Before you rage on A.J. Puk — what about the A’s starters?
If Bob Melvin had his druthers, he probably wouldn’t have sent A.J. Puk out to the mound on Wednesday, holding a one-run lead in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers.
Puk had shown flashes of potential with his new windup since his promotion on Aug. 10, as six of his eight outings were scoreless while he looked nearly unhittable at times. But Puk couldn’t retire a batter on Wednesday night, as he allowed two singles and a walk to kick start a Tigers rally before being lifted for Jake Diekman.
The end result? The Tigers eventually flipped a one-run deficit into an 8-6 win.
Melvin revealed some information after the game that put his bullpen moves into perspective.
Why not use Lou Trivino in that spot? The demoted closer has been dealing with back spasms that have made him unavailable the past few days.
Why not use Andrew Chafin in that spot? The reliable southpaw had been used in three straight games and four of the past five.
As such, Melvin’s plan was to use Puk in the seventh, Diekman in the eighth and have Sergio Romo close out the ninth. Instead, Diekman had to enter earlier and Daulton Jefferies ceded an insurance run to the Tigers in the eighth.
Considering Yusmeiro Petit had already did his job and recorded six outs following a short, four-inning outing from James Kaprielian, BoMel’s other options for the seventh included Deolis Guerra, Burch Smith and Jefferies. Hindsight is always 20/20, but who would you have picked besides Puk in that spot? Maybe Guerra would have been a good choice, as he recorded four outs the day before but was probably available.
So, BoMel tried to put Puk in a pressure situation and the southpaw didn’t deliver. Rage ensued from fans on Twitter, but in the end, I’d argue that the bullpen issues are actually a result of the team’s starting pitching, which is fading in the dog days of summer.
Oakland still leads MLB with 748.2 innings pitched from its starting rotation, but the starters have been struggling to go deep into games lately. In 12 of the past 18 contests, the A’s starters have failed to throw more than five innings.
Here’s a look at those 18 starts:
Date | Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
8/13 | Irvin | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
8/14 | Kap | 5.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
8/15 | Manaea | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
8/16 | Montas | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
8/17 | Bassitt | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
8/18 | Blackburn | 5.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
8/19 | Irvin | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
8/20 | Kap | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
8/21 | Manaea | 4.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
8/22 | Montas | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
8/23 | Blackburn | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
8/24 | Irvin | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
8/26 | Kap | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
8/27 | Manaea | 4.1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
8/28 | Montas | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
8/29 | Blackburn | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
8/31 | Irvin | 4.2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
9/1 | Kap | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
That comes out to an average of less than five innings per start (4.88 IP or a little better than 4 2/3), while the starters have combined for a 5.22 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in that span. The rotation looks like a question mark lately after being a strength of the team all year long.
Obviously, the A’s lost their Ace Chris Bassitt with his scary head injury on Aug. 17. Sean Manaea has been fluttering the past month or so, while James Kaprielian made a short stint on the injured list with shoulder inflammation and Cole Irvin has been dealing with glut issues. Frankie Montas is still humming along and Paul Blackburn held his own against the Yankees, but the rotation as a whole is struggling.
I wonder if the A’s starters are getting fatigued as they set and approach new career highs in innings pitched. Montas isn’t slipping, but his 150 innings are way more than his previous career high of 112 in 2015. Manaea (142.2) is approaching his career-best IP total from 2018 when he tossed 160.2 innings. Irvin (149 IP) is closing in on his career-high mark of 161.1 from 2018. Kaprieliean’s 102.1 IP is scraping the 106 IP mark he reached twice in college back in 2014/15.
The A’s definitely could have used another reliable bullpen arm at the deadline. The way the team is currently constructed, it’s reliant on the starters to go deep into games.
So, before you pin the blame on the bullpen, ask yourself — did the starters pull their weight that night? Kaprielian sure didn’t on Wednesday night. Puk still has to make his pitches, but the A’s will likely be in similar squeezes unless the rotation can figure it out.
