Why the A's Closer Battle Might Already Be Decided

After the A's traded Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres at last year's trade deadline, the question on everyone's minds was who would take over the duties in the ninth inning. The initial plan seemed to be to have veterans Sean Newcomb and Michael Kelly do some work in that role, with the lefty and the righty splitting duties based upon the part of the order they'd be facing.

Then manager Mark Kotsay and the A's front office decided to take that strategy and broaden it a bit.

Instead of just two players set aside for the ninth inning, they had a total of five players each earn at least one save in the final two months of the season. Two of those players are no longer with the club, as Sean Newcomb signed on with the Chicago White Sox this offseason, and the A's designated Osvaldo Bido for assignment. He is now with the New York Yankees.

The A's also had the second-best bullpen ERA in baseball from August 1 to the end of the season, posting a 2.99 over the final two months. Kotsay's mixing and matching throughout the game consistently put the right reliever in the right situation, and led the A's to a successful second half, going 35-29.

The stated plan for the A's heading into 2026 is that they're going to continue to roll with a bullpen by committee, but we should still see one player getting the majority of the closer duties to begin the year.

So who will be the closer?

Hogan Harris led the team in saves during that two-month stretch with four, though he's not exactly the most experienced arm in the ninth. He could also end up being the only left-handed option the A's have to reply upon, which could make things interesting in leverage situations before the ninth and a lefty at the plate.

In those scenarios, we likely see Harris come out of the bullpen, since that could be the biggest spot of the game to hold a lead. Bases loaded in the seventh could make a clean entrance in the ninth irrelevant if the A's don't escape the first jam.

So Harris may not be pitching the ninth and collecting all of the saves, but he's going to be relied upon like a traditional closer—in an untraditional way. We believe he'll be the one getting the key outs for the A's when the season begins—it's just a matter of when those out are happening.

During those final two months he held a tremendous 1.16 ERA (3.01 FIP) and held a 90.9% left-on-base rate. That may not be sustainable (league average during that time was 74.1%), but it does show that he has the tools to be an extremely effective high-leverage reliever.

So far this spring

What may have sealed the deal for Harris as the main character of the bullpen (trying out new closer titles) is that on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, he went two innings, giving up one hit, one earned run (a solo homer to Ian Happ), and struck out three. Being able to go multiple innings could be a crucial skill for this group of bullpen arms.

We've seen the A's have trouble at times over the past few years keeping the bullpen fresh when the starters begin to struggle. That has tended to be when the team struggles, too.

With Harris able to both close games and go for six outs on occasion, he's going to be relied upon heavily. Given that he came up through the system as a starting pitcher, he should be just fine with the extra innings.

So far this spring he gone five innings, given up two hits, walked three and struck out nine. His velocity was also up against the Cubs, sitting at 95.3 miles per hour with the four-seamer (up from 93.5 last year).

There's just a lot working in his favor currently. Of course, both new additions Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Barlow could also be in the mix for some time in the ninth as they're also experienced relievers that have pitched in the ninth, but Harris also has experience pitching in Sutter Health Park, so he'll head into the season knowing what he'll be facing.

Not heaping closing duties on top of the ballpark adjustment for the new guys would be the smart way to enter 2026, where every game is going to matter if the A's are to make the postseason.

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