A's DFA Former Detroit Tigers Prospect

Jason Burke | Sep 12, 2024

May 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Jack O'Loughlin (37) walks to the bullpen before the start of the game against the Houston Astros at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Oakland A's recently announced that they have designated left-hander Jack O'Loughlin for assignment in order to make room for lefty Kyle Muller on the 40-man roster and call him back up to the big leagues. O'Loughlin was signed by the A's as a minor league free agent, most recently being a part of the Detroit Tigers farm system.

The 24-year-old lefty made his big-league debut with the A's on May 26 against Houston, tossing three shutout frames and allowing just two hits while walking one and striking out two. He stuck around for the beginning of June, getting into two more games and tossing a combined four scoreless innings in Atlanta and against Toronto. He was sent back down to Triple-A Las Vegas on June 8, called up on June 25, pitched one more time on July 6, and was optioned back to the minors on July 7.

In that final outing he faced the Baltimore Orioles, going 2 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits, five runs, walking two and striking out three. Obviously his time in the majors is a small sample size, but he has given up 13 hits in 9 2/3 innings, and walked another five on top of that, leading to a 1.86 WHIP

The same was true of his time with Las Vegas, where he gave up 92 hits and 32 walks in 68 1/3 innings, leading to a 1.81 WHIP and a 6.19 ERA.

Taking his place on the 40-man roster will be Muller, who was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in the Sean Murphy trade. Muller spent most of the year in Oakland before being DFA'd himself on August 13. A month later, with Ross Stripling landing on the IL, Muller is back to presumably finish out the season with the A's.

As we mentioned before when the 6-foot-7 southpaw was sent down, this is a critical time for him and his future with the franchise. The A's are collecting wins and are aiming higher heading into the 2025 season, with the hope of being a .500 club. Muller is out of options heading into the 2025 season, meaning that he has to stay on the A's active roster or be subject to waivers. That would also mean that he has to stick on the 40-man roster all off-season, and those spots could be at a premium. The question for Oakland will be how they feel about their depth heading into this winter, and whether or not they feel confident that they can land some other options to play for them in a Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento.

He made four appearances with the Aviators over the last month, three of which were starts, and tossed a combined 20 1/3 innings, gave up 18 hits, walked five, struck out 12, and yielded 10 runs, good for a 4.48 ERA.