After A’s top prospect Jump earns 1st win, more young talent preps to debut. When?
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- Gage Jump earned his first MLB win with seven innings and one run allowed.
- Kade Morris and Mason Barnett were called up to the Majors earlier Tuesday.
- A’s ace Luis Severino’s placement on the injured list creates rotation vacancies to fill.
Coming off a particularly tough 2-7 stretch including series losses to the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees, the Athletics needed a change, especially in their injury-battered pitching staff.
Manager Mark Kotsay on Sunday, after the final game of the Yankees series, said the team needed to re-evaluate the players on its roster.
The club’s approach has been clear: It’s a rookie revolution.
On Tuesday, the A’s No. 3 prospect and No. 40 overall, left-hander Gage Jump, earned the first win of his MLB career in a seven-inning, one-run gem — his second big league start. Earlier that day, two other top A’s pitching prospects, righties Kade Morris and Mason Barnett — No. 12 and 17, respectively, per MLB Pipeline — were called up to the Majors.
It was Turlock native Morris’ first MLB call-up and Barnett’s fourth, though he has only appeared in six total MLB games and will look to earn a bigger role for the A’s this time around.
After Jump was called up last week, he has taken on Aaron Civale’s spot in the rotation and, especially after his dominant start Tuesday, appears poised to maintain it.
However, there is one other spots open in the rotation for the other new additions: ace Luis Severino hit the injured list late last week with a right shoulder sprain and is expected to not be re-evaluated until after the All-Star break; and Jacob Lopez got sent down to Triple-A as the prospects got called up Tuesday after a brutal outing against the Yankees on Sunday, when he pitched two innings and gave up seven runs.
Jack Perkins will move back into the rotation and start Friday’s series opener against the Houston Astros, MLB.com reported Wednesday, though the Saturday game is still undecided.
“Coming off a tough weekend … we’ve worn the bullpen down a little bit, but they’ll provide some length right now,” Kotsay said ahead of Tuesday’s road win over the Chicago Cubs. “We’ll make a decision, which one of them gets that opportunity going forward to fulfill one of the vacancies in our rotation right now.”
Jump bounces back from hit-and-miss debut
Jump’s debut start last Tuesday against the Mariners showed glimpses of why he was a top prospect with five strikeouts and 13 whiffs, per Baseball Savant, though it ended in a loss on the scorecard after allowing four runs in five innings. He also showcased control, throwing 58 strikes in 88 pitches.
“Overall, the focus for Gage was throwing strikes,” Kotsay said after the game. “He did that tonight.”
While Jump’s debut may not have been what he was looking for, those around the organization, including Kotsay and Perkins, whose locker bordered Jump’s during Spring Training, knew he was going to rebound.
In an interview between Jump’s starts, Perkins, who debuted for the club last season, said the biggest growth he had seen in Jump’s game was in his ability to respond to adversity, both between starts and during an outing.
“I think that’s why they pulled the trigger and called him up here, he’s showing those growth-mindset mentalities that you need to be a big leaguer and be a successful big leaguer,” 26-year-old Perkins said Friday. “We all believe that he’s going to be great, and now it’s just about him continuing to learn and get better.”
That mindset is exactly what Jump, 23, took into Tuesday’s start, where he allowed just one hit after surrendering a run in the second inning, retiring his final 14 batters in an efficient 85-pitch seven innings for the win.
“It’s awesome,” Jump said postgame. “I’m a competitor. I want to win. I wanted to win last time I threw, and it didn’t happen. So, (winning) tonight, I was stoked about it.”
Jump’s start was just the sixth time, in 60 games this season, that an A’s starter has finished seven innings — an especially important feat following short starts from Lopez and Severino that forced the bullpen to throw a lot late last week.
Though Jump himself said he needs to work on getting more swings and misses on breaking balls after earning just five whiffs compared to 13 in his debut, Kotsay was nothing but positive about the start.
“This was the best I’ve seen him,” Kotsay said postgame.
Who are Morris and Barnett?
Though neither Morris nor Barnett got into Tuesday’s series opener against the Cubs, Kotsay said the two would likely come out of the bullpen at some point during the series. He also floated the idea of Morris starting Saturday’s game against the Astros.
“It’s always nice to get a young kid’s first experience on the mound in an inning that’s maybe a little lower in leverage,” Kotsay said before Tuesday’s game. “Get him out there and let him feel it.”
Morris, 24, had spent his entire season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators where he went 5-3 with a 4.45 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings. In his last two starts of May, Morris went 13 innings while surrendering just one run after surrendering five or more twice earlier in the month.
“He’s throwing the ball well,” Kotsay said. “He’s a pitcher that pitches with a lot of emotion. I’m sure when he steps on that mound for the first time, there’s going to be a lot of energy, a lot of excitement.”
A fellow Turlock native, A’s outfielder Tyler Soderstrom, 24, told the Turlock Journal that he was excited to watch Morris debut, calling it a “crazy small world” that the two were on the same MLB team. The two didn’t play on the same high school team, despite being the same age and from the Central Valley town about 90 miles southeast of Sacramento, with Soderstrom playing for Turlock High School and Morris playing for John H. Pittman High School.
“I haven’t had a whole lot of time to sit down and watch, but I know he’s ready to go. I just say to enjoy it as best as you can,” Soderstrom said, according to the Turlock Journal. “Have fun, and I’ll hold it down in left field for him.”
Barnett, 25, last pitched for the A’s on April 19 when he threw two scoreless frames against the Chicago White Sox. He was sent down the next day and later recalled for three days in mid-May before getting sent back down without an appearance.
In nine starts with the Aviators this season, Barnett held a 4.64 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings.
“He’s a power-type arm that has the ability in short spurts to maximize the velocity,” Kotsay said just after Barnett’s first call-up in late August 2025, according to MLB.com. “I’m excited for the opportunity to get to see him pitch in the big leagues for us.”
After that call-up in 2025, Barnett started five games, surrendering 17 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks.
The A’s take on the Cubs at 5:05 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, with an appearance from Barnett and a Morris debut on the table.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 2:29 PM.
