Colorado Rockies sign former A's lefty

Jason Burke | Nov 14, 2024

May 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Jack O'Loughlin (37) throws a pitch against the Houston Astros in his MLB debut during the seventh inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Colorado Rockies have signed former A's left-hander Jack O'Loughlin to a minor-league deal that includes an invite to Spring Training, per Bob Nightengale.

Australian native Jack O’Loughlin, the left-hander who made his MLB debut last year for the Oakland A’s, signs a minor-league deal with the Colorado Rockies that includes an invite to their MLB spring training camp

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 14, 2024

O'Loughlin, 24, made his MLB debut in Oakland last season on May 26 against the Houston Astros. He ended up tossing three scoreless frames in that appearance, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out two. He stuck around with the Athletics through June 8, getting into two more games and covering another four scoreless innings.

The final outing of his season came after he was called back up in July. He was at home against the Baltimore Orioles, and the A's put up 19 runs in the game, and 14 of those in the first four frames. When O'Loughlin entered the contest, the A's were beating the O's 14-1, so his job was to collect outs in a timely manner. He ended up allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings, striking out three.

O'Loughlin did struggle a bit in Triple-A Las Vegas this past season, especially with the long ball, giving up 17 round-trippers in 73 total innings. He ended the year with a 6.04 ERA (6.11 FIP) along with a 1.78 WHIP in the minors. His 4.66 ERA in 9 2/3 in the big leagues also held an expected ERA of 6.74.

In his time with the A's he utilized five pitches, mainly relying on his low-90s four-seam fastball, which he used 50% of the time. He also mixed in a low-to-mid-80s slider, which he threw 22% of the time, a 76 mph curve that he used 16%, a changeup 10% of the time, and finally he tossed three total sinkers, which accounted for about 2% of his pitch mix.

Of those pitches, the slider graded out the best, with a 36.8% whiff rate, .258 expected batting average against, and a +2 run value.

Overall, he is a flier pickup for the Colorado Rockies.