Mark Kotsay explains why he pulled J.T. Ginn before Athletics blew lead vs. Reds
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay speaks with the media after his team's 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.
Mark Kotsay explains why he pulled J.T. Ginn before Athletics blew lead vs. Reds originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Hey, Martin.
So JT, pretty successful return for him.
First start back.
He stole the team's outing from him.
Yeah, I mean, two weeks off, outside of the live BP that he threw, on Wednesday, I thought he was, it was really sharp for, for being, you know, having not been on the mound.
You know, the inning he gave up a couple of runs, the leadoff walk, and then the blooper kinda hurt him there.
But overall, he managed that inning, went out in the sixth and, and got through the sixth.
So, another quality start from him.
You know, this is a, this is a young man that has really just grown and grown since he's been able to take the ball, and, and it's good to have him back out there.
John Cris was up sixth to go back out there, bullpen's going, and he gets the one, eight, eight game pitches just to Yeah, I mean, 83, you're at that point where you can make a decision, you know, coming off a two-week rest to, to kind of, turn it over to the pen.
But we went and went down and talked to him.
He felt good still.
He felt strong.
He wanted to go back out and give a shot to get through the sixth.
And, and as you saw, that's the competitor in him and, and, to do it in eight pitches was, was exceptional.
How much has just been fun for you to see his growth and, the chance now for him to finish what's been just a really, really good, solid season for him as a, as a starter now that he's- Yeah, I mean, from the pitching side, right, there, there just hasn't been a ton, to highlight, and, and he's the highlight right now, for sure.
You know, obviously, watching him go through these growing pains has, has been tough, you know, as it is to, to watch all these guys when, when they're not having success.
But for JT, you know, I mean, from this, from the time I've met him, you know, when he was in big league camp, to now, he's just a much more mature young man in, in all aspects off the field, on the field.
So it's been, it's been fun to be a part of his, his journey right now.
So tell me, anything on just, you see with Harris that all the pitches Yeah, this is not an outing that we've seen from Hogan.
You know, he's been really sharp.
This is, this is one you just wanna watch.
You know, he put himself in a bind, got himself out, and was one pitch away from, you know, escaping an inning there, with, with putting the first two hitters on.
So, we've seen him escape that inning.
We've seen him pitch through that.
You know, the 0-2 pitch was, was, in my opinion, he's just trying too hard.
He's out there.
He knows the circumstances.
He wants us to, to walk off that field, with the lead in the eighth and, and go on to win.
And, and I think that's the effort level of, of just trying too hard, to hump up on a fastball and miss by that much.
So it's, again, it's not a typical Harris outing for this year.
He's done a great job, and, it's unfortunate it happened tonight.
