2026 Las Vegas Aviators Season Preview

FSM Feature: 2026 Las Vegas Aviators pick up where they left off to start the season

Franchise Sports Media

The Las Vegas Aviators kicked off their 2026 campaign doing exactly what they did at the end of last year — winning.

Coming off a tremendous season in 2025 — where the Las Vegas Aviators clinched their third Pacific Coast League (PCL) championship in franchise history — there was a lot to be excited about regarding how the team will progress from that success. And well, so far so good.

The Aviators (4-1) raised the curtain on their season on March 27 and went on to secure a comprehensive series sweep of the Salt Lake Bees. Las Vegas outscored its opposition 31-6 over three games.

Currently, the Aviators are in the middle of a six-game home tilt against the Oklahoma City Comets — the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers — and the opening three games have been as good as you’d expect.

The Aviators suffered their first defeat of the year on Tuesday in Game 1, falling 13-8. They responded as champions do, with a bounce-back 11-5 victory on Wednesday, and a 4-2 victory in Game 3. The two teams will square up three more times between today and Sunday at the Las Vegas Ballpark.

Through five games, second baseman Zack Gelof has impressed — batting .389 with an OBP of .577. He has three homers and eight RBI on seven hits. Gelof had a stint with the Athletics last term and may be in line for another call-up soon.

Elsewhere of note, the A’s No. 5 prospect, outfielder Henry Bolte, is hitting .350 with an OBP of .519. He also boasts four stolen bases, and the noise around him getting called up to the big leagues is gaining momentum after he drew praise from A’s manager Mark Kotsay in spring training.

Bolte is one of just four players to have featured in all five games thus far, alongside Gelof, first baseman Brett Harris, and centerfielder Junior Perez. All four are batting north of .300 and will certainly be on the A’s radar as the MLB side looks a little flat offensively to start their year.

The A’s came into the season with a lot of buzz around their young, heavy-hitting offense and rich prospect pool. However, 1-5 through six games, they may be looking to reinforce and shuffle the lineup sooner rather than later. That goes for both sides of the ball.

It bodes well for the A’s that there are several pitching prospects on the Minor league rosters. No. 3 prospect, lefty Gage Jump, just made his debut against the Comets earlier this week. No. 6 prospect Braden Nett is likely to log his first appearance in the near future.

The No. 2 and No. 4 pitching prospects, Jamie Arnold (2025 first-round Draft pick) and Wei-En Lin, are both currently at Double-A Midland but could see the bump in Las Vegas at some point this year.

Prospect watch is one of the most exciting aspects of every minor league campaign — seeing who breaks out and takes the next step into the majors. Last season, that guy was first baseman Nick Kurtz — the eventual unanimous American League Rookie of the Year.

Kurtz spent just a month in the minors before taking the world by storm with the Athletics in West Sacramento. He racked up 36 homers — 10th most ever by a rookie — and gradually became one of the faces of the A’s resurgence.

Going into this season, there are 12 players on the Aviators’ active roster who are also a part of the A’s 40-man MLB roster. Right-hander Mason Barnett is one of them. He paced the Las Vegas bullpen with 124 strikeouts last term.

There are also some top prospects who are not on the MLB 40-man roster yet, but Aviators fans should be excited to see them while they can.

One to watch is 23-year-old righty pitcher Kade Morris (2.45 ERA), who is emerging as an early ace candidate for the Aviators. He started Las Vegas’ season opener against the Bees and struck out five in 5.2 innings. He allowed four hits and one earned run — a solo homer.

On Thursday, Morris helped the Aviators to their fifth win of the year with 5.1 innings on the hill against the Comets. He punched out five while allowing five hits and two earned runs — both solo deep shots — as the hosts came from behind to triumph 4-2.

The Aviators trailed all game before scoring four unanswered runs in the last two innings — punctuated by a walk-off two-run blast from Joey Meneses, who went 3-4 on the day to pace the Las Vegas offense, in the ninth.

Depending on how his development progresses, 2025 Draft Pick Devin Taylor could end up with the Aviators at some point. The outfielder was a second-rounder (No. 48) out of Indiana and is the A’s No. 8 prospect, currently at High-A Lansing.

Someone who is almost guaranteed a stint in Las Vegas — albeit it may be very brief — is 19-year-old shortstop Leo De Vries, the A’s No. 1 and the No. 4 overall prospect in the MLB.

A switch-hitter with a great arm and defensive instincts, De Vries was sent the Athletics’ way as part of the blockbuster Mason Miller trade with the San Diego Padres last year.

De Vries played out the rest of last season with Double-A Midland, and that is where he has started this campaign. However, he stood out during spring training with the A’s, batting .409 across 17 games.

De Vries hit three homers, added 11 RBIs, three doubles, and three stolen bases, and is definitely someone Aviators fans should prepare to welcome into the ballpark soon.

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Arion Armeniakos for Franchise Sports Media

Follow Arion on Instagram @aarmeniakos

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