WEST SACRAMENTO - Jacob Lopez got the kind of finish he was chasing.
After an injury cut short what had looked like a promising 2025 rookie season, the Athletics left-hander ended 2026 on a far stronger note, turning in one of his sharpest outings of the year in Friday’s 6-5 win over the Astros at Sutter Health Park. Lopez held Houston to one run on two hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings in his final start of the season.
The lone damage came in the fourth, when Christian Walker jumped on an inside fastball and drove a solo homer to left field. Outside of that swing, Lopez kept the Astros in check by working with all four of his pitches - slider, four-seamer, cutter and changeup - and limiting Houston to an average exit velocity of 85.9 mph on 16 batted-ball events.
“That might be his best outing of the year,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “To go out at the end of the year in your last start against a contending team and put up six innings and only give up one run, that was exceptional.
That’s what we need from him going forward. I think this offseason is going to be a lot different for him and his mindset by learning from what happened last offseason.
I’m excited about his 2027 year.”
Kotsay had suggested before the game that fatigue may have been part of Lopez’s recent struggles. The 28-year-old had already thrown more innings this season than in any previous professional year, and he was coming off a rough three-start stretch in which he allowed 19 runs in 12 1/3 innings. That run included a career-high 10 earned runs in a loss to the Guardians in Cleveland last week.
Still, Lopez had spent much of the second half pitching like a different arm than the one who opened the year. Recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on July 7, he put up a 2.82 ERA and held opponents to a .615 OPS across his first 11 games back, 10 of them starts, before the late skid.
Kotsay pointed to the demands young starters face over a full Major League season.
“These guys are still going through this process of a full season at the Major League level, which is challenging,” Kotsay said of Lopez and other young starters on the roster. “Every aspect of it, from travel to pitching on four days of rest. … The biggest thing going into the offseason for Jacob is going to be training.
“But we’re excited for him to go back out tonight. Any time he takes the mound, you know what he’s capable of doing and you’re hopeful that he can go out and put up zeros for six innings tonight.”
Lopez came close to doing exactly that. His only run allowed came on Walker’s homer, and he mostly dictated the pace after that.
Lopez also knows exactly where the next step has to come from. He said his body tends to wear down in August, and he believes a more serious offseason will help him arrive ready for a full season in the big leagues.
“A lot of the time, my body breaks down in August,” Lopez said. “It was good to grind it out [this season].
We’re all hurt at this time of the year, but that’s part of being a big leaguer. Just taking this offseason very seriously and hiring top-notch people, I can put myself in a good position next year.”
The year ended with Lopez carrying a 5.47 ERA in 27 games, 24 of them starts, along with 112 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings. The first half was uneven, including a 6.75 ERA through his first 12 games, 10 starts, before he was optioned to Triple-A in June. But the second half told a different story, and Lopez believes that version of himself can be the one the A’s build around next season.
“This second half, that’s been the theme for me,” Lopez said. “As long as I can limit my runs to solo home runs, I’m usually going to keep the team in the ballgame.
… It was a tough season, but I think just learning through this experience is going to make me a really good pitcher. It’s going to be a good year next year.”
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That leaves Oakland with a familiar late-season puzzle in the outfield, where talent, handedness and long-term fit all have to line up at once. Clarke still has a case because of what he brings with the glove, but the As also want a mix that gives them both left- and right-handed bats, and that balance could shape how the group is built once the offseason planning really starts to take hold. [Read more 🡒]