Aptos alum Koenig to make MLB debut
OAKLAND >> Jared Koenig got the word Saturday.
A long and winding road through high school ball in Aptos, college at Old Dominion, Central Arizona and Cal State Monterey Bay and various independent league teams from 2017 through 2018 will culminate in a lifelong dream Wednesday for the Athletics on the road against the Atlanta Braves.
“Jared Koenig was talked to yesterday,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said Sunday before closing out a 10-game homestand against the Boston Red Sox. “He'll be making his major league debut Wednesday.”
Koenig, 28, is 4-2 with a 2.21 earned run average for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. He's 6-foot-5, 235 pounds and has 63 strikeouts in 53 innings, but gets by more on pitching knowhow rather than velocity and stuff.
A late-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox who the club elected not to sign, Koenig, after being involved with three college programs, played for the following teams for two years in various indy ball leagues: the Birmingham-Boomfield Beavers, the Monterey Amberjacks, the Salina Stockade,
the San Rafael Pacifics, the Lake Erie Crushers and finally the Aukland Tuatara of the Australian Baseball League.
Spotted by an A's international scout after a recommendation, Koenig signed his first contract with a major league team in 2020. His ascension was delayed by the pandemic, but Koenig played for Double-A Midland last season and was 7-5 with a 3.26 earned run average.
A'S FALL TO RED SOX >> The Athletics limped out of town Sunday hoping things will get better away from the Coliseum.
It can't get any worse. A 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday before a crowd of 12,084 closed out a 1-9 homestand against Texas, Houston and the Red Sox. That came after their previous 2-5 homestand, which came before an 0-6 homestand that ended on May 4.
That's 3-20 in their last three home series, as opposed to the A's record of 13-13 on the road for an overall record of 2036. Boston got six innings from lefty Rich HIll.