The A's May Have Found Something More Valuable Than a Closer in Jack Perkins

Jack Perkins didn't just help the A's win on Saturday against the visiting Chicago White Sox, he showed exactly what his role is becoming going forward.

And it doesn't look like it's a traditional closer, either.

Thrown into a jam in the ninth, Perkins didn't just escape—he stayed on the mound for the following two frames, handling high-leverage spots in a way that suggests the A's may be building something different with their bullpen.

This outing showed that the A's aren't using Perkins as a closer. They're using him as a weapon.

In recent days. A's manager Mark Kotsay has reiterated that the club isn't looking to get into defined roles in the bullpen as the team finds their rhythm in relief.

Following Saturday's win and Perkins' performance, the manager's words seemed to suggest that this role is right where the A's want him.

"Pretty phenomenal to come in and get out of the jam. And then to go two innings—and to get out of a bases loaded jam—that was really impressive. We know this kid. We watched it last year. He's got great stuff. I think he's built for that role, and today we dropped him in it and I think he showed us that he is.

"It's nice to have that weapon that's multiple innings and can get through a lineup more than once."

The initial part of the quote made it sound as though Perkins as a closer could be the option they want to role with in short order, but that was followed quickly by the multiple innings line and getting through a lineup more than once piece, which is certainly not the role of a typical closer.

For now at least, it would appear as though his role will be high leverage spots that could stretch multiple innings. That could mean extra innings, or even working the sixth and seventh or seventh and eighth on a given night, depending on the kind of rest the bullpen needs and the lineup they're facing.

Why this works

He's tallied five innings of work this week across three appearances, and that can be useful. The name of the game every season is figuring out how to cover innings. If Perkins is able to cover a decent swath of those frames each week, but in a relief role, he can have a similar impact out of the bullpen that he would have had in the rotation.

Last year GM David Forst said that the A's preference would be to keep Perkins in the rotation, because of the number of innings starters provide. This role could be a way to maximize his innings with the club, while also having him pitch in some clutch spots for the A's.

Having a multi-inning guy that can shut down the opposition once or twice a series can have a huge impact not only on those series, but on the season as a whole. The hope here being that the rest of the bullpen is more rested for their turns on the bump, which leads to more effective performances from them as well.

This role could limit his path to become the A's answer in the ninth inning, but end up maximizing his overall value much closer to his full potential.

Key at-bats from Saturday

With the bases loaded in the 11th inning, Perkins buckled in against some key bats for Chicago, striking out Colson Montgomery and Everson Pereira.

These two at-bats showed the progression of Perkins as a pitcher. With Colson, he changed eye levels up and down and back again, while also mixing speeds on him to keep the batter off-balance.

With Pereira, Perkins saw that he was able to expand the zone early by getting him to chase high heaters that he couldn't catch up to. Perkins mixed it up a little bit after jumping ahead 0-2, but ultimately went hard up and out of the zone to complete the K.

The impressive part of this performance was the pitching that went into it, rather than the pure stuff that Perkins is more well known for. He was challenging guys, but on his terms where the damage would be limited—if they made contact

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