Left-hander lost most of the season to injury
Morning everyone and happy Sunday!
What are the A’s long-term plans for Brady Basso? The left-hander was a reliever in college, came up through the system as a starting pitcher and held his own in his first major league action in 2024. An injury threw a massive wrench in what should have been his first full big league season and it might change the trajectory of his career.
How Was He Acquired?
The Athletics selected the left-hander in the 16th round of the 2019 MLB Draft after three years at Oklahoma State. He was used mostly as a reliever by the Cowboys but had some starts and put up solid stats in his final year in college. He would be selected just a few picks after future teammate Joey Estes was taken by the Atlanta Braves.
What Were The Expectations?
Entering 2025 Basso was expected to compete for a spot in the rotation, though he was lower on the pecking order coming into camp. Still, the season is long and planning on five starters is a fool’s hope in modern baseball. Basso would likely begin the year in Triple-A as a starting pitcher and depending on how he pitched for the Aviators Basso could either be recalled as a starting option, or if there was a need for a left-handed bullpen arm then Basso would likely be a top consideration even if he was starting in Triple-A. He was a well-regarded prospect and left-handers are always extra valuable.
2025 Results
Basso began camp looking like a man on a mission but would soon find himself on the shelf. He suffered a shoulder strain to his pitching shoulder, a tough injury for a pitcher and one that can sometimes lead to surgery. Luckily for Basso he was able to avoid undergoing the knife. Unfortunately he was still shelved for the foreseeable future. Any chance of starting the year with the A’s was long gone, and now the hope was that Basso could avoid a setback and eventually get back to the A’s in a relief capacity.
Basso spent the first four months of the season getting healthy and building up. He began a rehab assignment on June 8th but was shut back down after a week due to a setback with that shoulder. That cost him another month but he was back on the mound for the Aviators by early August. The left-hander pitched in just five games during that second rehab stint, pitching 5 2/3 frames and allowing six earned runs, though he also struck out seven batters compared to just one walk.
The bullpen-needy A’s thought that was enough and after missing four full months the team finally activated Basso and brought him up to the big league roster. He continued in his relief role with the A’s and stepped his game up with the Green & Gold, Over the final month and a half of the season Basso made it into 11 games for the A’s and was shoving, allowing just 3 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings. The walks were a problem as he issued 9 free passes compared to just 8 punchouts but was able to mitigate that wildness and keep runs off the board. He finished the year healthy with the A’s, posting a 2.31 ERA as a left-handed reliever out of the ‘pen.
2026 Outlook
Basso is currently lined up as one of only two lefties in the current bullpen mix along with Hogan Harris. The club brought Basso up as a starting pitcher but it’s seeming more and more likely that his long-term home is in a relief role, not only because of the amount of arms the A’s have ahead of him on the starting depth chart, but also to hopefully keep him healthy for an entire season. How Basso settles into the bullpen over a six month period will be something worth monitoring this coming year as the team continues to evaluate and judge the in-house options during the final stages of this rebuild. Is Basso going to take well to his new role in the bullpen? And is he a viable lefty option for a team aiming for October? Answers will soon be coming!
Category: General Sports
