Since being promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on May 31, Athletics prospect and Pitman High graduate Kade Morris has made a quick impression on the Pacific Coast League.

On Thursday, the right-hander took the mound for the first game of a doubleheader against Houston Astros affiliate Sugar Land Space Cowboys. In fact, he was the only Aviators hurler to take the bump, as he tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout in a 4-0 win. The victory clinched the first half PCL title with four games to go and an automatic berth to the 2025 postseason.

Morris, two days before his 23rd birthday, struck out six batters while allowing just three hits without yielding a walk. His effort earned him Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week (June 16-22), and made him the fourth Aviators player to receive PCL Pitcher of the Week honors in 2025, joining right-hander J.T. Ginn (March 24-30), right-hander Luis Morales (May 19-25) and right-hander Jack Perkins (two consecutive weeks, June 2-8; June 9-15). Ginn has experience in the majors over parts of the last two years, while Perkins was called up to the big leagues earlier this week and made his MLB debut on Sunday.

In four starts with Las Vegas, Morris has  posted a 1-1 record with a 4.98 ERA, allowing 28 hits and striking out 15 batters over 21 2/3 innings. He currently ranks as the No. 6 pitching prospect and the No. 15 overall farmhand in the A’s organization, per MLB Pipeline. 

The Aviators wrapped up their season Sunday with a 5-2 loss in the series finale against the Space Cowboys and finished the first half with a 49-26 record, three games ahead of runner-up Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) in the 10-team, 150-game PCL. 

The second half of the regular season started Tuesday with the Aviators beginning a nine-game homestand against the Albuquerque Isotopes, affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

Carrigg ends first half strong with Hartford

Another local member of the 2023 draft class, Turlock High’s Cole Carrigg, also found himself in a race to the postseason across the country in Connecticut and across New England

The No. 2 prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization, Carrigg has spent the entirety of this season with Double-A Hartford. Unfortunately for him and his team, they finished as runner-up in the Eastern League’s Northeast division first half standings.

The Yard Goats achieved a 36-33 record in the first half, which was 10 games behind New York Mets affiliate Binghamton Rumble Ponies. But as coaches, scouts and front office executives across baseball will tell you, development comes above results.

Carrigg, 23, has appeared in 63 games this season and has a .266 average (65-for-244), .351 on-base percentage, .451 slugging percentage (.451) and .802 OPS with nine doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 42 RBI, 22 walks, 23 stolen bases and 46 runs scored. Each of those marks, except walks and doubles, leads the Yard Goats.

The ‘Goats began their second half on Tuesday with the start of a six-game homestand against New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Toronto Blue Jays organization. 

Nuts fall short of California League first half championship

For the first time since 2022, the first half of the Minor League Baseball season has ended without the Modesto Nuts in first place.

The Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, who will be relocating to Inland Empire next season, needed to win the first three games of last week’s homestand against the San Jose Giants in order to three-peat as the California League’s first half North division champions. After pulling out an 8-5 win in the series-opener last Tuesday, the Nuts were eliminated from contention after falling 5-2 on Wednesday. They ended up losing again, 7-1, on Thursday.

The Nuts finished 38-28 in the half, four games behind the Giants. The second half of the series coincided with the start of the second half of the season, with the Giants against getting the best of the Modesto team by winning two of the last three.

This year’s club is largely unrecognizable from last fall’s postseason roster, with there being just nine players on the roster of 34 to have played in Modesto prior to this season. But it has been the familiar faces that have made the biggest contributions.

Leading the charge was Curtis Washington Jr., a fan favorite who has been with the Nuts for parts of three seasons. A stellar outfield defender who has struggled at the plate through his first few professional seasons, Washington has completely flipped the script in his career, leading the team with a .308 average (61-for-198), a .460 slugging percentage, an .833 OPS and 22 steals. Those stats, along with his three home runs, 15 doubles and 42 runs, are career highs.

“Knowing my approach, my player identity has been big,” Washington said on June 6. “I’m not trying to do too much at the plate, just keeping it simple. I think that has a lot to do with the success lately, not getting out of my approach.”

Those adjustments earned Washington, 25, a promotion to High-A Everett this week, where he will reunite with teammates like Colt Emerson, Jonny Farmelo and Tai Peete, as well as manager Zach Vincej, who led the Nuts to their titles the last two years.

Now in the wooden manager’s seat at John Thurman Field is first-year manager Luis Caballero, who acknowledged that several of his players had never played with one another heading into this season.

“The key piece of this puzzle has been guys like Washington that have been here, around for a couple years already,” Caballero said. “His energy is just contagious to everybody. Other guys like Austin St. Laurent that were here for a few days last year in the championship run, and Carter Dorighi, those three guys have been really, really helpful for that chemistry we're talking about and bringing the rest of the group together.”

Dorighi, who plays the corner infield positions, is not the team’s top hitter with a .306 average, 68 hits and 36 RBI. St. Laurent, an infielder, leads the Nuts in walks (40)

Washington’s spot on the roster is George Feliz, a 22-year-old outfielder out of the Dominican Republic who hit .270 with seven home runs and 23 RBI at the Arizona Complex League. He reunites with fellow countrymen Carlos Jimenez and Felnin Celesten. Jimenez was called to the Nuts from the complex league in the middle of last season and has established himself well in Single-A, now leading the Nuts in home runs (9), OPS (.810), RBI (44), runs (45) and slugging (.442). Celesten is the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect and No. 58 prospect in all of baseball, per Pipeline, and is in the midst of his first full professional season, where through 52 games he is hitting .286 (62-for-217) with three homers, 32 RBI, 13 stolen bases and 25 runs scored.

Another farmhand in the top 10 prospect rankings is pitcher Ryan Sloan, Seattle’s second round pick in last year’s draft. The 19-year-old right-hander, who is the No. 9 Mariners farmhand and the No. 90 overall prospect in all of baseball, per Pipeline, has strung together a 4.54 ERA and punched out 46 batters in 41 2/3 innings over 11 starts.

Fellow righty Walter Ford, Modesto’s Opening Day starter, has similar numbers — a 4.60 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings over 12 starts.

I know that our organization is just full of talent,” Sloan told the Journal. “You look at every level, you have talent on talent on talent, guys that know how to play baseball and are really good at what they do. It’s about being around guys who are very like-minded as me, and I think everyone benefits.

“Seeing those guys (Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Logan Evans, etc.) up there with the Mariners that came through Modesto, I think it just gives us more confidence into believing what they're teaching and what their ideologies are around pitching. All I gotta do is commit to it, and my journey will take care of itself.”

The Nuts began a six-game road series against the Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres) on Tuesday, and will be back at John Thurman Field for a three-game set against the Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies) from July 1-3.