A's Pitching Report: Keeping the Team Afloat, But For How Long?

Now that we're seven weeks into the season, we're beginning to see the promise of the A's in 2026, but also the red flags that are cropping up slowly as the season progresses.

This past week, the A's dropped two of three to the Philadelphia Phillies, and then took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles, good for a 3-3 road trip that sees them returning home to Sacramento with a 21-19 record and a two-game lead in the AL West over the Texas Rangers.

A split on the road against two teams with postseason aspirations is nothing to sneeze at, and the A's even outscored their opponents 27-23 across the six games. The deflating part comes from another bullpen meltdown against the Phillies, and the inability to get the big hit (and Carlos Cortes being thrown out at home) led to another loss. A 3-3 record is nice, but this could have been a 5-1 trip.

This team is still growing, and their pitching largely performed well this past week, but there are reasons for concern moving forward.

A's pitching beginning to falter?

After the A's posted a 4.26 ERA as a staff in April, ranking them 20th in MLB, nine games into May they're already closer to the bottom of the league with a 5.08 ERA, ranking 26th. The Phillies gave up the same 16 runs as the A's in that series, but rank 17th this month with a 3.76 ERA.

While we're dealing with a small sample size, the numbers are beginning to reflect the concern levels that many fans had over the pitching staff coming into the season. That is why those missed opportunities this past week sting more than the simple wins and losses of the week. Those losses could loom large.

On May 5, the A's were down 1-0 after six, and then the combination of Mark Leiter Jr. and Tyler Ferguson proceeded to allow eight earned runs over the seventh and eighth innings. The A's scored a run in the ninth, for a final score of 9-1.

This was a game where Luis Severino gutted his way through five innings while pitching around consistent traffic on the bases. He ended up allowing just one run in the game against Cristopher Sánchez, who went eight scoreless and dropped his ERA to 2.42. Sevvy did what he had to, which was keep this game close.

The bullpen gave this one up, and Tyler Ferguson was subsequently designated for assignment, and then traded to the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations.

The following day was a similar story. Jeffrey Springs provided a solid 5 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs. Jack Perkins was called upon to pitch the seventh and eighth innings, and after rolling through the bottom of the Phillies' order in his first inning, a walk and an error derailed his outing.

Perkins ended up allowing four runs (two earned) in his 1 1/3 innings, and his battle with Edmundo Sosa in particular stood out. With the A's still leading 3-2, the bases loaded and nobody out, Sosa was quickly down 0-2 against Perkins, but fouled off four balls with ease to get himself a high fastball that he drove up the middle to put his team ahead.

The issue here was that Perkins was a two-pitch pitcher in this scenario, and Sosa was on each and every sweeper or four-seamer that the A's righty threw him. That is one of those scenarios where he has to vary his approach, because it was obvious Sosa was going to win that battle.

Perhaps that was a matter of Perkins throwing to catcher Jonah Heim for the first time, and the two not being on the same page just yet.

On the bright side for the team as a whole, Leiter and Perkins were the only two relievers to allow runs that are still with the club. That said, both Leiter and Perkins are expected to handle high-leverage situations on a consistent basis.

Perkins has shown flashes this season, but this was Leiter's fourth appearance giving up multiple runs this season, which has led to an 8.62 ERA. After giving up four against the Phillies, he also allowed two more against the Orioles on Saturday, giving him a total of six earned runs allowed on six hits, one walk and two strikeouts across 1 2/3 innings of work.

For a bullpen that needs dependable arms when called upon to help this team reach its ceiling, paying $2.85 million for uncertainty is a luxury this roster cannot afford.

Another strong week for the rotation

When the A's went into New York and surprised both the Yankees and Mets, it was the starting rotation that shut down those offenses, posting a 2.27 ERA across 31 2/3 innings. The A's went 5-1 that week, including three shutout wins in four days before heading home.

This week in Philadelphia and Baltimore they were even better.

The A's starters held a 2.12 ERA over 34 innings, not only taking some of the workload off of the bullpen to get them a breather, but also providing the results the team needs — especially with their offense — to secure some wins.

Luis Severino made two starts, going 0-2, but allowed just three earned runs in 10 1/3 innings, good for a 2.61 ERA.

Jacob Lopez also took a huge step forward in his outing, cruising through the first four innings, before working around a walk and a passed ball in the fifth without further incident. He had held a 22.50 ERA in the fifth and sixth innings going into that frame, so this is hopefully a big step for him.

Then again, he did record an out in the sixth inning, then allowed a solo homer to Adley Rutschman which led to a pitching change, ending his evening.

The standout all season has been offseason addition Aaron Civale, however. He went five scoreless innings against the Orioles on Saturday, giving up six hits and walking three, but he dodged trouble well enough to keep Baltimore off the board. He now holds a 2.59 ERA on the season and a 1.39 WHIP.

A month ago we wrote that the early advanced metrics didn't like his profile much, and that hasn't changed. In fact, his xERA (4.18) ranks in the 46th percentile, while his xBA (.263) is in the 28th percentile. Those are worse spots than they were in early April, and yet he has just continued to move right along, going five innings and putting up zeroes.

The hope for the A's is that when those wheels do start to fall off, they have a young pitcher like No. 3 prospect Gage Jump ready for his call-up to the big leagues. We just haven't seen the whole team thriving in unison, but when it happens, this team is going to scare people.

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