I will forgive you if you are feeling a bit testy about the A’s fortunes, current and future, at the moment. A season that was publicly billed as an expected contending year has seen the A’s fall off a cliff again despite being in an AL West whose standard is being set by the 55-53 Rangers.
The reality is as the season shifts, out of necessity, from “trying to compete” to the dreaded “let’s see what we have,” there are some glimmers you can seize on and be optimistic — as well as some continuing trends
that are worrisome. Some examples to get the conversation rolling…
Hope: Starting pitchers with the stuff to dominate, regardless of how they have shown up in the big leagues so far, include Gage Jump, Luis Morales, and Jack Perkins. And just in past week or so we have seen a glimpse of what “could be” if, for a change, things roll right for the green and gold instead of “worst case scenario”.
Perkins’ Monday start was electric as he blanked the Red Sox through 5.2 IP on just 1 hit and 69 pitches. His changeup was filthy, and his assortment of fastballs, cutters, sweepers, and change baffled Boston’s hitters something fierce. Jump was similarly unhittable in his 6 shutout innings Tuesday and even Morales showed strong flashes of his old self pressed into “bulk” duty when Jeffrey Springs had to depart his last start after 1.1 IP.
Yes a lot has to go right with these 4, who may be joined by Jamie Arnold as soon as mid-2027, but the framework is there for a rotation with legitimate upside and actual FOTR arms. Jacob Lopez has pitched well twice in a row and Mason Barnett has looked improved as well.
Hopeless: The A’s continue to play like a team that repeats basic mistakes in process without intervention. It has been the hallmark of a Mark Kotsay led team since he took over in 2022 to become one of the losingest managers in MLB history to date.
Somehow, no one can convince Jacob Wilson to hunt only strikes and so he continues to bail pitchers out on a regular basis. It may not have made a difference in the result, but in a critical spot leading off the 9th Lawrence Butler hit what he thought was a walk-off HR, stood and admired it instead of busting out of the box, and watched it bang off the top of the wall.
Every team’s players make these kinds of mistakes or poor approaches — but they don’t all repeat them again and again without any successful intervention. It’s a 5 year pattern that is cause for legitimate concern.
Hope: The A’s offense may have underwhelmed this season but there is plenty of reason still to believe this is a solid position player core going forward. They just need to all get on the field at the same time. Sometime in 2027 you would figure Leo De Vries will join the fold, and it’s significant that this year the A’s have seen two players emerge that were not necessarily expected to be key contributors.
Those two are Zack Gelof and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, both excellent (and versatile) defensive players who have shown strong work at the plate in 2026. They join Tyler Soderstrom, whose bat has been as good as ever since a slow April, Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, hopefully a healthy and rejuvenated Brent Rooker and the talented-but-unproven Henry Bolte. Along with Lawrence Butler who should be hearing footsteps from MiLB breakout Devin Taylor.
Hopeless: The injuries have not only come fast and furious, some threaten to leave players reduced upon their return. You hate to see a catcher undergo knee surgery, the speed-reliant Denzel Clarke seems highly prone to hamstring injuries, Wilson’s different injuries keep piling up, and Kuroda-Grauer walks infrequently enough does he really need one less ball? (OK sorry.)
Your Hope/Hopeless additions? And analysis? Do tell…
