WEST SACRAMENTO -- For Jack Perkins, it’s going to be hard not to think about the strike-call-that-wasn’t as he heads into the offseason.
Reaching a 1-2 count against AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez with two outs in the fifth, Perkins was one pitch away from striking out the Astros slugger for a third time on Saturday night. He delivered a sinker that seemingly caught a good portion of the bottom of the strike zone, but the pitch was called a ball by home plate umpire Gabe Morales and went unchallenged, despite the A’s still holding two ABS challenges at the time.
Alvarez had an extra strike to play with, and he took full advantage two pitches later by sending a hanging sweeper -- the pitch he struck out on in the third -- from Perkins over the wall in right for a three-run home run. Instead of Perkins ending that fifth with the game still close, Alvarez’s blast extended Houston’s lead to 6-1 in what ended up an eventual 13-2 A’s loss at Sutter Health Park in the penultimate game of the regular season.
“It’s a tough pitch that [catcher] Jonah [Heim] ends up not challenging,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s a sinker that’s supposed to be away. Heim reaches across his body and it clipped the bottom corner of the box for strike three, but we missed the challenge opportunity there. Then we went to the well one too many times with the sweeper.”
Of course, no outing comes down to just one pitch. Kotsay pointed out the walks Perkins issued to Cam Smith in the third and the fifth. The importance of limiting free passes is something the A’s have stressed with their young pitching staff, and Perkins had been a strong follower of that message as of late, having issued just one walk in his previous three starts combined. On Saturday, though, his two walks to Smith led to a two-run homer by Jeremy Peña in the third and Alvarez’s three-run shot two innings later.
“Execution is part of success,” Kotsay said. “We know that. That’s what we’re learning here, especially with Perk. But up to that point, we had a 3-1 game. He managed to control the damage. But he kind of beat himself with the two walks to Smith.”
Overall, Perkins’ final start of 2026 was somewhat symbolic of his season. There were flashes of why the A’s still have hope that the former top prospect could one day flourish as a Major League starter -- including Saturday, as he racked up nine strikeouts in five innings. But as evidenced by his 6.10 ERA in 37 games (17 starts), the 26-year-old right-hander still has work to do before establishing himself.
“It’s transformative,” Perkins said of his overall season. “I’ve said it a lot this year, but you don’t fail. You learn. That’s the mindset I’ve taken this season. I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot mentally, spiritually and emotionally. I think all those things are going to make me a better pitcher for the longevity of my career. That’s how I have to look at this. Yeah, it sucks to look up at the numbers and not see what you want to see. But there was a lot of good that came out of this season. I have to cling to that, take that into next season and keep building.”
Some of that good was his ability to produce swing and miss at a high rate. Having struck out 140 of his 541 batters faced this year, Perkins finished the season with a 25.9% strikeout rate. That goes down as the second-highest strikeout rate by an A’s pitcher in a single season with a minimum of 120 innings pitched, trailing only Frankie Montas’ 26.6% in 2021.
Perkins experienced a lot this season. He was given an opportunity to close some games for the A’s in late April and early May, but never fully settled into the role. In early June, he moved into the rotation and remained there for the rest of the season as he went through ups and downs.
There is definitely something there with Perkins, whether it be as a starter or reliever. The A’s hope to have a better idea of what that role is in 2027.
“I feel like I’ve made a lot of improvement over the last two or three weeks,” Perkins said. “It’s definitely something to build on and take into next season.”