Colby Thomas: Athletics 2024 Minor League Player Of The Year
Almost from the time Colby Thomas first swung a bat, he has not just played baseball—he has attacked baseball.
Thomas plays hard. His outfield style is aggressive, and his work shows a young athlete intent on rising to the top. He has played at four minor league levels in two seasons, ever since the Athletics drafted him out of Mercer in the third round in 2022.
The 23-year-old spent this season at Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas. Thomas hit .277/.342/.563 with 31 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 132 games. He was one of six minor league hitters to reach the 30-homer plateau.
“He has always had a great attitude,” A’s farm directer Ed Sprague said. “He’s a hard-nosed kid, a great kid. He comes to the party every day to play. He loves to play baseball.
“He’s a really good athlete. He runs well and he’s a really good defender.”
The 5-foot-10 Thomas can play all three outfield positions and has enough arm to play right field. The A’s rank him above-average in terms of running, throwing and fielding—and double-plus in power.
The remaining question is his ability to consistently make contact. He ran a 25% strikeout rate this season with a walk rate near 7%. Last offseason he worked on shortening his swing and diminishing his leg kick, which has led to improvement this year.
Thomas grew up in Valdosta, Ga., and attended Mercer, where his freshman season was limited by the pandemic. He slumped as a sophomore, then erupted as a junior, batting .325 with 17 home runs before a torn labrum ended his season.
Now the goal for the hard-charging Thomas will be to diminish his swing-and-miss. If he can do that, he could well be headed for a big league career.
A’s ACORNS
— The A’s shut down righthander Gunnar Hoglund after he threw 104.2 innings in a solid bounceback season. The 24-year-old threw 61 innings in 2023 after recovering from Tommy John surgery. He pitched at both Double-A and Triple-A and finished with a 3.44 ERA.
— Shortstop Jacob Wilson may have been Oakland’s most impressive minor league player this year. He hit .421 with seven homers at three minor league stops before being called up to the majors.
