The Athletics have been scuffling as of late, winning two of their last five games and scoring seven runs against their opponents 22. Dropping the first game of a three-game series with their divisional opponent, the Seattle Mariners, the Athletics dropped the first game 9-2.
In the middle of a rough patch, the Athletics are calling up one of their top prospects to get them out of this rut.
The Athletics call up Gage Jump, one of the best pitching prospects in baseball
In the middle of the night, Tuesday morning, ESNP’s Jeff Passan reported that the Athletics will be calling up their No. 3 prospect, left-hander Gage Jump, who is also the 41st-best prospect in Major League Baseball. A 23-year-old from Aliso Viejo, California, Jump was first drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but didn’t sign and chose to pitch at the University of California.
The Athletics are calling up Gage Jump, one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in baseball, sources tell ESPN. Jump, 23, runs his fastball up to 97 and has struck out 56 in 38 innings at AAA. He was part of what’s shaping up to be a very interesting draft class in 2024.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 26, 2026
Jump spent one season at UCLA, where he went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven games (three starts). Jump would then join the LSU Tigers two years later in 2024, where he would be drafted by the then Oakland Athletics in the second round of the MLB Draft.
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In two seasons in the Athletics minor league system, Jump has performed well, with a 9-9 record, a 3.58 ERA, 187 strikeouts and 54 walks in 150.2 innings. However, Jump has hit somewhat of a speed bump this season, allowing 19 earned runs, four home runs, with a .254 batting average against and 20 walks in 38.0 innings.
According to Jump’s prospect profile, his best pitch (on a 20-80 grade scale) is his fastball (60/80), which has topped out at 97 miles per hour. A strike thrower, 64% strike percentage in his two minor league seasons, some question if Jump can maintain being a starting pitcher or transition to being a member of the bullpen.
“Given his size and unorthodox delivery, there have been questions about Jump’s ability to hold up as a starter, and some still see some reliever risk in him,” via his prospect profile on MLB.com. “But he throws a ton of strikes and maintains his stuff with good arm speed, so there’s no reason to keep him from trying to reach his mid-rotation ceiling now, with a chance of him impacting a big league staff in the near future.”
Joining a rotation with five quality starters, with right-hander J.T. Ginn the only member on the staff to have an ERA below 4.00 this season (3.19). Manager Mark Kotsay will need to figure out how to work Jump into the rotation, as right-hander Luis Severino, who is the ace of the staff, goes for the Athletics on Tuesday in the second game with the Mariners.