Will Jack Perkins Be a Starter or a Reliever in 2026?
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The A's depth has certainly improved throughout the years of their rebuild, and this spring there will be some legitimate battles to keep an eye on at third base, in the starting rotation, and in the bullpen.
Last year the A's traded away All-Star closer Mason Miller, netting a couple of starters that could be in the mix for the A's rotation later on in 2026, as well as one of the top prospects in the game. With Miller's departure, the A's will have an opening in the ninth inning heading into camp.
Last year the A's went with a closer by committee approach sans Miller, and manager Mark Kotsay was masterful in finding matchups to best utilize the arms he had. After trading one of the best closers in baseball, the A's ended up with a 2.99 ERA from their bullpen, ranking second in MLB to Cleveland during the final two months of the season.
One player that has been talked about as a potential closer for the club all winter has been Jack Perkins, who made his MLB debut with the club last season out of the bullpen, before moving into the rotation. Perkins would land on the IL with a right shoulder strain in late August, ending his season. He finished with a 4.19 ERA across 38 2/3 innings.
With camp opening up, Kotsay provided an update on the team's plans for Perkins this spring.
How will the A's utilize Jack Perkins?
In speaking to MLB.com, Kotsay said, "He’s a weapon that we have yet to determine the path. We’re going to start with him this Spring Training with the mindset that he’s going to be a starter, then determine a direction for him once we get further into camp with where we feel the rotation is and where we can maximize impact for the team."
That's what we've been saying this offseason as well, based off the fact that Perkins would be more valuable to the club as a starting pitcher, and that is where GM David Forst has said he'd like to keep Perkins, if they can. Of course, if other arms step up in the rotation, then sliding him to the bullpen would also potentially take care of a different need.
If Perkins does end up in the bullpen to begin the year, then he still likely wouldn't start off as the team's closer. Instead, the plan would be to continue with the closer by committee format that worked for the club a year ago.
This would allow Perkins to get his feet under him working out of the bullpen, and once he's comfortable and showing what he can do, perhaps he'd moved into the ninth inning at that point.
A's closer options
Seemingly anyone could be the A's closer on a given night, based upon usage in pervious games and matchups in the current contest. That said, Hogan Harris closed the door on four games last season, and Kotsay has said that he really enjoys his "F—You" mentality on the mound, because he's able to flush what just happened on focus on the hitter at hand.
New addition Scott Barlow has the most closing experience in his career, racking up 59 career saves. Most of those came from 2021-23 as a member of the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres. His sweeper also had just a .162 batting average against last year as his most-used pitch and had nearly a 40% whiff rate.
Mark Leiter Jr. could be in the mix on occasion as well, but his specific arsenal may make him more effective coming on when the club is in a jam. His splitter has nearly a 43% whiff rate, and the average launch angle was fairly low, at nine degrees, which could result in a number of big double plays.
Of the other returning options not named Perkins or Harris, Elvis Alvarado is probably the most popular pick for time in the ninth inning, given that his fastball averaged 98.6 miles per hour (97th percentile) and he struck out a solid 27.3% of the batters he faced. He finished the year with a 3.19 ERA, but his 4.32 FIP leaves a little concern heading into the new season.
Prediction for Perkins
If we had to guess right now, it would be that Perkins would begin the year in the bullpen. The A's have a number of arms that could slot into the rotation to begin the season, but Perkins could provide them a big boost in the late innings, if that's the route they go.
With the A's projected to finish fairly close to the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers in the standings, each game is going to be important, and trying to figure out the bullpen over the course of the first month could serve as a big detriment to the club's postseason chances.
Adding Perkins to that mix would solve that problem. The issue here would be whether this would be seen as a long-term solution to a temporary problem. Much like Mason Miller, if Perkins joins the bullpen and excels in the role, then there wouldn't be a high likelihood that he'd be making the switch back to the rotation in future seasons.
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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. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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