Decisions Looming For A's Rotation?

The Athletics are starting to turn things around a bit after a horrid 1-20 stretch that began in May. Since, they're 9-8. That turnaround began with a win over the Minnesota Twins on June 5, and since that date the A's team ERA sits at 3.95, which ranks them No. 14 in MLB. The A's offense also ranks No. 14 in wRC+ with a 107 (100 is league average), and No. 10 in runs scored with 74.

They may not quite be firing on all cylinders, but they're getting close.

Of course, there have been a pair of losses in that stretch where they've allowed more than ten runs, but for the most part, those have also started to subside. This past weekend against the Cleveland Guardians, A's pitching gave up a total of eight runs with the offense putting up seven. The problem was that five of those runs for the A's came in one game, leading to a series loss.

With the team turning things around, it would appear as though there could be changes on the way. On Sunday, the Athletics called up No. 9 prospect Jack Perkins, who dazzled in his debut, going three shutout innings out of the bullpen.

While Perkins is currently a long reliever for the club that can eat up two or three innings at a time to keep the bullpen fresh, they also have a couple of those types of pitchers in the bullpen already in Hogan Harris, Sean Newcomb, and J.T. Ginn. If the A's are hoping to make a statement in the second half of the season, the upcoming All-Star break could serve as a chance to reshuffle the deck a bit.

Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs are locks to stay in the rotation out of the break, but the trio of Mitch Spence, Jacob Lopez and JP Sears may not be guarantees.

Lopez has been up and down this season, both in terms of performance and between the A's and Las Vegas, but he's been terrific his past three times out, allowing just one earned run across 16 innings while striking out 23 batters. In three of his past four outings, he has racked up nine strikeouts, so he has some swing-and-miss stuff. If he continues pitching like this, there's no reason to take him out of the rotation.

Spence, who just joined the starting five after beginning the year in the bullpen, had been lights out in his first three starts, giving up two earned runs in 15 innings of work. But in his most recent outing on Saturday night, he was touched up by Cleveland for four runs on eight hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. While he's been stellar for the most part, he's also been hovering around five innings each time out.

Sears has had the toughest go of things of late, holding a 5.44 ERA on the year. Since May 16, he's gone just 36 innings in eight starts and has an 8.75 ERA over that span. He's gone as many as five innings in five of those eight starts, and has gone past five innings just once, getting an out in the sixth inning on June 11 against the Los Angeles Angels.

While Sears' stats would obviously make him a candidate to take on a new role on the roster, it's not as simple as that. A's manager Mark Kotsay has mentioned numerous times over the past three seasons how much having Sears means to the club, since he's been so consistent over the years and has yet to miss a start in his time with the club. There have been times where Sears has been the team's best pitcher as recently as the beginning of this season.

Those aren't factors that you can necessarily just toss away.

At the same time, the club is trying to reach the next level right now, and there could come a time when a move would have to be made. Perkins has obviously only made one appearance at the big league level, so it's unfair to just slot him into the rotation based off of that outing.

Yet over the next three weeks, guys could be under more of a microscope as the front office and coaching staff determine how they want to charge into the second half of the season. That could be with Perkins, or giving a shot to Gage Jump, Luis Morales, or Kade Morris down in the minors.

If the A's can sort out their pitching, they have an offense that's good enough to collect quite a few wins. They may not make drastic changes, but we should expect some tinkering at the very least.