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Oakland A’s 2021 Community Prospect List #31: Skye Bolt and Hogan Harris can play their way back onto the radar

Both have been on the CPL in past years, but haven’t played much lately

By Alex Hall
Oakland Athletics v Arizona Diamondbacks Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

Our 2021 Community Prospect List is complete, but we’ve got two extra names ready in case a new spot opens up, in outfielder Skye Bolt and pitcher Hogan Harris. Here’s the current list, including their winning margins (the difference between his % of the vote, and the % of the runner-up):

  1. A.J. Puk, LHP (+42%)
  2. Tyler Soderstrom, C (+16%)
  3. Nick Allen, SS (+26%)
  4. Robert Puason, SS (+29%)
  5. Daulton Jefferies, RHP (+42%)
  6. Logan Davidson, SS (+15%)
  7. James Kaprielian, RHP (+32%)
  8. Luis Barrera, OF (+34%)
  9. Greg Deichmann, OF (+24%)
  10. Grant Holmes, RHP (+3%)
  11. Jeff Criswell, RHP (+10%)
  12. Brayan Buelvas, OF (+19%)
  13. Pedro Pineda, OF (+23%)
  14. Austin Beck, OF (+13%)
  15. Ka’ai Tom, OF (+3%)
  16. Tyler Baum, RHP (+1%)
  17. Jordan Diaz, 3B (+21%)
  18. Seth Brown, OF (+11%)
  19. Junior Perez, OF (+21%)
  20. Buddy Reed, OF (+11%)
  21. Wandisson Charles, RHP (+25%)
  22. Colin Peluse, RHP (+23%)
  23. Lazaro Armenteros, OF (+10%)
  24. Kyle McCann, C (+18%)
  25. Jeremy Eierman, SS (+2%)
  26. Miguel Romero, RHP (+19%)
  27. Cody Thomas, OF (+6%)
  28. Brian Howard, RHP (+4%)
  29. Aramis Garcia, C (+19%)
  30. Parker Dunshee, RHP (+24%)
  31. Skye Bolt, OF (+5%)
  32. Hogan Harris, LHP (+11%)

This is the lowest position for Bolt in his six years on the CPL, after placing 18, 29, 26, 16, 26 the last five winters. But that’s not a surprise because of the real problem, which is that he’s still eligible at all, now at age 27.

That’s not entirely Bolt’s fault, as his best opportunity yet would have come last summer if not for the canceled season. He would have been able to keep playing in Triple-A and building on the 2019 campaign that earned him a MLB debut, and a full six months of marathon grind could possibly have created another opportunity in the majors at some point. Instead he sat at the alternate site camp and watched a crucial year of his career arc go to waste while his prospect stock stagnated and began to sour.

He’s still on the 40-man roster, and the outfield logjam has eased slightly with the trading of Dustin Fowler and a new injury to Buddy Reed. Can Bolt finally squeeze enough out of his impressive power/speed/defense tools to get back to the majors and stick as a platoon/fourth outfielder? At least he’ll finally get the chance to try again this year, because it’s tough to rise back up the depth chart if you’re not even playing.

As for Harris, he’s got even more to prove. He’s the classic stuff-but-injuries profile, where if he can just stay healthy enough to get on the mound he has a lot of promise with an arsenal of multiple plus pitches.

The former 3rd-round draft pick did make a handful of starts in High-A in 2019 and looked great, but he’s only thrown around 50 innings so far in his pro career entering age 24 and “entered 2021 once again having to deal with an elbow injury,” per MLB Pipeline. Can Harris pitch his way back up the radar toward top prospect status? The necessary first step is to do some actual pitching in pro games.

That’s it for the 2021 CPL! Thanks everyone for participating as always, and keep an eye out soon for the big wrapup post with all kinds of charts, tables, and analysis.

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