A's promoting Australian pitching prospect for MLB debut

The A’s are set to call up left-hander Jack O’Loughlin, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  The corresponding move isn’t yet known.

O’Loughlin is a veteran of six minor league seasons, all in the Tigers’ farm system prior to his minor league deal to join the Athletics this past winter.  The 24-year-old Adelaide native has also played in parts of four seasons in the Australian Baseball League, and he pitched on Australia’s roster during the last World Baseball Classic.  This unique career path has now taken O’Loughlin to Oakland and to the doorstep of his major league debut.

His time in Detroit’s farm system never resulted in any big league call-ups, as O’Loughlin’s 4.78 ERA over 86 2/3 innings with Triple-A Toledo last season wasn’t enough to catch the Tigers’ attention.  Somewhat unusually, O’Loughlin has never played any Double-A ball, as the Tigers promoted him from high-A West Michigan to Toledo last season without a stop in between.  After catching on with the Athletics this past offseason, O’Loughlin has pitched exclusively at Triple-A Las Vegas, posting a 5.12 ERA over 38 2/3 innings, starting eight of his 10 appearances.

As always with Pacific Coast League numbers, a deeper look is required given the league’s hitter-friendly nature.  O’Loughlin hasn’t been helped by a .371 BABIP or a 17.5% home run rate, and the latter statistic stands out as particularly PCL-generated considering that O’Loughlin has done a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the park earlier in his career.  His 9.3% walk rate isn’t anything special but he has missed bats to the tune of a 25.6% strikeout rate.

It seems likely that the A’s will give O’Loughlin a look as a starting pitcher, given how Oakland is trying to navigate several injuries within the rotation.  Paul Blackburn, Alex Wood and Joe Boyle have all been placed on the 15-day IL within the last three weeks, resulting in starts for journeyman Aaron Brooks as well as rookie Mitch Spence and Joey Estes.  There would appear to be plenty of opportunity here for O’Loughlin to stick around in the majors if he pitches decently well and eats enough innings until the Athletics start to get some of their personnel back.