Jack Perkins will make his season debut for the A’s on Friday. The second-year righty will go the opposite way Peter Lambert to start the weekend series with the Astros.
Manager Mark Kotsay told MartÃn Gallegos of MLB.com this week that Perkins will be part of the rotation. OA are lost Aaron Civale again Luis Severino from an injury within the last 10 days. They chose to use the left hand which is struggling Jacob Lopez to Triple-A on Tuesday. That fixed three-fifths of the rotation they had been using for most of the season.
High hopes Gage Jump was called when Civale came down. He got off to a shaky start against the Mariners but fired seven innings of one-run ball to beat the Cubs in his second career start. They brought in another rookie, Late Morristhis week. He will make his MLB debut Saturday against them Tatsuya Imai in the second game of the Houston series. Morris doesn’t have an upside jump but is considered a starter in the backfield.
Jeffrey Springs is the only member of the season opener making his fifth start currently in the rotation. Luis Morales opened as the fifth starter but played poorly and was picked off in early April. Now he’s working short relief in Triple-A and still struggling.
JT Ginn he moved from the bullpen to replace Morales in the rotation and had a quietly strong year. He owns a 2.74 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate over 65 2/3 frames. Ginn threw six innings of one-run ball against the Cubs tonight, but a bullpen meltdown marred a solid start. OA gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth.
They will hope Perkins can make a similarly successful transition from free agency. The 26-year-old has started four of his 29 major league games. OA brought him up last June as a multi-inning reliever. They moved him in August until his season ended. Perkins opened this season at Triple-A Las Vegas. The A’s recalled him in early April.
Perkins owns a 5.46 ERA in 28 innings on the season. He’s hitting 26.4% of his opponents behind an excellent 14.3% swinging strikeout rate. Perkins has also halved his walk rate, but has struck out six batters. He has issued multiple free passes at every stop throughout his minor league career. This year’s 5.6% walk percentage is probably a blip, but Perkins has quality stuff. He sits at 96 mph with his fastball while being chased by plenty of hustlers and hitters with his breaking ball and changeup.
The next few weeks will be testing time for the trio of Jump, Perkins and Morris. Non-Lopez depth starts in Triple-A (i.e. Morales, Joey Estes again Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang) did not do well. Mason Barnett very relaxed but will be next in rotation look if Perkins or Morris fail. Braden Nettreceived from Mason Miller trade, just came off the Triple-A injured list. Last year’s first round pick Jamie Arnold is in Double-A and has been inconsistent.
Pitching, pitching and relief, would be the obvious priorities for the A’s if they are in a position to add at the deadline. They sit 2.5 back of the Mariners in the AL West after a tough loss today. They hold the final Wild Card spot despite being two games under .500 at 30-32.
