Jack Perkins Strengthens Case for Athletics Roster Spot
MESA, Ariz. — Athletics right-hander Jack Perkins took another step forward in his bid for a role on the pitching staff with a sharp Cactus League outing Thursday afternoon against the Texas Rangers. He turned in exactly the kind of efficient, under-control performance the club is hoping to see this spring.
Perkins tossed two scoreless innings, retiring all six batters he faced with one strikeout and plenty of soft contact. It was only his second appearance of the spring and his first time completing two innings, after being limited to a single frame in his previous outing.
Health First, Then Everything Else
For Perkins, the box score matters, but the bigger story is how he’s feeling physically.
“Right now, the biggest thing for me is health and being able to go out there for the second inning feeling good,” Perkins said. “Today’s one of those days where I feel like I can keep going.” He added, “That’s huge. Continue to build that workload and hopefully continue to build it these next few weeks through spring training.”
Perkins said a major off-season emphasis on diet, supplementation, and training has helped him recover better.
“All the work and effort I put into my body… I’m really seeing that day to day,” he said. “Even though the last outing didn’t go great, I was really happy with the way my body recovered, the way my arm felt the next day. Going into my bullpen (and) this outing, I feel like a different pitcher in terms of my recovery.”
The hope, he added, is that this foundation allows him to “eat up a lot of innings” for the Athletics in whatever role he’s asked to fill and to be available consistently throughout the season.
Jack Perkins on Attack Mode and a “Bulldog” Mindset
From a pitching standpoint, Perkins framed Thursday’s outing as an extension of the approach he used in his first Cactus League appearance — just better executed.
“I took the same philosophy as last outing. Tried to attack (and) get ahead of guys,” Perkins said. “I feel like I did a really good job of that today. Then I stuck to that when I got to the two-strike counts.”
If anything, he learned from trying to be too fine the previous time out. He said that last time, he tried to be “a little too fine” with his breaking pitches, trying too hard for the “swing and miss.” Thursday, he said, played more to his stuff. He was “letting the hitters get themselves out” and was “attacking guys.” Later, he added it was the “same philosophy of being a bulldog.”
That more direct mentality showed in the contact he allowed. In the first inning, Perkins induced a soft, end-of-the-bat grounder from Alejandro Osuna to end the frame — the type of weak contact he wants when he’s on time and in the zone. Catcher Shea Langeliers had to hustle out from behind the plate and make a strong, accurate throw to get Osuna by an eyelash.
Asked about that pitch, Perkins said it was a changeup, one of the offerings he’s increasingly leaning on to separate his fastball and keep hitters guessing.
Jack Perkins Dialing in the Arsenal: Two-Seamer, Sweeper, Changeup
Jack Perkins’ stuff can play when sequenced well. Thursday, he showed glimpses of how his repertoire can work together against both right- and left-handed hitters.
He pointed to the continued integration of his two-seam fastball as a key development, particularly against right-handed hitters. “Adding in the two-seamer has been really beneficial for righties, being able to push them a bit to set up the sweeper (and) changeup,” he said.
Against lefties, he leaned on a familiar weapon. His strikeout in the first inning came on a backdoor sweeper to Joc Pederson, a pitch he views as a “go-to” in those matchups.
“(I’m) trying to pitch in and be aggressive, make them uncomfortable,” Perkins explained. “Then it opens up the whole outside of the plate.”
Perhaps the biggest storyline within his pitch mix is the changeup. Perkins said the pitch became a difference-maker during his final few starts last year and has only grown in importance.
“That’s huge for me,” he said of the changeup. “It’s one of the things I noticed in those last two to three starts last year, being able to implement that pitch. Having something to keep hitters off the fastball allows it to play up better.”
Thursday, he used it against both left- and right-handed hitters — including a right-on-right changeup. This was further evidence of his confidence in throwing it in any count. It fits with his overall philosophy of using “everything in (his) arsenal to keep guys guessing.”
Building Toward a Bigger Role
Spring training outings don’t show up on any career stat line, but outings like this one matter for pitchers on the bubble of making a big-league roster. For Perkins, two crisp, scoreless innings — paired with a clean bill of health and a clearer sense of who he is on the mound — amount to another data point in his favor.
With a refined mix of four-seam fastball, two-seamer, sweeper, and changeup, Perkins looks more complete on the mound. He’s also pitching with a more attacking mindset and now trusts his body to handle greater volume. Those shifts position him as a candidate to handle meaningful innings for the Athletics this season.
And if Thursday is any indication, he’s trending in the right direction at exactly the right time of spring.
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