WASHINGTON — Colby Thomas couldn’t contain the huge smile on his face as he excitedly raised his arms and gazed into the Athletics’ dugout while rounding the bases at Nationals Park.
Above all else, the standout tool that carried Thomas to the Majors as the A’s No. 4 prospect was his 60-grade power. It certainly showed through at Triple-A Las Vegas over the past two years, with his 49 home runs the fourth most among all Minor League hitters since the start of the 2024 season.
It took a couple of big league stints, but Thomas finally flexed that tremendous power with the A’s, launching his first career Major League home run — a 406-foot two-run blast to center off Mitchell Parker — in the second inning of Thursday’s 6-0 victory over the Nationals and making that satisfying trip around the diamond.
Considering the massive expectations, it hasn’t been the ideal start for Thomas, who entered the day batting just .129 with a .423 OPS and one RBI over his first 15 games. With three RBIs on Thursday — he also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth — the 24-year-old outfielder got a much-needed confidence boost.
While Thomas shined at the plate, another rookie starred on the mound in Jacob Lopez. The 27-year-old left-hander produced without question his best start as a big leaguer with a masterful performance, silencing the Nationals across 7 2/3 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts.
Lopez became the first A’s starting pitcher with 10 strikeouts and no walks in an outing since Cole Irvin (11 strikeouts, no walks) on Aug. 24, 2022 against the Marlins and the first A’s rookie starter to do so since Dan Straily (11 strikeouts, no walks) on April 5, 2013 at Houston.
