The Athletics will send two of their top bats to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, with Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers both landing on the American League roster. But when the initial selections came out, one A’s pitcher was nowhere to be found.
J.T. Ginn was left off the first All-Star list despite putting together a strong season on the mound.
In 94.2 innings pitched, Ginn owns a 3.04 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP, numbers that should have put him firmly in the conversation. He also would have looked even better if his rough start in the Las Vegas Ballpark were taken out, when balls were flying out of the park all series long.
There is still a path for Ginn to make it to Philadelphia. If any of the pitchers already on the roster opt out or get hurt before the game, replacements can be added, and Ginn could still crack the team.
The snub stands out even more when compared with some of the pitchers who did make it. Royals right-hander Michael Wacha was named to the All-Star team, and his line is not as strong as Ginn’s. Wacha has posted a 3.45 ERA in 114.2 innings, which is more work than Ginn has logged, but with an ERA that is 41 points worse.
That selection has already drawn attention, especially since Bobby Witt Jr. is the starting shortstop for the AL, meaning Wacha was not needed to satisfy a team requirement. In other cases, an A’s player has made the roster as the club’s lone representative, like Paul Blackburn did a few years ago, and that left fans frustrated when they felt other pitchers were more deserving. This time, though, the situation looks different, and Ginn appears to be another A’s player left out despite putting up the kind of numbers that should have earned more notice.
In Other News...
As Draft Focus Is Creating Real Tension Around The No. 8 Pick
With the eighth pick in the MLB Draft, the Athletics are in a spot where the board could push them in a few different directions, but pitching remains the clearest thread. Two left-handers keep surfacing in that conversation: Hunter Dietz, the Arkansas college arm with a polished mix and real upside, and Gio Rojas, the high-schooler whose stuff has already put him among the classs most intriguing pitchers. The As have plenty to weigh, and the appeal of adding another arm with starter traits is obvious given where they are in the draft.
Dietz brings the safer feel of a college pitcher, while Rojas offers the kind of ceiling that can make a front office lean in if the draft starts breaking a certain way. Oakland could still pivot if the names ahead of them create a different opening, and there are other bats and arms in the mix as the first round unfolds. For now, though, the tension is less about whether the As want pitching and more about which type of pitcher they trust most when their turn finally arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics All-Star Breakthrough Could Change Everything For This Young Core
Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers have given the Athletics something they have not always had enough of in recent years: rising young talent with national recognition. Both earned All-Star bids this season, and Kurtzs selection as a starter only sharpened the spotlight on a player who has quickly become central to the clubs long-term plans. For an organization still trying to build a stable core, that kind of visibility matters almost as much as the production itself.
Kurtz is under team control through 2031 and is already in contract talks, which gives the Athletics a chance to lock in a centerpiece before his value climbs any higher. Langeliers brings a different kind of urgency, with free agency looming in 2028 and Scott Boras representing him, a combination that tends to keep front offices on alert. Together, their All-Star recognition could shape not just how the Athletics are viewed this summer, but how aggressively they approach the next few seasons. [Read more 🡒]
As Road Trip Opens With The Kind Of Test That Changes Everything
A road trip that opens in Detroit and then rolls on to Chicago gives the Athletics little room to ease into the week, especially with the Tigers lining up one of the more difficult arms they will see. Oakland gets J.T. Ginn in the series, and he has at least given the club a steadier look lately after a strong six-inning outing, but the bigger backdrop is a team trying to stop the slide before it hardens into something more damaging in the standings.
The challenge is even sharper because Detroit can answer with Tarik Skubal, a pitcher whose return has already changed the tone around that rotation and around the market that may follow him. If the A's are going to make this trip matter for the right reasons, they will need sharper work from the top of the staff and a cleaner showing than what has defined much of the recent stretch, with Chicago waiting next as another test that can expose where this group really stands. [Read more 🡒]