While the A's pitching staff has been among the league's worst in 2026, the starting staff for 2027 could be taking shape — and have some upside.
Pitching has failed the Athletics time and again in 2026. It was the team's biggest flaw heading into the season, and through the club's first 130 games, they have ranked 29th in MLB with a 5.48 ERA, ever so slightly ahead of the 30th-ranked Colorado Rockies with a 5.53 ERA.
The focus during the offseason is going to be on improving the team's pitching staff, but how deep those changes go will be determined by how the A's perform in these final few weeks.
Right now the A's are running out a rotation of J.T. Ginn (3.60 ERA), Gage Jump (4.83 ERA), Jacob Wilson (4.98 ERA), Jack Perkins (6.96 ERA), and Jeffrey Springs (6.02 ERA). With Springs having a $15 million club option for 2027, the assumption is that the team will decline that option, opening up a spot in the rotation.
Ginn has been the ace of the A's staff this season and a welcome development story for the club. Jump is in his first stint in the big leagues and has both dominated at times while also struggling with inconsistency.
Lopez began the year in the rotation after a solid second-half stint in 2025, but had walk issues that kept him from reaching those same heights in the first half of 2026. He was optioned to Triple-A at the end of May, and since he's rejoined the rotation after the All-Star break, the left-hander has returned to being the dominant force we saw last season.
Through seven starts he holds a 2.33 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP across 38 ⅔ innings, striking out 47 in the process. He has also gone at least five innings in each of his last six starts, and completed at least six innings in each of his past three outings.
If you combine Lopez's recent performance with Ginn's season, that's a pretty solid one-two punch with the A's offense (when healthy).
Add in Gage Jump with an offseason of tinkering and that top three could be looking pretty good.
The one big question mark is whether veteran Luis Severino picks up his $22 million player option this offseason. Obviously the A's could use that money elsewhere, but having Severino back, given how he pitched in 2026, would give the A's a solid foundational piece in the rotation.
His ability to go at least five innings in his starts has come to be more appreciated since he hit the IL and the team fell off a cliff this season. Those two events aren't directly linked, but Severino's injury has certainly contributed to the pitching staff's decline.
Before Severino's injury, the A's held a 4.41 team ERA and ranked 23rd in MLB. Since he landed on the IL, the team's ERA has shot up by more than two runs to 6.43, ranking them 30th in baseball.
If Severino is back, then the club would have to figure out one rotation spot, either via trade or free agency. At some point in 2027, perhaps around the same time Jump was called up this season, we could also see Jamie Arnold make his own MLB debut, joining the rotation.
If Severino sticks around, that could also allow the team to switch Perkins back to being a relief pitcher, where he could end up being a late-inning option for the club and help bolster the bullpen for next season.
Regardless of which pieces end up falling into place, the other big goal for the offseason will be to build up a better selection of depth options.
