CINCINNATI – J.T. Ginn spun around and let out a roar in the direction of center field following his strikeout of Dane Myers before walking off the mound on Tuesday night.
It was an exclamation mark to what was a successful return from the 15-day injured list for Ginn in the Athletics’ 5-4 series-opening loss to the Reds on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park. Making his first start in over two weeks, Ginn limited Cincinnati to three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts across six solid innings.
“I thought he was really sharp for having not been on the mound,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Another quality start for him. This is a young man who has really just grown and grown. It’s good to have him back out there.”
That’s now 10 quality starts this season for Ginn, who moved into the A’s rotation on April 10 and never looked back. The 27-year-old right-hander has emerged as a quality Major League starter who now holds a 3.51 ERA across 23 games (20 starts), continuing to shine as one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 2026 campaign for the A’s (45-68) that has been defined by underperformance and injuries to several key players.
“From the pitching side, there just hasn’t been a ton to highlight,” Kotsay said. “He’s the highlight right now, for sure. It’s tough to watch all these guys go through growing pains when they’re not having success. But for J.T., from the time I first met him when he was in his first big league camp to now, he’s a much more mature young man in all aspects. … It’s fun to be part of his journey right now.”
On Tuesday, Ginn was mostly stellar outside of a fifth inning in which the Reds plated three runs to tie it after the A’s had just increased their lead to 3-0 on Jacob Wilson’s two-run double in the top half. That fifth was sparked by a leadoff walk to rookie Héctor Rodríguez that Ginn was still frustrated with after the game.
“I wish I could do a better job there in the fifth inning,” Ginn said. “Offense just put up some runs there. I really need to go out there and give us a zero right there.”
With two relievers getting loose in the A’s bullpen in the top of the sixth, it appeared as if Ginn’s night might be over, which would have been understandable given that he was already at 83 pitches and hadn’t pitched since July 18 due to a right middle finger blister. But while that top of the sixth got underway, Kotsay and interim pitching coach Dan Hubbs went down the tunnel of the A’s dugout to get a read on how Ginn was feeling. Ginn was adamant that he had enough left to at least try to squeeze out one more inning.
Kotsay gave Ginn that chance. The response: A 1-2-3 sixth on eight pitches, capped by that emotional outburst before walking off the mound.
“As you saw, that’s the competitor in him,” Kotsay said. “He wanted to go back out and give it a shot to get through the sixth. … To do it in eight pitches was exceptional.”
After Ginn’s departure, the A’s took a 4-3 lead that was squandered late by a bullpen that entered the night carrying the highest ERA (5.67) in the Majors. This time, it was Hogan Harris, arguably their most steady reliever this year, who fired off a pair of two-out wild pitches with two strikes in the eighth during the same plate appearance against Eugenio Suárez that each resulted in a run scored, flipping a one-run lead to a one-run deficit.
“That’s not an outing that we’ve seen from Hogan,” Kotsay said. “We’ve seen him escape that inning and pitch through that. The 0-2 pitch, in my opinion, he’s just trying too hard. … That’s the effort level of just trying too hard to pump up on a fastball and miss by that much.”
It was an ending all too familiar, but an overall day the A’s were glad to get their rotation leader back. They are 14-9 in Ginn’s starts this year, as opposed to 31-59 when any other starter takes the mound.
“It was definitely a weird ‘injury’,” Ginn said. “We got ahead of it and took that time off to get back right. I’m feeling good and confident about everything moving forward.”