Three of the four players the Oakland Athletics received from the New York Yankees in the Frankie Montas/Lou Trivino trade have made their big-league debuts. The lone holdout is Cooper Bowman, who was recently promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas at the end of July.
This season he hit .281 with a .378 OBP in Double-A Midland with 12 homers and 35 stolen bases in 80 games. In the ten games he has played for Vegas, Bowman is batting .304 with a .373 on-base and four steals. He is eight swipes short of tying his career high, which he set in 2022 in High-A, mostly when he was still a member of the Yankees system.
The interesting wrinkle with Bowman's promotion is that the A's haven't had him at his typical second base. With former first rounder and natural shortstop Max Muncy on the club, along with glove-first shortstop Nick Allen also with the Aviators, the club has been searching for playing time for Bowman, so they've thrown him into center field. Muncy and Allen have primarily been switching off between short at second.
According to Aviators broadcaster Matt Neverett, Bowman has the skillset to play the position, but "you can tell that he hasn't played a lot of outfield in general." Six of his ten games played in Vegas have come with him stationed in center. Allen also took his turn in center in recent weeks, starting a couple of games, but he has returned to the infield over the past week or so. Based solely off of playing time, it would appear as though Bowman has performed better than Allen at the position.
But can he stick there long-term, or is this just a way to add some versatility to Bowman's skill set? That's the real question.
On the one hand, the A's could be looking for a power/speed guy in center. Last season in Oakland they let Esteury Ruiz run wild, getting into 110 games in center after beginning his pro career at second, like Bowman, before transitioning to center post-pandemic. The A's were working with Ruiz the past two seasons, trying to help him tap into his power a bit more. Bowman seems to have the skillset they're looking for, he's just new to playing the position.
Current centerfielder JJ Bleday has had a breakout season, hitting a career-high 14 homers and batting .243 with a .323 OBP, but he doesn't present the same speed threat that Bowman and Ruiz do. Could the A's be looking at sliding Bleday to a corner next season when Ruiz is healthy or Bowman is ready for his debut?
The plan may not even be for Bowman to be an everyday centerfielder, but to make sure he's able to handle numerous positions, like Max Schuemann. Bowman has primarily played second base in the A's system, getting a few games at short, third, and one in center last year in Midland. The only positions Schuemann hasn't played in Oakland (yet?) are first base and catcher. That level of versatility may not be in the cards for Bowman, but the A's do love it when one player can wear a few different hats on the roster.
Bowman's bat, coupled with his ability to play a few positions will be how he makes it to the big leagues.
