A.J. Causey earns Triple-A promotion with Las Vegas Aviators

A.J. Causey reached Triple-A with a 2.84 ERA across 74 minor league appearances, the kind of line that forces a closer look at how fast the Athletics think his arm can travel. The former Tennessee right-hander is now active with the Las Vegas Aviators and wears No. 41, a promotion that puts him one level from the majors and into the deepest part of the A’s development pipeline.

The move matters because Las Vegas is no longer just another stop on the affiliate map. The Athletics are building a new ballpark on the former Tropicana Hotel site on the south end of the Strip, and the club plans to be in Las Vegas before the 2028 season once that park is finished. For a pitcher like Causey, Triple-A is where the A’s can measure whether his strike-throwing and run prevention play against hitters closest to the big leagues.

Causey’s path has been steep and steady since the Kansas City Royals drafted him in the fifth round of the 2024 MLB Draft, 138th overall, out of Tennessee. The Athletics acquired him from Kansas City on Feb. 12, 2026, in the Mitch Spence trade, and early expectations were that he would begin in Double-A and work his way to Las Vegas later in the summer. He has now gotten there. His current MiLB line shows a 14-10 record with a 2.84 ERA in 74 games, a track record that suggests he is no longer simply a depth arm but a prospect with a real major-league timeline.

His 2025 season pushed that case further. Across 48 games split between High-A Quad Cities and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Causey went 11-5 with a 1.72 ERA. He posted a 1.56 ERA at Quad Cities and a 1.91 ERA at Northwest Arkansas, numbers that show he handled each jump without a collapse in command or effectiveness. For the Athletics, that kind of cross-level stability is often the difference between an arm that lingers in the system and one that starts appearing in big-league plans.

Causey’s rise also connects back to Knoxville, where Tennessee leaned on him during its 2024 run to the College World Series championship. After his debut for the Volunteers in a Feb. 16, 2024, 6-2 win over Texas Tech, he was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven. That résumé, built at Tennessee and sharpened in the minors, is what makes his jump to Las Vegas more than a routine roster move.