A's JP Sears Lined up to Start Opening Night
While no announcement has been made official, and likely won't be for at least a couple of weeks, the days are lined up for JP Sears to start on Opening Day. His spring performance thus far hasn't hurt, either.
On Sunday, the lefty tossed three scoreless innings, gave up one hit, and struck out seven. Four of the seven punch-outs were looking. In five spring frames he has yet to allow a walk or a run to score, and the single from the Rangers' Davis Wendzel on Sunday is the only hit he's allowed.
Going off of last year's numbers which included a 4.54 ERA across 172 1/3 innings, Sears seems like one of the few choices that the A's have to hand the ball to on March 28 against Cleveland, so the fact that he's lined up shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Sears' first outing this spring came against the Guardians, and he went two innings and didn't allow a hit, striking out two.
Detroit Tigers' manager A.J. Hinch said at the end of last season that he sees some similarities between his left-hander Tarik Skubal, and Sears. Skubal had his own issues with the long ball back in 2021, giving up 35 homers. Sears allowed 34 last season. Heading into 2024, Skubal is coming off of a dominant 80 1/3 innings, holding a 2.80 ERA, and is being mentioned as a Cy Young contender this year. Sears may not quite be at that level just yet, but he could prove to be a pretty good starter in his own right.
The other option for that spot would be Paul Blackburn, who is slated to pitch on Monday against the Reds. If this does end up being the A's last season at the Coliseum, giving the ball to Blackburn may be the right choice for sentimental reasons since he grew up in the area.
The rest of the rotation
If Sears is slotted No. 1, then how will the rest of the rotation shake out? One would think that the A's would want to go righty/lefty, but that's not the way the arms are set up currently. Alex Wood, the club's other southpaw in the mix, got his first start on March 1, which would line up him up for the final game of the opening series against Cleveland.
With Sears first and Wood fourth, that would put Blackburn and Ross Stripling in the second and third spots. Stripling also worked on Sunday, firing three scoreless frames of his own, allowing two hits and an unearned run while striking out one.
The order of those two pitchers would be up to manager Mark Kotsay and the front office. All four of those starters would be facing off against the same club in the first series.
The fifth starter would end up facing the Boston Red Sox when they come to town for the following series. That spot could go to either Joe Boyle, who has been stellar this spring, allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and striking out five, or Luis Medina, who is out of options.
Boyle would be on schedule to start the third game of the season, but it's more likely that he'd get pushed back to let the veterans have at it, unless Kots likes him against Cleveland more. Medina followed Blackburn in his first outing, walking one in two scoreless innings and striking out three, so he's on the same timeline as the veteran righty.
Boston was a little better against right-handers than lefties last season, and one of their best bats against left-handers, Justin Turner, is now with the Blue Jays. We could actually see the "fifth starter" getting the nod against the Guardians to begin the season and Wood getting the nod in the first game of the second series.
You only get one chance to set your rotation to begin the season, and the A's will have to weigh how much emphasis they want to put on an early season matchup against breaking up the righties in the rotation for the first half.