The Athletics introduced that they’ve chosen the contract of right-hander J.T. Ginn. He’ll take the energetic roster spot of left-hander Scott Alexander, who has been positioned on the 15-day injured listing with left rotator cuff tendonitis, retroactive to August 18. The A’s already had a vacant 40-man roster spot and don’t have to make a corresponding transfer in that regard.
Ginn, 25, will get added to a significant league roster for the primary time, although he’s been a identified identify in baseball circles for some time. The Dodgers chosen him with their first-round choose again in 2018, thirtieth total, however Ginn didn’t signal and as an alternative went to Mississippi State. For not signing Ginn, the Dodgers acquired a compensation choose, the thirty first total choice within the 2019 draft. They used that choose to draft Michael Busch.
Whereas with Mississippi State, Ginn underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in March of 2020. Although he was slated for a prolonged rehab, the Mets nonetheless took him within the second spherical of that 12 months’s draft, the 52nd total choose.
He was in a position to make his skilled debut in 2021, making his first official look in June of that 12 months. He finally made 18 begins in 2021 between Single-A and Excessive-A. He tossed 92 innings with a 3.03 earned run common, 21.9% strikeout price and 5.9% stroll price.
The Mets then despatched him to the A’s, alongside Adam Oller, within the March 2022 commerce that despatched Chris Bassitt to Queens. However Ginn has had loads of challenges since switching organizations. In 2022, he missed time with a forearm harm and posted a 6.11 ERA in his 35 1/3 Double-A innings on the 12 months. These forearm points lingered into 2023, when he tossed 22 1/3 innings at Double-A with an ERA of 8.06.
Right here in 2024, the excellent news is that he’s been wholesome sufficient to pitch. He’s thrown 102 2/3 innings over his 21 outings between Double-A and Triple-A. Nevertheless, the outcomes haven’t been excellent. He has a mixed 5.26 ERA on the 12 months, together with his 21.2% strikeout price and eight.8% stroll price each pretty pedestrian. He’s getting grounders on greater than half the balls put in play towards him however has additionally allowed 13 house runs on the 12 months.
Maybe some rust is to be anticipated after he’s hit so many velocity bumps in his skilled profession and the prospecting neighborhood appears to nonetheless have some religion in his future. Baseball America at the moment lists him because the #25 prospect within the group, saying that he may carve out a task as a “back-of-the-rotation sinkerballer” if his well being permits. He has the #17 spot within the system at FanGraphs, with that outlet additionally suggesting Ginn may very well be a viable back-end starter.
Maybe Ginn will get his first style of the foremost leagues as a reliever, or maybe just a few begins shall be on the desk. Veteran Ross Stripling was just lately moved to a protracted reduction position in order that the membership may give begins to youthful pitchers like JP Sears, Joey Estes, Mitch Spence, Osvaldo Bido and Joe Boyle. Maybe Ginn can push his approach into that group or just give the membership an additional bullpen arm for the stretch run.
Ginn was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and was seemingly going to get a roster spot quickly anyway, so Alexander’s IL placement will get him on there a bit forward of schedule. He received’t be capable of get a full 12 months of service this 12 months, so the A’s will be capable of management him for at the very least six seasons past this one. He additionally has a full slate of choices and the period of time he spends within the minors within the subsequent few years may impression his timeline to arbitration and free company.
