A's Waiver Claim From Tampa Bay Rays Yet to Allow a Run in 2025

Mar 17, 2025; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Justin Sterner (60) throws against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning at Hohokam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

It's hard to have a bad outing when your entrance music is Audioslave's "Gasoline." At least, that's been the case for A's reliever Justin Sterner, who was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays during the offseason.

In Friday's 6-5 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox, Sterner entered the game with two down in the seventh inning of a 3-3 ballgame and a runner on second base. His assignment was to get Luis Robert Jr., which he did on four pitches, including a sweeper well off the plate that was chased for strike three.

In the bottom of the inning, the A's ended up scoring twice and taking a 5-3 lead on an RBI double from Brent Rooker and an RBI single from Tyler Soderstrom. Sterner would walk Andrew Vaughn with one out in the eighth, but ended up with yet another scoreless outing this season, giving him 12 on the year.

Since the A's took the lead while he was the pitcher of record, Sterner recorded the first win of his MLB career when Mason Miller recorded the final out of the ninth inning. Chicago put up a couple of runs against the A's closer, after a single and a home run brought the Sox within a run, but the home team took this one by a 6-5 final.

Those two runs were the first that Miller has allowed this season, leaving Sterner as the final member of the A's bullpen that has been on the roster since Opening Day to still have a 0.00 ERA. There are currently just nine relief pitchers that hold a 0.00 ERA this season that have also pitched more than ten innings this season, and Sterner is one of them.

What makes this feat even more impressive is that he also didn't allow an earned run in camp, tossing 12 scoreless innings before the season as well. Altogether, Sterner has totaled 24.2 innings of work between camp and the first month of the season.

He did allow a run to score in camp, but it was deemed an unearned run. Before the opening home series, he did mention that it was unearned because he chucked the ball down the line on a poor throw to first against the Los Angeles Angels, so he may not count his time on the mound as scoreless, but the official scorer did.

The big reason for his success is that he just hasn't been getting much traffic on the basepaths this season. Opposing hitters are batting just .119 against him, and he's allowed seven walks in his 12.2 innings during the regular season, giving him a WHIP of 0.95.

His expected batting average against is just a touch higher at .130, which ranks in the 99th percentile, so it's not like he's getting lucky here. He's earning these results.

He also ranks in the 96th percentile in whiff rate at 37.4%, which has landed him in the 89th percentile in strikeout rate at 31.8%. His fastball, which he throws 55.9% of the time, has batting average against of just .053 with an expected batting average (xBA) of .061.

Couple that with no batter being able to get a hit off his sweeper (0-for-10 in his career), and you can see why he's having success this season.

With the A's victory on Friday, the team has won three straight and is back at the .500 mark at 13-13, two games back in the AL West.