Gage Jump Takes Important Step Forward in A's Win

One of the factors in how the Athletics will finish next year will be how Gage Jump performs as a member of the rotation the entire season, and the final month of starts he has in front of him in 2026 could be an indicator of how those games go. 

Heading into Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Twins, Jump had made five starts while on regular starter's rest (four days in between starts), nine starts on five days of rest, and another two on six or more days.

In those five starts on regular rest, he'd held a 7.40 ERA across 24 ⅓ innings, giving up 31 hits, 14 walks, and striking out 24 batters. On five days of rest, that ERA settled down to 3.74. 

In his first two regular rest starts, Jump combined for 11 ⅓ innings and three earned runs allowed against the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies. 

In the three starts since, he hadn't completed five innings in any of those outings, and combined for 17 runs allowed in just 13 innings, coming out to an 11.77 ERA on regular rest. In that span he also gave up 23 hits, 10 walks, and struck out 15. 

Jump was in the zone on Tuesday against the Twins, going 6 ⅓ innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs, two walks, and striking out nine. The first hit he allowed came in the top of the fourth on a pop-up to third base by Royce Lewis on a miscommunication between the A's infield. In the seventh, Lewis collected his team's second hit of the game as well.

At this point in the game, Jump was not only pitching on regular rest, but was also at 90 pitches.

After a one-out double that made it 4-1, A's manager Mark Kotsay pulled his pitcher. Hogan Harris came on in relief and allowed the inherited runner to score, but Luis Medina and Elvis Alvarado shut the door in the eighth and ninth for a 4-2 A's win. 

In his first professional season last year, Jump racked up 112 ⅔ innings in the minors. This year, he's put together 38 innings in the minors and now 88 ⅓ innings with the A's, putting him at 126 ⅓ with a month left in the season. 

"I feel great," Jump said after Tuesday's game. "At this point, you kind of learn how to listen to your body. Whether that's cutting back on stuff in the weight room or the training room, you kind of learn those things and listen to your body." 

Kotsay said before the game that the innings total itself isn't going to be the biggest indicator for how they approach his usage the rest of the season, but instead how he's recovering after each outing. With the off day on Thursday, he should be able to get an extra day of rest before he takes the mound again next week in Texas.