The Athletics have one real problem hiding inside an otherwise promising rotation: once the calendar gets to the fourth and fifth spots, things get shaky fast.
That showed up again Monday, when Mason Barnett’s outing helped spoil the momentum from a clean series win over the Rangers. Instead of building on that, the Athletics fell in the opener against the 52-74 Kansas City Royals. With the offense putting up five runs, the pitching was the obvious place to look.
Lately, this team has made a habit of jumping on opponents early at the plate. That creates a window the Athletics need their pitchers to protect, but Barnett and Jack Perkins have both had trouble keeping games from getting away early. If the goal is to keep those starts from turning into damage control, the Athletics may need to get creative.
One possible answer is to use a reliever to open games in the first and second innings. Brady Basso, Luis Medina, or another arm could take that first turn and help Perkins or Barnett settle in before the lineup turns over and the trouble starts. It is not a perfect fix, but it could buy the rotation some breathing room.
There is a catch, though. That kind of move would put pressure on a bullpen plan that worked well against the Rangers.
In that setup, the Athletics were quick to go to another pitcher as soon as a starter started to wobble. That approach used nearly every relief arm available, so losing one early to an opener role could throw the whole thing off.
At the same time, the bigger issue is simple: if the Athletics had an MLB-ready starter in Triple-A, he would already be in the rotation. Injuries and poor performances have left them scrambling, and they still have not made a change. With the season close to done, though, it may be time to take a chance.
The two names that stand out are Dallas Keuchel and Kade Morris. Keuchel, now 38, comes with obvious limitations, but he has not gone beyond 3.1 innings.
In his last MLB appearance, he worked 3.0 innings and allowed three runs. It was not pretty, but it was enough to suggest he could get at least one shot.
Morris is the more intriguing option. The 24-year-old has been inconsistent in the Majors, but he has also shown enough flashes to make you think there might be something there. In his last outing for Las Vegas on Aug. 15, he threw 3.0 innings, allowed only three hits, and gave up one run.
Neither choice is clean. Morris has the inconsistency, Keuchel has the age, and the Athletics are left trying to make the best of a thin situation. But at this point in the season, some experimentation would not hurt - even if that means trying one of them in an opener role.
In Other News...
Athletics May Have Found Another Arm Worth Watching In Stockton
Josiah Romeo gave Stockton exactly what a club wants to see from a young arm in late summer: length, control and no runs. The right-hander worked deep into the game to help the Ports beat Visalia 7-2, extending Stocktons winning streak to three and giving the Athletics another low-level pitcher worth tracking as the season winds down.
Romeos outing stood out in a night filled with offense across the system, from Sacramentos 15-11 slugfest with Las Vegas to Midlands shutout of Amarillo. But in Stockton, the more meaningful development was on the mound, where Romeo kept the Rawhide quiet long enough to make the result look comfortable and leave the As with another encouraging data point in the pipeline. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Lopez Is Giving The Athletics Something They Desperately Needed
Jacob Lopez has given the Athletics a little bit of stability in a season that has had very little of it. With the club buried near the bottom of the standings and trying to sort through a pitching staff that has been one of its biggest problem spots, any arm that can deliver quality outings immediately stands out. Lopezs recent work has done more than just help on the field - it has offered a glimpse of what a functional rotation piece might look like for a team still trying to rebuild its pitching foundation.
For Oakland, the value goes beyond the present tense. The front office is weighing roster changes and possible call-ups as it looks ahead to a longer runway, including the possibility of being more competitive by 2027. Lopezs emergence gives the Athletics a candidate to factor into those plans, whether as part of the next wave or as a reminder that some internal answers may already be in the building. In a year defined by struggle, that kind of development matters. [Read more 🡒]
As Head To Kansas City With A Rare Chance To Build Momentum
The Athletics head to Kansas City after a week that offered both frustration and a little encouragement, dropping a series to Tampa Bay but taking a divisional set from Texas. For a club still searching for any kind of late-season traction, that split of results matters because it has given Oakland something it has not had often enough lately: a chance to carry one good series into the next.
Kansas City offers a similar setup in that the Royals are also out of playoff contention, which makes this four-game road series less about the standings above than the race to avoid the bottom. Oakland is trying to claw its way up and keep from finishing last in its division, the league, or the sport, and the only way to do that now is to keep stringing together the kind of small runs that have been so hard to find. [Read more 🡒]