WEST SACRAMENTO – Optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas following his last start in May after getting shelled for seven runs in two innings, Jacob Lopez vowed to go down and “figure out” the struggles that had plagued him early in the season.
Back on the mound for his first Major League start since then, Lopez turned in a much better showing in Sunday afternoon’s 5-2 loss to the Nationals at Sutter Health Park, limiting Washington to two runs on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts across 4 1/3 innings.
Utilized as a reliever in his first two appearances upon getting recalled from Triple-A on July 7, including as an opener on July 10, Lopez was working on a limited pitch count Sunday and was pulled with one out in the fifth at just 84 pitches. What he showed under that constraint against a potent Nationals offense that entered the day leading MLB with 540 runs scored fell in line with the encouraging signs he’d shown in those first two outings back with the A’s.
“Jacob did a nice job,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “His execution was much better. Navigating that lineup, he did a great job of keeping us [in the game]. We took it as far as we could.”
There were still some instances where Lopez beat himself, a common theme of his first stint earlier this year. His leadoff single allowed to Nasim Nuñez in the third led to the speedy second baseman stealing second and third before scoring on a groundout. In the fourth, hitting Dylan Crews with a pitch resulted in a run on a double by Harry Ford one batter later.
Still, this was an improvement from the previous version we saw of Lopez, who posted a 6.75 ERA in 12 games (10 starts) before getting sent down.
“Realistically, I wasn’t expecting to go six-plus,” Lopez said. “Mentally, I wanted to. But to at least get into the fifth, I thought it was a decent job. … It was a little step in the right direction. I know I can be better with the strikes and just attacking those righties a little bit better.”
The A’s have not given up on the tantalizing potential Lopez displayed last season. Before season-ending elbow surgery last August, Lopez was performing as one of the league’s top rookies in his final 13 starts, going 7-2 with 85 strikeouts over 70 2/3 innings and a 2.17 ERA.
Entering 2026 with high expectations as a member of the rotation, Lopez struggled with not allowing the rough innings to snowball and admittedly lost some confidence, leading to his demotion.
“I think the time in Triple-A allowed him to breathe and make some adjustments,” Kotsay said. “Those adjustments have led to some success. We’ve seen the success here at the Major League level. I think this is a great transition for him to come back and get this opportunity to perform well for us.”
On Sunday, we saw a more confident Lopez unleash his slider, a big weapon for him last season, as his most-thrown pitch (40) on the day. Of his 14 total whiffs, 12 came on the slider, which was utilized as the putaway pitch on four of his six punchouts.
There are always some mechanical adjustments and tweaks a pitcher works on back down in the Minors. For Lopez, though, his key to getting back on track was simple.
“Just pounding the strike zone,” Lopez said. “Today, I walked two guys in the first inning, but I think I did a decent job of getting back to throwing strikes.”
Getting more outings like this from Lopez and the rest of the rotation would go a long way in helping the A’s (42-57) fully break out of this funk, now having lost 19 of their past 23 games.
They’ll also need more from the offense, which fell back into a scuffle. After breaking out for a season-high 15 runs on Saturday night, the A’s produced just two runs despite racking up 11 hits, going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine runners on base.
“We just couldn’t get the big hit to get back in that game,” Kotsay said. “The guys took good at-bats. … We couldn’t put them together enough and capitalize with some guys in scoring position with two outs.”