27 ERA.
He’s another guy that could move quickly next season.
While De Vries gets a lot of attention due to his prospect status, Clark Elliott, who is unranked, is having a hot month himself. Through 12 games, the 24-year-old outfielder is hitting .326 with a .455 OBP and a 1.222 OPS, which includes five homers, four doubles, and 13 RBI.
Joining Gage Jump as a 2024 draftee on the RockHounds is third rounder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer out of Rutgers. The A’s No. 11 prospect is hitting .296 with a .359 OBP and a .731 OPS between Lansing and Midland this season, and in September he has been really heating up.
In 12 games, he’s batting .365 with a .431 OBP and his first two home runs of the season at any level came in last week’s series against Amarillo. Kuroda-Grauer has also struck out just six times this month in 55 plate appearances, good for just an 11% rate.
22-year-old Tommy White is yet another 2024 draftee, and like Jump is from LSU. After getting promoted from Lansing to Midland at the end of July, Tommy Tanks is batting .311 with a .354 OBP and a .741 OPS in Double-A, all while striking out at just a 15% rate. He’s only played two games in September, but in those games he went 4-for-10 with a double and a RBI.
The A’s have plenty of talent gathered in Double-A, and they will certainly have a good shot in this three-game series against Amarillo. The one drawback for this group is that a number of them are going through their first pro season. Getting used to the schedule, and the grind of a full year is one of the tougher adjustments recently drafted players go through.
We’ll see how they all perform now at season’s end.
