The Athletics are not a joke any longer. At 16-15 on the season, the A's have put themselves in a position to be competitive. On Thursday morning, the Athletics called up another young prospect to help give the team a boost. Jeff Passan broke the news right before their game against the Texas Rangers.

Gunnar Hoglund is the A's No. 2 overall prospect and joins a young pitching staff that has shown promise. The team is very young but has won games against good teams. The AL West Division is also up for grabs. The Seattle Mariners currently lead the division by two games over the Houston Astros, however, the Athletics are tied with the Rangers at just a half-game behind the Astros.

Hoglund joins No. 1 prospect Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, and Max Muncy, who are all recent call-ups. It's unclear when Hoglund will earn his first start, but there is plenty of room for him in the rotation.

Luis Severino is the ace who has started seven games. JP Sears, Osvaldo Bido, and Jeffery Springs have all started six. Sears has done the best job thus far with a 4-2 record, 2.94 ERA, 30 strikeouts, and a 1.07 WHIP. Three other hurlers have combined for the other six starts.

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Hoglund is a former 2021 first-round draft pick from the Toronto Blue Jays. He attended Ole Miss and has shown a lot of promise at just 25 years old. In six Triple-A starts, the right-hander went 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and K'd up 30 hitters in 29.2 innings.

The right-hander was a part of the Matt Chapman trade that sent the star third baseman to the Blue Jays from the Oakland A's. After battling through Tommy John, Hoglund now has a chance to show the team what he is made of.

The Athletics travel to Miami to take on the Marlins this weekend, followed by a homestand against the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. It's expected he will make his start sooner rather than later. Currently, the A's are undecided on a starter for this Sunday's game against Miami.