Tommy White launches first Triple-A homer for Las Vegas Aviators

Tommy White’s first Triple-A homer was not just a box-score line in Las Vegas’ 11-7 win over Tacoma. It was another checkpoint in a power track that has started to climb the ladder with him, one level at a time.

The Athletics’ No. 9 prospect turned on a pitch for a two-run shot on May 1, and the blast brought Henry Bolte home with him. For a hitter whose profile has always been built around impact, that matters. White is 23, listed at 6-foot-0 and 220 pounds, and he has spent the last year proving that the raw power scouts have tagged him with can survive each jump in competition.

That is the real story here, not just the first homer itself. White reached Triple-A after hitting his first Double-A home run on Aug. 23, 2025, then carried that momentum into the Arizona Fall League in October, when he added a two-run homer and later a multi-homer game. The pattern is worth more than any single swing. White keeps finding ways to leave the yard when the level rises, and that is exactly what the Athletics want to see from a player drafted 40th overall in 2024.

The power was never in doubt. MLB.com’s prospect guide has graded it as legitimate, and White backed that up in college, where he hit 27 home runs as a freshman at NC State before transferring to LSU. But there is a difference between being a power hitter and being a power hitter who can do damage against better pitching. White’s first Triple-A homer is the first real sign that his carrying tool is beginning to translate against more advanced arms.

Still, this is one homer, not a verdict. The Athletics should be watching the same things they have been watching all along: whether White keeps controlling the zone, whether he keeps getting to his pull-side damage without selling out the rest of the strike zone, and whether the quality of his at-bats holds when pitchers stop giving him mistakes. If the homers keep coming and the contact stays disciplined, the promotion conversation gets louder. For now, the blast in Tacoma was a reminder that White’s bat is advancing on schedule, and maybe a little faster than the safe projection.