Oakland Athletics 2022 MLB Draft Report Card

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Best Pure Hitter: C Daniel Susac (1) has been labeled as a power-over-hit player going back to his high school days, despite a career .352/.413/.586 slash line at Arizona. He had a solid pro debut at Low-A Stockton, where he hit .286/.346/.388—good for a 100 wRC+. Another candidate for this category could be OF Clark Elliott (2s), who has an unorthodox swing, but led all hitters in the Cape Cod League (.344 average) in 2021 and slashed .337/.460/.630 during the spring with Michigan.

Best Power Hitter: Susac (1) likely has the most power of Oakland’s draft class currently. He posted back-to-back 12-homer seasons with Arizona and scouts graded him with plus raw power. OF Henry Bolte (2) might wind up being the player with the most power in the group down the line, however, as he continues to fill out his frame and develop physically. Bolte has plenty of future plus tools on his scouting card, including power, and he managed the best 90th percentile exit velocity numbers (107 mph) of any hitter in the A’s 2022 class.

Fastest Runner: As mentioned previously, Bolte (2) is a tooled-up prospect. He’s a plus runner underway and his speed might play better in the outfield than out of the box from home-to-first, but when he’s opened up—he can fly.

Best Defensive Player: OF Caeden Trenkle (9) played center field for Oklahoma State for three seasons, and in our draft report we wrote that he “has a center fielder’s necessary arrogance.” The A’s have praised his defensive ability and he has the plus speed for the position, with a history of making smart reads and efficient routes to balls. He played 196.1 innings in center field and 33 innings in left field during his pro debut with Low-A Stockton this summer. 

Best Fastball: The first pitcher Oakland selected in this draft class was RHP Jacob Watters (4), who averaged 95-96 mph with West Virginia this spring and has touched 99-100 at peak. He showed similar velocity in a very short, four-inning pro debut this summer, though the pitch does have just modest riding life—around 15 inches of induced vertical break.

Best Secondary Pitch: RHP Jack Perkins (5) throws a breaking ball in the low-to-mid 80s and with Indiana during the spring he generated a 41% whiff rate with it. It has a chance to be a plus offering, depending on his command.

Best Pro Debut: Perkins (5) only threw 10 innings (nine with Class-A Stockton), but he dominated in that brief stretch and struck out 14 batters (36.8%) while walking just two (5.3%). Susac (1) started off a bit slow with Stockton (he slashed .214/.290/.357 with 11 strikeouts and three walks in his first eight games), but finished on a better note. In his final 17 games he slashed .314/.368/.400 with six doubles. As importantly, the A’s were pleased with his work with the pitching staff.

Best Athlete: Bolte (2) is one of the players in the 2022 draft class who might come the closest to comparing tool-for-tool and in terms of athleticism with first-rounder Elijah Green. He is a powerful athlete with the sort of strength and speed that offers tantalizing potential and upside. 

Most Intriguing Background: RHP Vince Reilly (18) had connections with the Athletics before they signed him for $100,000 on the third day of the draft. Reilly played for the same Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High team as 2021 A’s first-rounder Max Muncy and the two were teammates before Reilly went to college.

Closest To The Majors: Both Perkins (5) and Watters (4) have the pure stuff to move through the system quickly depending on their strike-throwing ability and the role Oakland prefers to put them in. Susac is a catcher, yes, but he has the physicality and power that you don’t need to project on and could play at the big league level quickly.

Best Late-Round Pick (Or NDFA): 1B Tommy Stevenson (19) will need to cut down his swing-and-miss and chase rates, but he showed big-time power potential with some of the better exit velocities of the A’s class and also has the defensive versatility to get behind the plate and catch.

The One Who Got Away: 2B Brock Rodden (10) was one of just three players selected among the top 10 rounds not to sign, while the A’s also didn’t sign LHP Christian Oppor (11) one round later. Rodden was the best hitter on Wichita State’s team in 2022 and he smashed 17 homers while walking (39) more than he struck out (37). Oppor had a chance to be the first Wisconsin high school pitcher drafted and signed since 2009 and had touched 96 mph from the left side.