Elephant Rumblings: Sears continues to struggle

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

A’s pitching has been trending up lately. Top starters Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs both contributed quality starts that helped the A’s sweep the Royals last weekend. Jacob Lopez is showing promise in fits and starts, most recently having fanned nine in Kansas City.

Mitch Spence and J.T. Ginn made a fine tandem in Monday’s walk-off against the Astros, collaborating on eight innings of one-run ball to keep the A’s in a tight one and set up a big finale from Nick Kurtz.

However, the A’s most consistent workhorse in recent years hasn’t logged a quality start since May 4. JP Sears took another hammering in his start against the Astros last night, walking three batters in the first inning and ultimately allowing three home runs through just 3⅓ as the Astros opened up a 5-0 lead that led to a 13-3 Houston win. Sears ended the day with an ERA of 5.45 on the season.

As the final score suggests, the bullpen reverted to its recent dumpster fire form yesterday, too—so there may have just been some bad all-around mojo afflicting A’s hurlers last night.

And in fairness to JP, he had a lot of positives going for him in his last start against the Angels on June 11. Sears struck out nine in just 5⅓ and got all kinds of swing-and-miss without issuing a single walk. But Mark Kotsay pulled the southpaw at the first sign of trouble in the sixth inning, after 82 pitches.

That likely didn’t do much for Sears’ morale, and it certainly didn’t help the A’s win: Grant Holman came into the game and allowed both inherited runners to score—and then gave up four more runs of his own en route to a tough 6-5 loss in Anaheim. In retrospect, that game seems like a missed opportunity for Sears to get back on track. Instead, Holman got his ticket back to Triple-A punched.

Sears has never had top-of-rotation stuff, but he has been a reliable strike pumper who spins the occasional gem. By this point of the season in 2024, JP had made four starts of at least six innings and no more than one run allowed. He’s only managed to do it once so far this season—and that was against the White Sox.

Hopefully, JP Sears will return to form as the A’s soldier on into the heart of the summer.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics fall (hard) to Astros 13-3
• A’s roster moves: Gio Urshela activated, Seth Brown placed on IL
• A’s Sign Scott McGough To Minor League Deal
• Latest Athletics injuries and transactions

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB Power Rankings: Another new No. 1? Mets make their way back to the top, plus a top-10 debut ($)
• With Rafael Devers, Buster Posey gets his ‘dude’ and Giants look like a new team ($)
• 8 players on the All-Star ballot who deserve a second look
• Forget ice cream in a helmet, these are the best new MLB collectible concessions ($)
• Rafael Devers To Start Work At First Base With Giants
• Astros Notes: Melton, Rotation, McCullers
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

On the base path with Bam Bam.

A good start for Zack in LV.

An A’s coach is headed for the ASG.