A's Manager Mentions Atlanta Braves Legend When Talking About His Pitcher

Jason Burke | Sep 14, 2024

Sep 13, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Brady Basso (66) delivers against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Oakland A's defeated the Chicago White Sox on Friday night, 2-0, with left-hander Brady Basso earning his first big-league win in his second start after going 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits, a walk, and striking out two. Following the game, Oakand A's manager Mark Kotsay compared Basso to a former teammate, Hall of Famer and Atlanta Braves legendary lefty Tom Glavine.

When asked about Basso's changeup usage, Kotsay replied, "It's going to play to his advantage. I mean, you think about one of the lefties in the game that was a teammate of mine, Tom Glavine. He used his changeup so effectively. He used the outer edge so effectively. I think Brady has some similarities to that. Brady does have the cutter that he can crowd righties with, which is a good pitch for him. He's a pitcher, he's not a thrower."

Mark Kotsay sees shades of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine in Brady Basso 👀 pic.twitter.com/KfwibwCKBF

— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) September 14, 2024

This is now the second former Braves pitcher that has been compared to an A's starter this season, joining Joey Estes, whose bulldog mentality on the mound was compared to that of Tim Hudson, who was also famously a member of the A's "Big Three." As the season has progressed, those that have been keeping an eye on Estes have seen that competitor on the mound and believe that he could be the ace of the A's staff as early as next season. It's also hard to forget that Estes is just 22 years old.

Estes was one of the players the A's received back in the Matt Olson trade with Atlanta ahead of the 2022 season, while Basso was selected by the A's in the 2019 MLB Draft. A 16th round pick, Basso, 26, has fought injuries since joining the A's organization, totaling just 203 frames in four seasons in the minors. He missed the 2022 campaign, and made his season debut in May last year with High-A Lansing. He ended up making it to Double-A Midland before the year was out, and racked up a 2.42 ERA across 20 appearances (17 starts) and 63 1/3 innings.

It was enough to earn him a spot on the A's 40-man roster last offseason.

He's spent most of the 2024 season in Triple-A with the Las Vegas Aviators, and while his 5.19 ERA doesn't look too appealing, a quick look under the hood shows that he's given up 15 home runs while playing in the Pacific Coast League, famously a hitter's league, in just 67 2/3 innings. Some of those home runs may be more about park factors than talent. We've recently had a few players in the clubhouse talk to us about balls leaving the bat at 92 miles per hour and going over the fence in some of the PCL ballparks. Generally balls need to be hit at least 100 mph in the big leagues to have a chance.

This is further backed up by the run he's had in limited exposure at the big league level. In two starts he has combined to go 11 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up eight hits, walking two and striking out eight against the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

If Basso stays in the rotation, and he stays on turn, he would have two more starts the rest of the season with Oakland, which could be a nice audition to be a member of the rotation heading into the 2025 season. Another tidbit for Basso is that if he keeps making starts, he'd be in line to be on the mound for the game on September 26 against the Texas Rangers, the planned final A's game at the Oakland Coliseum.