Tommy White exits game with back soreness

White sat out his third consecutive game due to lower back soreness. The 23-year-old rookie remains day-to-day for now.

White was pulled from Tuesdays’ game due to soreness in his lower back and has now missed two consecutive games since. If he isn’t ready to go for the weekend, the A’s may be forced to place him on the injured list. Jeff McNeil will slide over and cover first base while Michael Stefanic will draw a start at second base and will bat sixth against Mariners’ rookie left-hander Kade Anderson.

White seems to be settling in now. He hit the first two homers of his career last Sunday and Monday, and he went 3-for-4 on Saturday. This, though, was his best game to date from a contract standpoint; he had a 107.8-mph lineout and a 106.0-mph flyout that was projected at 409 feet and would have been a homer in 15 ballparks. He also had a 99.8-mph groundout to go along with his 92.8-mph single. White had topped 105 mph in exit velocity three times in 31 games coming into the day, peaking at 108.0.

The A’s let Kurtz rush back from his original thumb injury last month and will pay the price, though not really, since they’re not playing for much anyway. It’s unclear as of yet whether Kurtz will return this season. The A’s will likely go with Tommy White at first base, opening up time at third base for Max Muncy and Donovan Walton.

The rookie has struggled of late, slashing .140/.189/.220 in his last 15 games with a 15/1 K/BB ratio. He’s been mostly solid in his first MLB season, but there remains a chance that the A’s could move Zack Gelof back to the outfield when he returns from his knee injury and keep Tommy White active in the infield. Bolte’s playing time does not seem as guaranteed as it was a few weeks ago.

White did ground into a double play and was caught stealing after one of his singles, so it wasn’t a perfect night. Still, four hits in your third big-league game is impressive. The 23-year-old is 5-for-11 overall, and he’s yet to strike out. He’ll definitely be in the lineup Tuesday with the A’s facing a left-hander for a third straight game.

As previously reported, the 23-year-old slugger will join the Athletics for Friday’s second half opener against the Nationals. He’s expected to see action at first base while Nick Kurtz is shelved before making the move over to the hot corner. White had been slashing .303/.345/.489 with nine homers and 47 RBI in 252 plate appearances at Triple-A Las Vegas.

This suggests the A’s aren’t expecting Nick Kurtz back in the near future. White, 23, was the Athletics’ second round pick in 2024. The corner infielder was hitting .303/.345/.489 in 55 games since moving up to Triple-A Las Vegas, but while that sounds pretty good, it’s just average considering the environment. For instance, Joey Meneses and Brian Serven, both of whom were sent down by the A’s today, had about 100 points of OPS on him. Henry Bolte’s OPS before his callup was 1.076. White will likely play mostly first for now. Once Kurtz is back, he could move to third, depending on how he’s performing. He’s probably not going to amass mixed-league value initially.

White is the Athletics’ 9th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The 40th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft was slashing .301/.372/.398 in 21 games at Double-A with one home run, 17 RBI, and one steal. He’s a high-contact rate hitter who has not produced elite power in the minor league, but did hit 48 home runs over two years at LSU en route to signing for $3 million after being drafted in the second round. That power should show up eventually.

De Vries put together an extremely impressive showing in Cactus League play, hitting .409 (18-for-44) with three homers and 11 RBI in 17 contests. The switch-hitting 19-year-old prodigy was the centerpiece of the Mason Miller blockbuster at the trade deadline last July and will open the minor league season at Double-A Midland. It wouldn’t be shocking at all if he reached the big leagues as a teenager in the second half. He’s one of the top 10 prospects in the entire fantasy landscape entering 2026.