The A's Pitching Staff Was Better Than You Think

Now that the season is completely over, the stats on the Athletics 2025 campaign are officially in the books. When the season began, Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento looked like it was a hitter's haven, but that cooled off a little bit as the season wore on. It's still hitter friendly, but the run totals just weren't nearly as high as the 18-3 loss to the Cubs in the opener would have led us to believe.

Still, the A's finished with a team ERA of 4.71 (4.66 FIP) across the entire year, which ranked them No. 27 in baseball. That's ahead of just the Los Angeles Angels (4.89), Washington Nationals (5.35), and the Colorado Rockies (5.99). Funnily enough, those are the same three teams that were impacted by the draft twist that is helping the A's in 2026.

Overall, the ERA was bad, and while their starters still ranked No. 27, the ERA was a touch higher at 4.85. The bullpen was a little better with a 4.53 ERA, which ranked No. 24, but some of that was with Mason Miller closing out games. Only, the A's bullpen was actually better once they traded Miller somehow, even without a predetermined closer day in and day out.

From August 1 through the end of the season, the A's relief arms ranked second in baseball with a 2.99 ERA. That was behind just the Cleveland Guardians (2.93), who got real hot and made an improbable run to the postseason.

When looking at the A's pitching staff overall, obviously the numbers weren't there over the course of the whole season, but there are also some outings baked in from players that are either no longer with the team, were eating some innings to save the bullpen, or will be used in a different way moving forward.

As has been discussed plenty, the A's went 1-20 from May 6 through June 4, which essentially took them from a roughly .500 club to completely out of the postseason picture. In that monthlong stretch of games, the A's held a cumulative 7.79 ERA, which was last in baseball and more than two runs worse than the 29th ranked Rockies.

For them to finish with a 76-86 record is a testament to manager Mark Kotsay, the coaching staff, and the guys in the clubhouse.

It also doesn't hurt when Nick Kurtz has one of the best rookie seasons of all time.

The A's broke that losing streak against the Minnesota Twins on June 5 at home in a 14-3 win after dropping the first three of the four-game set. While the club wasn't completely out of the woods just yet, let's use that as a starting point.

From June 5 through the end of the season (98 games), the A's cumulative pitching staff held a 4.00 ERA, which ranked No. 12 in baseball. That ranked above three postseason teams, the Tigers, Yankees, and Blue Jays. Their starting pitchers still held a 4.45 ERA (20th), but the relievers ranked fifth with a 3.43.

That would leave some room for the A's to potentially explore adding another starting pitcher this winter, but at the same time, the rotation is fairly full and there are plenty of arms that could be in the mix in 2026. It could be more about finding the right mix of arms at any given time this winter.

With the current roster, the A's would boast Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and Jacob Lopez as the surefire rotation members. Luis Morales likely finds himself in that mix as well, and Jack Perkins was one of the most exciting young pitchers we saw in green and gold this season, before injury struck. The A's likely try to keep him as a starting pitcher, at least to begin the year.

They'll also have Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina returning from injury by that point, while J.T. Ginn, Mason Barnett, Gunnar Hoglund, and Mitch Spence comprise the list of potential starters with MLB experience. While he finished the year in the bullpen, Brady Basso could also be in that mix.

On top of those names, there's also the group of prospects that's getting closer to the big leagues, like Gage Jump, Braden Nett, Kade Morris, and Henry Baez.

So not only was the A's pitching pretty good for the majority of the season, but they also have a good amount of depth options that can provide a boost. There will be plenty of talking points this offseason about the A's just needing to add pitching this winter, but they may not be as desperate for pitching as many would believe.

One key veteran signing or trade acquisition could set them up nicely as an extra stopper in the starting five, so that the A's can avoid any prolonged losing streaks, while also boasting arms with plenty of upside.