A's Expect Jeffrey Springs to be Ready for Next Start After Early Exit

One of the Athletics big additions this offseason was bringing in Jeffrey Springs in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. The left-hander had been superb with the Rays from 2021-24, holding a 2.63 ERA, albeit it across just 229 innings.

Springs moved to the Rays rotation in 2022, and in 135.1 innings of work that year, he held a 2.46 ERA. The following season he was off to a similar start through three outings, holding a 0.56 ERA, but ended up missing the rest of the season due to Tommy John.

The injury also caused him to miss most of 2024, though he came back late in the year and made seven starts, holding a 3.27 ERA.

In four April starts with the A's, the 32-year-old left-hander holds a 7.71 ERA in 16.1 innings, and on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, he gave up six runs (four earned) on five hits and four walks in just 2.1 innings of work before exiting the game with right hamstring soreness.

Martín Gallegos of MLB.com disclosed postgame that Springs had been dealing with flu-like symptoms for the past few days, and after a first inning that saw him use 34 pitches, the illness may have contributed to not only his inability to recover after the long first inning, but also to the hamstring injury.

Springs said that it was a cramp, and the belief is that he'll be ready to go in his next start against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday in West Sacramento.

While the results haven't quite been there just yet for Springs, he's still a big piece of the A's rotation, along with Luis Severino. While the team has depth options in the minor leagues, they don't have someone that could just step into his shoes.

Joey Estes and Gunnar Hoglund are the two rotation options that are currently on the 40-man roster, along with Mason Barnett, who is in Triple-A Las Vegas but not yet on the 40-man. The A's also have Jacob Lopez up in the big leagues right now, as well as Mitch Spence, and either of those two could serve as potential spot-start options if Springs were to miss any time.

Following the A's 14-1 loss in the Sunday finale against the Brewers, the club sits at 10-12 as they welcome in the division-leading Texas Rangers for three beginning on Monday. Osvaldo Bido, JP Sears, and J.T. Ginn are the expected starters for the A's in that one.