Oakland Athletics: Welcome to the Show, A.J. Puk

Top prospect LHP AJ Puk will be called up by the Oakland Athletics today and be available out of the bullpen.

The Oakland Athletics are adding a potential dynamite arm to their bullpen as they continue to chase the AL Wild Card (along with an outside chance of catching the Astros).  AJ Puk, Oakland’s 1st round pick from the University of Florida in 2016, will be called up the majors today and be available against the New York Yankees.

As a 1st round college draftee, Puk was on the fast track to the MLB rotation before succumbing to Tommy John surgery in April of 2018.

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This year he has been building back up and working his way to the Majors.  He’s thrown 25.1 innings across three minor league levels.  His numbers across such a small sample of innings don’t really matter, it’s the electric stuff that Puk brings that should make you excited.

Starting off, Puk is a physically imposing at 6′ 7″ 230 and looks like an absolute monster on the mound.  He brings a starters’ arsenal of fastball, slider, curveball, change-up with his FB and SL ranking as his best pitches.  His best two pitches are an upper 90s fastball that should play up even more in relief and a wipeout slider.  T

here aren’t a lot of lefties out there that are bringing this type of heat.  His command is around average and he’s got a good-looking delivery that gets good extension down the mound.  Since he’s so tall, this could be another element that helps him be effective, since the ball will be released closer to the plate.

While it feels like a lazy comparison, it wouldn’t be a stretch to compare Puk to Brewers’ bullpen ace Josh Hader.  Like Puk, Hader was on track to be a starting pitcher and featured an electric fastball and above-average slider before being pushed into relief and becoming a lights out reliever.  They even share the same luxurious Flo’ (as seen in the GIF above).  Puk could easily come out slinging 98 MPH fastballs that blows away hitters and sliders that make pro hitters look like little leaguers.

Oakland will likely push Puk to the rotation next year as he gets further away from Tommy John surgery but will need to manage his innings.  Down the stretch in 2019, look for Puk to have a huge impact on the AL Wild Card race and in the postseason should the A’s get in.

Lefties with this electric of stuff are rare and AJ Puk will be a big factor to whether the A’s make the postseason or not.  The Oakland Athletics already has a solid cast of bullpen arms but guys like Puk you can always make room for.