The A’s have been riding a serious youth movement, moving guys aggressively to the big leagues and letting those young players help them land atop the AL West entering Tuesday’s games.
Most of that effort has come on the offensive side of the ledger and they sport one of the youngest lineups in the big leagues, especially when a healthy Jacob Wilson is added to the likes of Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom and, most recently, the 22-year old outfielder Henry Bolte. But until now, there hadn’t been the same kind of success in pushing young arms to the highest level in the same way. The 23-year-old Gage Jump is bucking that trend by getting called up in time to make his debut on Tuesday against the Mariners at Sutter Health Park.
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It’s not a huge surprise Jump, the No. 7 left-handed pitching prospect in the game, has arrived; when the 2024 Competitive Balance B pick spent most of his first full season in Double-A, he did seem like he was in that “when, not if” category of earning the call, something further cemented by a strong showing in big league camp during Spring Training. He began the year with Triple-A Las Vegas and got off to a bit of a sluggish start, with a 6.38 ERA over his first five starts through the end of April.
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May has been much, much better (2.75 ERA, .229 batting average against in four starts) and he’s really found a groove over his two most recent outings, putting up zeroes over 11 innings, while walking just one and striking out 15. An A’s executive who was on hand for his last start (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K), at home in hitter-friendly Las Vegas, said it was the best start of his pro career to date. So the A’s are striking while the iron is hot.
MLB's No. 41 overall prospect has a legitimate four-pitch mix that continues to trend upwards from his college days. He had missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery, then came back after transferring to LSU for the 2024 campaign. He threw well enough, and his stuff returned, for the A’s to not only take him No. 73 overall in that summer’s Draft, but went over slot to sign the redshirt sophomore for $2 million. Back then, he threw his fastball in the 90-95 mph range. So far this year, that heater has been averaging close to 96 mph and touching 99 mph. It plays well not only because of the increased velocity, but because he offers plenty of deception with a lower arm slot. He’s produced a 31-percent miss rate on the fastball this season, according to Synergy.
He backs up that pitch (more on it in a bit) with two distinct breaking pitches, both of which can miss bats as well. His now mid-80s slider has good cutting action to it while his 80-81 mph curve with downer break is also effective, though he throws the former much more frequently than the latter. Combined, his breaking stuff has a 34-percent miss rate. His fading changeup is pitch No. 4, and he hasn’t thrown it a ton, but some think it could eventually be an at least above-average offering.
Throwing the cambio more has been one reason for his improved performance of late. It’s not a huge uptick, but he threw eight or nine of them during that seven-shutout-inning performance on May 20, and him learning to trust it could be a small key to his success in the big leagues.
Having an effective offspeed pitch to help neutralize the game’s best right-handed hitters would be useful.
But the most important thing for Jump – told you we’d get back to this – is that fastball and, namely, his command of it. When he throws it for strikes more consistently, the rest of his stuff plays up. He had thrown his heater for a strike only 64 percent of the time over his first seven starts and, according to Synergy, Pacific Coast League hitters compiled an OPS of .815 off of him in those outings. While he got a 34 percent miss rate with the fastball, hitters feasted on it, with a 1.044 OPS.
Those last two starts paint a much different picture: 75 percent strike rate with the heater, .520 OPS overall, .622 OPS vs. the fastball.
Saying that fastball command is key isn’t exactly a revolutionary thought for any pitcher, but that’s going to be a huge ingredient for Jump to find lasting success in the big leagues. But beginning with his start against the Mariners, if he’s finding the zone with it, there’s a much better chance good results are going to follow.