AthleticsRoundtable spoke with Perkins on Sunday about his future in the bullpen. By Wednesday, the conversation had a different ending
On Sunday morning, AthleticsRoundtable had a conversation with Jack Perkins that began with us asking if he'd be making a start for the club following the injury to Luis Severino. It ended with us walking away believing the A's wanted him to be the team's closer and that they were working toward that goal.
After Sunday's game, the club decided to option left-hander Jacob Lopez to Triple-A, leaving a second opening in the rotation, and Perkins will fill it.
After Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs, we nearly added a piece to the very end about seeing Perkins on the A's bench late in the game, which was odd, given that relievers — even if they're unavailable — tend to sit in the bullpen. We scratched it to focus on Gage Jump's performance and what it could mean for the team moving forward.
Turns out, that spot on the bench meant a great deal.
A's manager Mark Kotsay told reporters before Wednesday's game in Chicago, "two outings ago, we ran his pitch count up. One out of necessity, but two, really, in a thought process of there's a possibility we could need him to go back into a role here. It's taken place, obviously, with the injuries and the performance.
"We're looking for a guy that can step up and give us some real production out of that spot."
One of the other takeaways from our conversation with Perkins was that he was seemingly holding out hope that he could return to the rotation, and was having a tough time adjusting to the mindset of not only being a relief pitcher, but one who is expected to be a key back-end piece.
It's unclear how connected those two pieces of information are, but it would make sense if there was some push and pull between feeling like he's a starting pitcher, but pitching in relief instead because that's what the team needs.
One specific he mentioned was that as a starter, you could give up three runs in the first inning but then go on to pitch six or seven shutout innings, which is a great outing. The pressure as a reliever is that you have to be perfect night after night.
He'll be getting his opportunity in the rotation on Friday in Houston.
With Perkins joining the starting rotation, we're still waiting on one more starter to be announced for Thursday's game. The A's have called up both Kade Morris (who will be making his MLB debut when he toes the rubber) and Mason Barnett as options.
Manager Mark Kotsay will likely be making his decision known after Wednesday's game, with the team wanting to see how the first two games of the series played out before locking someone into that spot.
With Gage Jump providing seven solid innings on Tuesday, the A's should have a fairly well-rested group of relief pitchers to pull from on Wednesday, giving them their choice of starter between Morris and Barnett on Thursday.
