Fansided

One prospect each MLB team should call up right now

By Joshua Sadlock

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 27: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the MLB preseason game at Olympic Stadium on March 27, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 27: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the MLB preseason game at Olympic Stadium on March 27, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MESA, AZ – FEBRUARY 22: Sean Murphy #80 of the Oakland Athletics poses for a portrait during photo day at HoHoKam Stadium on February 22, 2017 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
MESA, AZ – FEBRUARY 22: Sean Murphy #80 of the Oakland Athletics poses for a portrait during photo day at HoHoKam Stadium on February 22, 2017 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Oakland Athletics: Sean Murphy

They may play in near anonymity in the barren Coliseum, but the Oakland Athletics are trending in the right direction. Billy Beane’s boys might be ready to threaten for a playoff spot as soon as next season. The young A’s have an offense that can slug with the best of them and have a starting rotation that is beginning to show signs of coming together. The standard veteran pickups on the cheap, like Jed Lowrie, continue to cement the front office’s reputation for doing a lot with little to work with.

As well as the A’s have done with identifying cheap veterans to help the ballclub, they can’t hit it big on every signing. It certainly appears that former All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s power has vanished for good. The 32-year-old is hitting just .253/.313/.347 this year and isn’t even playing solid defense.

Luckily for the A’s, they have the number-three catching prospect in baseball tearing it up at Double-A. Sean Murphy skipped Low-A entirely in his first full professional season last year . He was slightly overmatched after a bump to Double-A last year, but is hitting .305/.343/.509 this year with 20 doubles in his first 41 games.

Murphy has hit well since being drafted in the third round, but his defense might be what allows him to have a long career in the big leagues. The 23-year-old has a rocket arm and works well with pitchers. While he has fallen off the past two seasons, it would benefit the A’s and Murphy to have him learn from Lucroy the rest of this year.

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