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Jul 27, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Athletics relief pitcher Ben Bowden (62) delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images Erik Williams-Imagn Images

A's Re-Sign Two Left-Handers

Originally posted on Oakland Athletics on SI
By Jason Burke | Last updated Nov 24, 2025 11:42 PM ET

The Athletics could use some left-handed options in the bullpen heading into the 2026 season, and while we have suggested this option from the St. Louis Cardinals, or this one from the San Francisco Giants, the A's could be sticking with more familiar faces this winter.

Thus far, the A's have brought back two left-handers on minor-league deals in Ben Bowden and Matt Krook. This doesn't mean that they're done shopping for free agents, but they do have a nice starting stockpile of southpaws.

Bowden, 31, finished up the season in the A's clubhouse, but on the injured list with a strained left lat. He was signed to a minor-league deal last winter, and began the season in Triple-A where he posted a 1.36 ERA across 39 2/3 innings of work.

He was striking out 25.6% of the hitters he faced there while walking 11.3% in that time, and while the walk rate would stay the same in the bigs, the strikeout rate would plummet to 14.9%. The left-hander was called up to the A's roster on July 25 and stuck with the club for a month before his injury.

In his time in the green and gold, he posted a 4.22 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP, but his most telling stat was that he gave up just one hit to a left-handed batter (1-for-18), good for a .077 batting average against versus southpaws.

The two big caveats with that number are that he still gave up a .278 on-base to lefties, and right-handers were batting .296 against him with a .310 OBP. Bowden could certainly be a situational pitcher for this club in 2026, much like T.J. McFarland had been the previous two years.

Krook's Minor Tweak Since Leaving A's

D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The other re-signing was Krook, another offseason signing from a year ago that also make his debut with the A's this past summer. That debut came against the San Francisco Giants, the team that drafted him, in his first time getting to play at Oracle Park.

Krook made three appearances with the A's, lasting 3 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs against the Los Angeles Angels in a game where he was just left out there to wear it and conserve the rest of the bullpen in the middle of May. He finished with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP

The A's designated him for assignment on May 27, and the Cleveland Guardians claimed him on waivers days later. Between both Triple-A stops he ended up pitching fairly similarly, holding a combined 3.19 ERA over 48 total innings of work, along with a 1.33 WHIP.

The big difference between Krook when he was in the A's organization and when he was pitching in the minors with Cleveland was that later in the year he was relying much more heavily on his sinker. In his three outings with the A's in the big leagues, he used it 33.8% of the time, but in his final two appearances of the season in the minors, he used it 63% and 71% of the time.

This could be something to keep an eye on heading into the 2026 campaign. While neither signing is going to move the needle a huge amount of its own, we did witness Mark Kotsay excel at deploying his arms over the final two months of the season in 2025, which led to the A's holding a 2.99 bullpen ERA.

Bowden was a small part of that success in his ten innings during that span, while Krook was a victim of timing. With T.J. McFarland on the IL and the A's bullpen struggling for three weeks and leading the team to a 1-20 record in that stretch, Krook was called upon as someone to just eat some innings. The hope is that he'll get more of a look if he gets called up again next season.

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This article first appeared on Oakland Athletics on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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