A's Pitcher Report: A's Skip Lopez, Monitor Ginn as Rotation Depth Gets Tested
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The Athletics went 4-2 last week on the road against the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, cementing their spot at the top of the AL West. Sitting at 15-13 with a one-game lead over the Rangers in the division, the A's also hold the third-best record in the entire American League.
The New York Yankees (18-10) have the best record, and the A's beat them in two of three games, also on the road, earlier this season. Things are looking up for the A's right now, and part of the reason for their good fortunes has been their pitching staff, which holds a cumulative 4.42 ERA between the rotation and the bullpen. That ranks 21st in MLB.
That said, some changes could be on the horizon. With off-days before and after the series in Texas, the A's have decided to skip over left-hander Jacob Lopez's spot in the rotation, and will instead be going with Aaron Civale, Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs in this week's series against the Kansas City Royals.
In Sunday's game, starter J.T. Ginn was cruising through 3 1/3 scoreless innings before being lifted due to right arm soreness. Manager Mark Kotsay said after the game that Ginn had "some form of a stinger in the shoulder area" after that final pitch.
Kotsay told MLB.com, "We weren’t going to risk anything further, so we had to take him out,” Kotsay said. “Orthopedic from [the Rangers’] side came and saw him, he’s got good strength, good range of motion. We’re going to go slow with this, obviously, take 24 hours and then move forward with seeing how he can play catch."
With the off-day on Monday, there won't be an update to Ginn's status moving forward until Tuesday afternoon when the A's are back at Sutter Health Park.
Rotation options on 40-man
While the A's are deciding to skip over Lopez this turn through the rotation, that doesn't mean that he's necessarily gone. He's 2-1 with a 5.84 ERA in six games (five starts) spanning 24 2/3 innings, and he has more walks (21) than strikeouts (18), so he's not on stable footing either.
Passing over him could just be the team's way of getting as many starts out of their key veterans as possible and skipping over the starter that's struggling the most in order to get him a breather given the opportunity. This isn't something that presents itself many times throughout a season, so may as well take advantage.
If a change is to be made, either with Lopez getting lifted, or an injury to Ginn, then the A's have some options to work with.
Luis Morales started the season in the rotation, and in his three starts since being optioned to Triple-A, he hasn't fared well. He's lasted just 12 1/3 innings, giving up 18 hits and walking nine which has led to an 8.76 ERA with a 2.19 WHIP. The issues that landed him in Vegas are still plaguing him.
Mason Barnett was off to a nice start this season, earning him a call-up to eat some innings if needed last weekend. He's back in Vegas, and in his one start since his option, he went five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out seven.
The one big caveat here would be that he'd be unable to come up unless Ginn lands on the IL, as teams have to wait for 15 days to call a player back up to the majors once they've been optioned. The only way around that is in the case of an injury.
Joey Estes has been working on a cutter and his velocity has been up a little bit since the last time A's fans saw him, but he's also struggling with free passes this month, issuing 12 in 16 innings. In April he holds a 7.88 ERA with a .328 batting average against and a 2.06 WHIP, so this wouldn't be the time for a promotion.
The only other arm in Triple-A that could work is Braden Nett, who made his season debut on Saturday, April 25. He tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and walking one while striking out five. It was also his first start in Triple-A, so he's not likely to get the call just yet.
Rotation options outside of the 40-man roster
The big name that everyone will be clamoring for is the A's No. 3 prospect, Gage Jump. When he was in Sacramento taking on the River Cats earlier this month, he admitted that in his recent outings he just hadn't been throwing the ball well. "I'm just not executing well enough."
This season he has a 6.38 ERA in 18 1/3 innings of work, walking ten and striking out 27. Since we spoke with him (he had a 1.50 ERA at that point), he has been hit around a bit in his next three starts. Spanning 12 1/3 innings, he's allowed 16 hits, 12 runs, six walks and struck out 19. That's an 8.93 ERA with a 1.82 WHIP in that span.
While he's a solid option for this season, the timing just isn't there right now.
The other option right now could be Kade Morris, who has plenty of experience in Triple-A, having racked up nearly 100 frames at the level last season. This year he holds a 5.19 ERA across 26 innings and posting a 1.46 WHIP. He may not be ready for the promotion just yet, but in a pinch he could be the A's best option to consider.
The one other option here could be to bring up a relief pitcher from the minors, and then slot Jack Perkins into the rotation. However, given how dominant he has been in the bullpen the past week, this may not be the best course of action. He's serving extremely well as a multi-inning closer, and locking down the late innings for the A's.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. Mason Miller once said he likes Jason's content.
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