A's DFA Former New York Yankees Draftee After History-Making Outing

Jason Burke | Sep 6, 2024

Feb 27, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Janson Junk against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The day after right-hander Janson Junk made his Oakland A's debut, the team announced that he had been designated for assignment. The 28-year-old was originally selected by the New York Yankees in the 22nd round of the 2017 Draft, but has pitched in the big leagues with the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland Athletics. He recorded at least one out for two of those teams.

On Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum, Junk entered the game in the top of the seventh with the A's trailing the Seattle Mariners 5-2. By the time this game was over, the Mariners had put up 16 runs.

Here is how that seventh inning went for Junk: Leadoff home run to Luis Urías followed by a double to Dylan Moore and a single from J.P. Crawford. All three of those balls left the bat between 103.5 miles per hour and 105.9 mph. Julio Rodríguez joined the fun, adding an RBI single, followed by a wild pitch to put runners at second and third, then a walk to backstop Cal Raleigh, loading the bases.

A Randy Arozarena double scored two more, making it 9-2. Both the single from J-Rod and the double from Arozarena were much softer, leaving the bat at 72 and 59 mph. Justin Turner followed that up with a walk, re-loading the bases for Victor Robles, who singled. He would be the last batter that Junk would face, with the righty giving way to Ross Stripling, who walked a batter and gave up a sac-fly that allowed two more runs to score before getting out of the inning.

This seemed like an especially poor outing for a player in their A's debut, so we looked it up on Stathead, and according to them, it is in fact the worst performance by an A's player that has never recorded an out for the team. His final line: 0 IP, six hits, seven earned runs, two walks and a wild pitch.

The other three players to have pitched for the A's and not recorded an out are Rich Wortham in 1983, Jim Scelle in 1939, and Lou Bauer in 1918. For both Bauer and Schelle, their appearances were the only MLB experience they ever received. Schelle gave up a hit, walked three, and hit a batter, giving up three earned runs, while Bauer didn't allow a hit, walked both batters he faced, and was charged with one earned run while both ended up scoring.

Wortham's path was more similar to Junk's own, with the left-hander having played three seasons with the Chicago White Sox before his appearance with the green and gold. In his game, he faced four batters, gave up three hits and a walk, and was charged with just one run.

Not to pile on, but here are some recent position players that have recorded outs for the A's at the big-league level while giving up zero runs: Catcher Josh Phegley, Rule 5 pick Ka'ai Tom, Tyler Ladendorf, Christian Bethancourt, and Nick Martini.

Kendrys Morales, Chad Pinder, Bert Campaneris, Frank Menechino, and Jake Smolinski have also pitched for the A's, but they allowed at least one run to cross the plate.

The hope for Junk here is that he clears waivers and sticks with the A's during the off-season so that he at least has an opportunity to earn his way back to the big leagues with the club, record an out, and remove himself from the A's history books.