Jump-Serven battery proves to be all-around winning combo

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Gage Jump’s arrival came with such high expectations as one of the more hyped prospects to make his way through the Athletics’ system in quite some time that you almost forget he was only making his 12th Major League start on Tuesday.

For almost any young pitcher, there will be highs and lows as they establish themselves at this level. Jump’s career started off with a bang as he posted a 2.04 ERA through his first six starts. Then, he seemingly hit a wall, going 0-5 with an 8.31 ERA in the next five starts, coming away frustrated from an outing he described as “pretty embarrassing” last week in Arizona.

On Tuesday night, Jump was back to looking like that electric rookie who burst onto the scene earlier this season, firing six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to set the tone for the A’s in a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox at Sutter Health Park.

“Gage was great tonight,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Being able to make pitches when he had to is part of what we were looking for. We’re looking for consistency and being able to manage innings.”

Since his first call to the Majors on May 26, Jump’s stuff has never been a question. At times, however, he’s had problems putting hitters away, with foul balls leading to lengthy at-bats and high pitch counts. Entering Tuesday, his 215 pitches fouled off by opposing hitters were 12th most among all Major League pitchers since his debut. That list is headlined by some of the game’s top strikeout artists, such as Paul Skenes, Sandy Alcantara and Cam Schlittler.

Jump fancies himself a strikeout pitcher in his own right. Against Boston, he looked the part by missing more bats than ever before with the A’s. The 23-year-old left-hander recorded a career-high 19 whiffs, nine coming on his fastball, which maxed out at 97.8 mph, and six on his wipeout slider.

“[The Red Sox] are very aggressive,” Jump said. “The fastball and slider were playing really good today. So, just knowing that I have those weapons to get chase when I need to.”

Jump also attributed a lot of his stellar outing to catcher Brian Serven, who was called up from Triple-A over the weekend in the wake of the A’s losing All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers to a knee injury that required surgery and will likely keep him out the rest of the season.

While this was their first time working together in the big leagues, Jump and Serven are plenty familiar with each other. The two were often batterymates during their time together with Las Vegas to begin the season.

“I struggled in Vegas for a little bit,” Jump said. “I was talking to him about what we need to work on so that when I’m here, I can get these guys out. He knows me and I know him. When things aren’t working, we know what to fall back on and we both kind of can feel the game out.”

From Serven’s angle behind the dish, Tuesday’s version of Jump was a lot like what he saw when the young southpaw was going well at Triple-A.

“Gage did what Gage does,” Serven said. “He competes. He attacks the zone. He comes right at you. It’s always fun working with him.”

Serven’s contributions also showed up on offense, as he launched a two-run homer to center in the seventh. It was the 31-year-old backstop’s first homer with the A’s and first Major League home run since Aug. 21, 2022, against the Giants while playing for the Rockies.

“Great moment for Serven,” Kotsay said. “With all these injuries, guys are going to get a chance to come in and help us win a game. … The game he called and the blocks he made were a big part of the success as well.”

The story of the night, however, was Jump. In an injury-riddled year that has gotten away from the A’s from a playoff-contending perspective, much of this final stretch of the season is about allowing the club’s young pitchers to establish themselves, perhaps none more important than Jump, who brings future ace potential.

“Gage is working on developing things at the Major League level,” Kotsay said. “That can be challenging and leads to inconsistency sometimes. We’re going to continue to put him out there. There’s a strong confidence in what he’s capable of doing when he takes the mound.”