A.J. Puk Stats
- Height / Weight
- 6' 7" / 248 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 4/25/1995 (27)
- Experience
- 1
- College
- Florida
A.J. Puk Season Stats
Last 10 Games
A.J. Puk News
Oakland Athletics A.J. Puk allowed two inherited runners to score on two walks and two wild pitches, taking a blown save in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. After starter Frankie Montas tossed a gem, throwing eight scoreless innings, Oakland's bullpen imploded in Thursday's loss. Zach Jackson entered the ninth inning to protect a one-run lead but allowed two runs on two walks and one strikeout in 2/3 of an inning before being pulled for Puk. With two outs, Puk entered the game in the ninth frame. The 27-year-old was shaky as he surrendered two walks and threw two wild pitches blowing the save on Thursday. Jackson was charged with the loss, but both pitchers could not close the game out. Dany Jimenez is (shoulder) on the injured list; Puk or Jackson will look to rebound in their next save opportunity. Fantasy managers searching for saves should continue to hang onto Puk as he is still the favorite to close games despite Thursday's implosion. Jackson is an option in deep league formats.
The Oakland Athletics plan to use left-hander A.J. Puk out of the bullpen to open the regular season. Puk was expected to compete for a spot in the back end of the A's starting rotation this spring, but with the team holding onto Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea for now, Puk will instead open in a relief role. The talented 26-year-old hasn't been able to stay healthy and has made all 22 of his MLB appearances in two seasons in relief so far, posting a 4.74 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 29 strikeouts and 11 walks in 24 2/3 innings. Oakland is likely to utilize Puk in a multi-inning relief role, and although he won't be in the mix for saves, he could be useful for his K's in deep AL-only leagues. There's also a good chance that Puk will eventually enter the rotation if the A's trade one or both of Montas/Manaea by the trade deadline.
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher A.J. Puk threw another scoreless inning Monday at the White Sox to bring his season total up to 7 1/3 shutout innings as a reliever. Puk is the top pitching prospect in the A's organization, but he has not been able to stay on the field thanks to a litany of injuries over the years. He's using a new sinker this season which has a 16.7% whiff rate and has not given up a hit across 41 pitches. Obviously, we're dealing with a very small sample, but it's a good place to start for a pitcher that has always had huge potential. He won't collect saves with Lou Trivino in town, but managers looking for help with ERA and WHIP should consider Puk as a fantasy option.
Batting Order
| 1 | Tony Kemp |
| 2 | Seth Brown |
| 3 | Ramón Laureano |
| 4 | Stephen Vogt |
| 5 | Stephen Piscotty |
| 6 | Elvis Andrus |
| 7 | Sheldon Neuse |
| 8 | Nick Allen |
| 9 | Cristian Pache |
A.J. Puk Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
| 1 | Tony Kemp |
| 2 | Seth Brown |
| 3 | Ramón Laureano |
| 4 | Stephen Vogt |
| 5 | Stephen Piscotty |
| 6 | Elvis Andrus |
| 7 | Sheldon Neuse |
| 8 | Nick Allen |
| 9 | Cristian Pache |
At this point, the fascination of Oakland Athletics relief pitcherA.J. Puk in fantasy is far greater than the reality. The Athletics No. 1 prospect recovered from 2018 Tommy John surgery to throw 25 1/3 innings in the minor leagues in 2019 before reaching the majors, where he threw 11.0 innings in 10 relief appearances. Puk did well in his short MLB stint with a 3.18 ERA, 4.35 xFIP and 3.95 SIERA to go with his 13 strikeouts. Puk was unable to pitch in 2020 as he battled through shoulder issues before succumbing to surgery in September. With Mike Fiers expected to open the season on the IL, the club is looking at Puk to fill the hole in the rotation although his velocity was down from 97 mph to 92-93 mph in his first spring start. You need to go back to 2017 for the last time Puk pitched more than two innings in a game. There's no doubting his pedigree with 262 strikeouts in 183 frames in his minor league career along with a 3.98 ERA. Puk has a career 4.35 ERA atDouble-A (72 1/3 innings) and a 4.91 ERA at Triple-A (11 innings), so despite being lined up for a spot in the A's rotation, he could probably use some more development in the minors. Puk currently has an ADP of 343, so he's only being taken as a late-round flier. If he's healthy, Puk could be a star in 2021, but right now, that's a huge if.
