A's left-hander JP Sears on where he improved the most in 2024

Jason Burke | Oct 28, 2024

Sep 21, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears (38) delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees in the first inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

If you look at the stats that A's lefty JP Sears has put up the last two seasons, you're not going to see huge, sweeping differences. He made 32 starts in each year, finished with between 170-180 innings, held an ERA around four and a half and continued to not walk many guys. The difference for Sears has been in the little things.

"Even though my numbers are pretty close to the same, obviously a lot more wins, I feel like I've been in a lot more ballgames, like, had control of a lot more games than I did last year. [I'm} throwing in the seventh inning a lot more than I did last year."

To his point, Sears did go from 5 to 11 wins from 2023 to 2024, and in nine of his 32 starts this season he recorded at least one out in the seventh inning. That is something he accomplished just four times in '23.

Those are the little things that make a big difference over the course of a full season, because that is one less out that needs to be recorded by the bullpen, and instead of going to a full-inning reliever like Grant Holman in the seventh, Sears could record one out, give the ball to a lefty like T.J. McFarland to get the job done, and then all of a sudden Holman doesn't have to pitch that night, leaving him fresh for the next game. Those little things can snowball quickly.

Another area of improvement for Sears was in limiting the home run ball in 2024. The previous season he gave up 34 homers, which was among the tops in all of baseball, but this past season he chopped a few of those off and finished the year at 28 long balls allowed.

A's on SI asked Sears if playing in a minor league park in Sacramento where a ball with a 92 mile per hour exit velocity can leave the yard has crossed his mind, given those home run issues.

"I'd be lying if I said it never has. We've talked about it. I think when it comes down to it, it'll be kind of like you always hear me say, it's just focusing on that hitter, or whatever the situation is in the game, and just being aware of that more. Knowing that hey maybe I can pitch a little bit more down [in the zone] today, or you can nibble a little bit more."

Pitching down in the zone more often is something that a few pitchers on the team have brought up when it comes to pitching in Sacramento.

"But it's gonna be on both sides, so you try not to think about it too much. Hopefully it hurts us not near as much as it'll help us."

If there is one advantage the A's could have in 2025, it will be that they can go through the same data that everyone else can, but they can also have their guys try different things to try and get ahead of the curve a little bit. They'll have control over the inputs that are being used in the ballpark calculations, which could be a huge difference-maker.