Who's Closing for the A's Now and in the Future?

Since Wednesday evening when the Athletics held Mason Miller out of the game before the Trade Deadline and deemed him "unavailable," the A's have not faced a save situation. On Friday night they won their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1, before dropping games two and three to the snakes.

What that means is that we still haven't seen the A's have to close out a close game since they dealt Miller, though we do have a good idea of how those roles will shake out when the time comes.

Turns out, the A's are going with a closer by committee situation, and that committee is basically left-hander Sean Newcomb, and righty Michael Kelly. Both said that they have not been the closer in previous seasons, though Newcomb has two saves in his career. Newcomb discussed both of his career saves ahead of Sunday's finale against Arizona.

"I think one time against San Fran, my first year [as a reliever] with Atlanta. I think it was [2019]? The closer was down, so they said 'today's your day to close if it comes up' and it came up, got my first save. Then I had one in a doubleheader one day when Will Smith was down in '21. I've been told I was a closer for a game or two here and there, but never the closer."

Newcomb, 32, has been terrific since joining the A's from the Boston Red Sox at the end of May, making this his third straight season on the team's roster. He's made 22 appearances out of the bullpen, spanning 32 innings of work, and holds a 2.25 ERA with a 1.06 WHIP. The 73 total innings he has been the Red Sox and A's this season are the most he's pitched since he was a starter for the Atlanta Braves in 2018.

It appears as though the A's plan in the ninth inning will depend upon who's coming up in the opposition's order, with Newcomb taking a left-heavy group, and Kelly taking on the righties. Both have been terrific for the A's as setup arms, with Kelly holding a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings of work.

Newcomb said before Sunday's game that the plan isn't specific, but they're all kind of ready for it. The other arm that could be in that mix if Newcomb or Kelly need a day off is Elvis Alvarado, the hard-throwing righty that made his MLB debut earlier this year. He's averaging 98.5 miles per hour and striking out 28.3% of the hitters he faces. Those are both typical closer traits.

One potential concern would be that he has all of 21 innings under his belt at the big-league level while holding a 3.43 ERA. He's also walking 12% of the batters he's faced, which isn't ideal, but kind of comes with the territory with the velocity and strikeout rate.

The A's don't have a clear-cut closer for 2026 either, and Alvarado may be more of an option for next year. If that is how the front office and Mark Kotsay are thinking, then perhaps they find some spots for him to close out games over the final two months to see what they have in him heading into next season.