Gunnar Hoglund Likely to Miss Remainder of 2025

Hoglund made his MLB debut on May 2 in Miami against the Marlins and ended up making six starts during the month, totaling 32 1/3 innings of work with a 6.40 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The 25-year-old righty is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the team's No. 14 prospect and has shown some promise, though there is still some time before he reaches his full potential.

Hoglund was acquired in the aforementioned Chapman trade, along with Kevin Smith, Kirby Snead, and Zach Logue. The other three players in the trade are no longer in the A's organization. At the time of the deal, Hoglund had been drafted by the Jays in the first round of the MLB Draft just the previous summer, and he was finishing up his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

He tossed just eight innings in that first year with the A's in 2022, followed by ramping up to 16 starts the following season, totaling 61 innings and a 6.05 ERA across three levels. Hoglund had his breakout season as a minor-leaguer last year, posting a 3.44 ERA in 130 innings of work in the upper minors, primarily in Double-A Midland.

The righty began this season down in Triple-A where he held a 2.43 ERA in six starts in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

His biggest issue in the big leagues was that he was leaving his four-seamer in the middle of the plate too often. His heat map on Baseball Savant includes two red dots in the middle of the plate, with one just above and one just below the middle of the zone. That pitch has an expected slugging percentage of .765.

As he works his way back from this injury, working on the placement of this one pitch could lead him to more success when he's ready to return. The A's also have three top pitching prospects that could get a look as the season moves along in Luis Morales, Gage Jump, and Jack Perkins, so Hoglund will have to work his way back into the mix as well.