Hit by hit (or “bird by bird,” as he says), Las Vegas Aviators infielder Jack Winkler is building a home for himself in the Athletics organization.
It wasn’t long ago that he felt like a bird without a nest. Winkler started this season in the Houston Astros organization, but was released June 22 after hitting .184 for the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
He asked A’s director of player development Ed Sprague if he could rejoin the organization that drafted him in 2021. A couple weeks later, Winkler was an Aviator.
“Once I signed here, I think it was almost like a deep breath, a reset,” Winkler said. “I kind of treated it like a fresh start — nothing to lose.”
With improved mechanics and renewed confidence, Winkler is finding his stride in Las Vegas. Though the Aviators (66-52) lost four of six games to the visiting Sacramento River Cats last week, he had his best performance of the year, going 9-for-20 with five home runs and 14 RBIs.
Winkler bashed two home runs in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss. He followed that up Saturday with the go-ahead grand slam in Las Vegas’ 10-5 victory. In Sunday’s 15-11 loss, Winkler launched a homer over the Las Vegas Ballpark scoreboard, then added an opposite field grand slam — all in the sixth inning.
“I’ve always known this is the player I am, and it’s still just a challenge keeping it day to day,” Winkler said. “It’s more so just about having a good first at-bat, and then that’ll turn into a good game, and obviously it turned into a good week.”
It took some time (and plenty of work with Aviators assistant hitting coach Kevin Kouzmanoff) for Winkler to find success in Las Vegas. Kouzmanoff helped Winkler simplify his approach at the plate, making sure hitters can’t sneak a fastball by him.
“He spent a lot of time trying to just get back to the best version of himself,” Aviators manager Fran Riordan said. “He didn’t come off of his focus of what he was trying to do, and now it’s just fantastic to see him get results.”
Riordan praised Winkler for not getting down on himself or deviating from the plan when those results didn’t materialize early. Throughout the month of July, Winkler hit .184 with one homer. In August, though, he’s hitting .320 with six homers.
Winkler is looking like a completely different hitter from the one who struggled in Sugar Land. He’s cut his whiff percentage from 32 percent with the Space Cowboys to 23.6 percent with the Aviators. Winkler’s contact percentage on pitches inside the strike zone improved from 78.1 percent to 85.5 percent.
Winkler also has gotten serious about his pregame routine. After the Miami Marlins selected Winkler from the Athletics in the Triple-A phase of 2024’s Rule 5 Draft, he made his big league debut there in 2025. One thing he noticed among his Marlins teammates was the dedication to preparation.
Now on gamedays, Winkler eats breakfast at the same time, gets treatment at the same time, does defensive drills at the same time and takes his swings in the batting cage at the same time.
That “bird by bird” approach — focusing on one day at a time and stacking small wins — is helping Winkler fly with the Aviators.
Morris solid in return from IL
After spending more than a month on the injured list, Las Vegas pitcher Kade Morris showed no rust in Saturday’s start.
Morris, ranked the A’s No. 14 prospect by MLB Pipeline, pitched three innings for a no decision in the 3-2 loss, striking out two and giving up one run, one hit and one walk.
The UNR product went on the IL July 11, dealing with a nerve issue in his right trapezius. After rehabbing at the Athletics’ Arizona Complex League facility, Morris was activated Saturday.
“I definitely had adrenaline and everything coming back, and I felt good,” Morris said. “I was able to harness some of that angst and some of that excitement.”
Riordan said Morris will build up his pitch count to the 65-70 range when he takes the mound this week in Albuquerque.
R-O-D-R-I-G-U-E-Z spells relief
Hard-throwing reliever Gustavo Rodriguez has re-established himself as a late-inning bullpen weapon for the Aviators.
Rodriguez opened the year on the 60-day IL while recovering from a shoulder injury. But since being activated on July 11, he has a 2.08 ERA and is holding batters to a .211 average.
“He’s kind of picked up where he left off from last year,” Riordan said. “Good velocity, good breaking ball, and he’s thrown a lot of strikes.”
Last season, Rodriguez rose from High-A Lansing to Triple-A, helping Las Vegas down the stretch with five saves and striking out 36 in 31⅔ innings.
