The A’s Are Calling Up Tommy White: What You Need to Know

What’s Happening?

The Oakland A’s (a Major League Baseball team) are bringing up a young player named Tommy White to play in the big leagues for the first time!

• Tommy White is an infielder (a player who usually plays on the dirt part of the field, like third base).
• He will join the team for their game on Friday, which is the first game of a series against the Nationals (another team).
• A reporter named Jeff Passan from ESPN shared this news.
• This will be Tommy’s major league debut—that means his very first time playing in the top level of pro baseball.
• Before this, Tommy was a star at LSU (a big college known for baseball).

Other Roster Moves (Who’s In and Who’s Out)

The A’s also made a few other changes to their team list (called the “roster”):

• They are activating Donovan Walton, a utilityman (a player who can play many positions) they recently claimed (picked up from another team).
• They are sending down (optioning) two players to Triple-A (a level just below the big leagues):
  • Joey Meneses (first baseman)
  • Brian Serven (catcher)
• Because of those moves, there was one open spot left for a position player.

Important Point: Tommy White is not on the 40-man roster (a special list of 40 players a team is allowed to use in the big leagues). But he can take the spot of Brent Rooker, who is out for the whole season. The A’s can move Rooker to the 60-day injured list to free up space for Tommy.

Who Is Tommy White?

Let’s break down Tommy’s baseball journey like a simple story.

In College

• Tommy was one of the best hitters in the entire country!
• Over three college seasons, he had a batting line (how well he hit) of .355/.419/.704. (In simple terms: he got a hit in about 35% of his turns, was good at reaching base, and hit for lots of power.)
• Even so, he was picked in only the second round of the 2024 draft (not the very first picks). Why?
  • Some people worried he swung too much (aggressive approach).
  • They also thought his defense at third base was not great.

In the Minor Leagues (the levels below the big leagues)

• Tommy has been a good “pure hitter” (someone who gets hits consistently).
• But he doesn’t walk much (get free passes to first base) and hasn’t hit a ton of home runs.
• Across 860 minor league turns at bat, his line is .279/.337/.430.

At Triple-A Las Vegas (this year)

• He played 55 games there.
• He hit .303/.345/.489.
• He struck out (fanned) only 14% of the time—pretty good!
• But he only walked 4.8% of the time (very low).
• He hits the ball hard sometimes, but half his hits are ground balls (balls that stay low and roll). That’s not perfect for a player whose main skill is hitting and who is not very fast.

Summary

The A’s are calling up college star Tommy White for his first big league game on Friday. They made room by sending down two players and using an injured player’s spot. Tommy is a solid hitter who doesn’t walk a lot and makes a lot of ground balls, but he rarely strikes out. More news may come later!

FAQ

1. What does “major league debut” mean?
It means the first time a player gets to play in MLB, which is the highest level of professional baseball.

2. Why isn’t Tommy White on the 40-man roster?
He just wasn’t put on that list yet. But the A’s can add him by moving injured Brent Rooker to the 60-day injured list.

3. What is Triple-A?
It’s the level of minor league baseball that is closest to the big leagues. Players often go there to get ready for MLB.

4. What does “optioned” mean?
It means a player is sent back down to the minor leagues from the big league team.

5. Why did Tommy fall to the second round of the draft?
Because teams were worried he swung at too many pitches and wasn’t a strong defender at third base.