With the Athletics calling up prospects Tommy White and Yunior Tur and designating Aaron Civale among a slew of roster moves on Wednesday night, the front office is looking to provide a spark for the roster to make a push right out of the gate. If the roster responds, the front office adds some pieces. If they don't, the A's start moving guys. 

The A's offense has been slipping lately due to injuries: Nick Kurtz and Zack Gelof are currently on the IL. DH Brent Rooker is out for the season, and Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom have missed time in recent weeks. 

In addition to White, the A's have also added utility player Donovan Walton off waivers from the Angels. Walton has played well over 100 games with the Sacramento River Cats in recent years, so he is familiar with the A's home ballpark. 

But what about the pitching staff? They have been struggling all season as well, so how should they line up the starting rotation coming out of the break?

We're operating under the assumption that the starting five here will be Gage Jump, J.T. Ginn, Jeffrey Springs, Jack Perkins and Jacob Lopez. Given the break, you can line up pretty much any of those pitchers in order, even Ginn, who last pitched on Sunday and would be on regular rest.

There are three main factors for the A's to consider when assembling the rotation for the second half. 

The first is that you want someone that has the best shot of going deep into a game for the first game out of the break. This season, that is pretty much Jump or Ginn with the options available, and since Ginn pitched on Tuesday and Sunday last week in order to give the club more chances at wins, it wouldn't hurt to give him an extra day or two of rest. That is the second factor.

That means Jump gets the first game, if we're putting the rotation together. 

The third factor is that Springs should start on the road in an effort to get him started on the second half on the right foot. He's been home run prone this season, giving up 26 home runs in 97 ⅔ innings — two away from his total across 171 innings last season. 

After the home series against the Washington Nationals, the A's will head to Arizona and then Minnesota, two parks that play slightly above average in terms of overall park factors, but Arizona ranks 21st and Minnesota ranks 23rd in home run park factors. 

Springs should start that first road game and pitch the first and last games of the trip, getting one start in each park. It's the best way the A's can set him up for success. 

Arizona has also been one of the worst teams against left-handed pitchers, putting up a 108 wRC+ compared to Washington's second-ranked 118. The Diamondbacks are also a worse offensive team at home, with a 94 wRC+. 

From there, it's about filling in the pieces. 

Perkins has also struggled with the long ball, especially at home, so give him the fifth spot. Not only is Arizona worse offensively at home, but they're the worst offensive team in MLB against right-handers with an 83 wRC+ this season. 

From there, you can slot Ginn and Lopez into the second and third spots in the rotation in any order. We would go with Lopez second. It would be a vote of confidence for a guy who has struggled this season but has fought his way back to the big leagues, and if Jump does his job on Friday, the bullpen would still be fresh just in case.

It would also separate out Lopez, Springs, and Perkins as the starters you're not sure will give you five or six innings each time out, so Ginn goes right in the middle to hopefully provide a little breather for the bullpen, just in case.

Friday: Gage Jump, LHP vs. Nationals

Saturday: Jacob Lopez, LHP vs. Nationals

Sunday: J.T. Ginn, RHP vs. Nationals

Monday: Jeffrey Springs, LHP at Diamondbacks

Tuesday: Jack Perkins, RHP at Diamondbacks

For the A's to have a shot at getting back into the mix over the next couple of weeks and to give the front office a reason to add pieces, they're going to have to get better performances from their starting pitching, which will lead to a rested and more productive bullpen. Laying out the rotation like this gives the A's their best chance at getting off to a hot start.