A's Prospect Joey Estes Looks Good in 2023 Debut

Aviators Fall to 1-5

The Aviators sent Colin Peluse to the mound on Thursday, and he had a solid start, working five innings, giving up six hits, two earned runs, walking two, and striking out five. The most notable thing from this game was the plan of attack by the Las Vegas pitchers. Of the 145 pitches thrown, 120 of them were recorded as fastballs per StatCast and Brooks Baseball. That's 82% heaters. 

Peluse gave up both of his runs in the first, allowing a single and a walk, then a two-out double down the line in left to Ryan Ward, which scored both runners. He actually left the game with a 4-2 lead thanks to a Jordan Díaz (2-for-4, 2 rbi, 2 strikeouts) two run double, an rbi groundout from Kyle McCann, and a solo homer from DH Trenton Brooks. 

Garrett Acton (2 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 K) gave up a single to begin the seventh, then the runner advanced to second on a fly out to center, and then to third on a wild pitch. The OKC Dodgers scored on a sac-fly, making it 4-3. 

Rico Garcia (L, 2 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, BB, 3 K) came on in the eighth to work a six out save, but after recording the first two outs in the ninth with a one run lead, he hit Michael Busch, then allowed a double to Luke Williams, giving the Dodgers runners at second and third. Steven Duggar singled both of them home to give OKC the lead, and the win. 

Cody Thomas had the hardest hit ball of the evening at 109.2 off the bat. It had a launch angle of one degree, and ended up being a groundout to the second baseman. 

The Aviators drew zero walks in this game. Tyler Soderstrom got the start at first base for the second straight game. 

One Pitch Was the Difference in Midland

Royber Salinas (2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) got the start in this one, making his organizational debut after coming over in the Sean Murphy trade. The 21-year-old right-hander was also making his Double-A debut after tossing 85.1 innings in High-A in the Atlanta system last season and striking out 123. He gave up a couple of singles in the first inning, but worked a quick 1-2-3 with two groundouts and a strikeout in the second.

Joey Estes (4 IP, 1 hit, 2 runs, BB, 3 K) came on in the third and got a couple of flyouts and a pop out, but in the fourth one pitch became the difference in the game. After striking out John Rave and getting Robbie Glendinning to ground out to second, he walked catcher Luca Tresh, and gave up a home run to 29-year-old Jorge Bonifacio. Bonifacio has played 224 games in the big leagues, and got into seven in 2021 with the Philadelphia Phillies. While Estes got the loss in this one, only giving up one hit, and having that one hit be to a big-league caliber player isn't all that bad. 

Estes came to the A's as part of the Matt Olson trade ahead of the 2022 campaign. He only tossed 91 innings last season with Stockton, so his outing on Thursday is hopefully a positive sign for the 2023 campaign and beyond. 

The RockHounds got both of their runs in the top of the 7th when Logan Davidson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and the second batter, Cooper Bowman (Frankie Montas trade) was also hit by a pitch. Max Schuemann hit a two-out triple that brought both runners home, and for the moment the game was tied. 

In the bottom of the 7th, with Jake Walkinshaw (L, 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 ER, 2 K) on the mound, Parker Bates reached on a fielding error charged to Logan Davidson, scoring the runner from second. That would be the difference in the game. Davidson had played just three games at first in his career, and two of those were in college, one since he turned pro, and that was in 2021 with Midland. 

Part of the reason Davidson will likely see some time at first this season is because Darell Hernaiz (Cole Irvin trade) is also a shortstop. He went 2-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base in the opener. 

Lawrence Butler went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. 

Buelvas Goes Deep, Ports Drop Opener

The Stockton Ports were down 9-0 by the time it was time for their turn to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Yehizon Sanchez (22, RHP) got the start for Stockton and gave up a double and a home run in the first inning, then a walk, a balk to advance the runner, and a double scored a third run. Sanchez was done after two frames. 

Wander Guante (22, RHP) signed with the A's out of the Dominican Republic in 2019 and got his first action with the Ports since a brief stint in 2021. He gave up six runs in two innings, allowing three hits, walking four, and striking out three. 

Things settled down a bit once Garrett Irvin entered the game. Irvin signed with the A's as a minor league free agent on July 27 last year. The 24-year-old lefty tossed two innings, gave up three hits, one run (solo homer), walked one and struck out two. 23-year-old righty Blaze Pontes (2022 16th round) tossed two scoreless frames, giving up three hits and striking out three. 

Charlie Cerny (2018, 7th round) missed all of last season and made his return to the mound in the ninth, walking two and striking out one in a scoreless frame. 

Brayan Buelvas (2-for-4, solo homer, BB, K) fell in the A's top 30 ranking after not hitting well in Lansing last season (.195/.265/.352 in 69 games) and now sits as the A's #25 prospect on MLB Pipeline. He was 13th on the list in 2021. Still just 20 years old, Buelvas hit his first home run of 2023 in the bottom of the fourth. 

Colby Thomas (2022, 3rd round) was the only other Port to have a multi-hit day, going 2-for-5 with an rbi single in the bottom of the 9th. Clark Elliott made his full-season debut atop the lineup and went 1-for-3 with an rbi and two walks. Jose Escorche (2018 signee) went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored while batting ninth. Elliott, Escorche, Buelvas and Robert Puason all stole a base.

Friday's Probables

Las Vegas: Jack Cushing

Midland: TBD

Lansing (season opener): Joelvis Del Rosario (Minor League Rule 5 Selection)

Stockton: TBD

Jason Burke is the Managing Editor of Inside the A's, and the host of the Locked on A's podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @ByJasonB