Las Vegas Aviators pitcher Gage Jump has a simple philosophy: win the day. Win the workout. Win the matchup.<\/p>\n
Next up: Win the game.<\/p>\n
Jump \u2014 whom MLB Pipeline ranks as the Athletics\u2019 No. 3 prospect and No. 41 overall \u2014 is coming off his best start of his pro career, but has yet to crack the win column this season.<\/p>\n
Against the Albuquerque Isotopes on Wednesday at Las Vegas Ballpark, he went seven shutout innings, striking out nine and walking none. Though the Isotopes\u2019 six-run ninth inning comeback gave them the win, erasing Jump as the pitcher of record, the outing showed what the hard-throwing lefty is capable of.<\/p>\n
That performance earned Jump the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week award \u2014 the second Las Vegas (26-23) pitcher to earn that honor this season, after Mason Barnett in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was elite starting pitching and elite efficiency,\u201d Aviators manager Fran Riordan said. \u201cIt was a look at the potential that he possesses. \u2026 Seeing it actually unfold in front of me, and the way that he was able to stay in control the entire outing and the way he was able to repeat, it was really fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jump leads the PCL in strikeouts with 56. That\u2019s due in large part to his fastball, which averaged 95.7 mph entering Wednesday\u2019s start.<\/p>\n
Jump\u2019s fastball topped out at 99 mph against Albuquerque, but the maturation of his other pitches has made the difference this season. While he can overpower hitters, he\u2019s getting better at commanding his off-speed pitches \u2014 not just using them to set up the fastball, but to make batters miss.<\/p>\n
Of the nine strikeouts in his last start, two came as batters whiffed on the curveball, and one came looking on a changeup.<\/p>\n
Jump said the changeup \u2014 on average 8.5 mph slower than his fastball \u2014 is something he\u2019s trying to throw more.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very competitive guy \u2014 I love that on the mound,\u201d catcher Brian Serven said. \u201cHe wants the ball and he wants to go nine innings every time. You have to respect that fire, that passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jump is never one to shy away from a challenge, and his career has had its share. After appearing in seven games as a freshman at UCLA in 2022, he had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow that summer. For the first time since he started playing catch at three, he couldn\u2019t throw a baseball.<\/p>\n
Having to sit out a season to recover gave Jump time to reflect on the kind of pitcher he wanted to become, charting a path from college to pro ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow am I going to get from point A to point B?\u201d Jump said of his thought process. \u201cI took a step back and tried to look at my game from a coach\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where the \u201cwin the day\u201d mantra really took hold. Since he couldn\u2019t play, he watched games and worked for little wins wherever he could find them. He analyzed his mechanics, his pitch grips, his mentality, and his environment.<\/p>\n
As much as the Southern California native enjoyed being a Bruin, Jump wanted a bigger challenge, transferring to SEC powerhouse LSU. He excelled as a Tiger, and the A\u2019s took him with the 73rd pick of the 2024 draft. Jump started well in his first season in the minors, going 9-7 with a 3.28 ERA across High-A Lansing and Double-A Midland.<\/p>\n
This season has challenged Jump, who has struggled to get past the fourth inning in most outings for Las Vegas. The strikeouts were always there, but so were the hits, baserunners and runs. Jump kept battling through it.<\/p>\n
On May 14 in Reno, he dealt like an ace. Jump shut out the Aces for four innings before leaving with a calf cramp. It was a brief glimpse into the promise Jump has shown from day one.<\/p>\n
The next time out against Albuquerque, even though the Aviators didn\u2019t win the game, Jump won the day.<\/p>\n
JKG\u2019s hot streak continues<\/p>\n
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, the Athletics\u2019 No. 10 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is one of the hottest hitters in the PCL right now. The versatile infielder is on a nine-game hit streak, playing second base, third base and shortstop.<\/p>\n
As the Aviators split the series last week with the Isotopes, Kuroda-Grauer went 18 for 45 (.400 average) with five RBI and two steals. Since getting promoted from Midland on May 12, he\u2019s had a hit in 11 of the 12 games he\u2019s played for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done nothing but great things since he\u2019s been here,\u201d Riordan said.<\/p>\n
Marlowe earns PCL honor<\/p>\n
Cade Marlowe earned the PCL\u2019s Player of the Week honor after going 14 for 26 (.538) with two home runs, 13 RBI, 27 total bases and two steals, providing steady defense in center field.<\/p>\n
Marlowe wreaked havoc on the Isotopes. In Thursday\u2019s 12-1 Las Vegas win, he went 3 for 5 with six RBI and eight total bases. Marlowe filled the box score on Sunday, helping the Aviators win 6-5 by going 4 for 4 with a double, triple, seven total bases, two RBI and his 12th steal of the year.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Who: Aviators at Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners affiliate)<\/p>\n
When: Tuesday-Sunday<\/p>\n
Where: Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, Wash.<\/p>\n
Aviators starter Tuesday: Gage Jump (0-2, 4.50 ERA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Aviators pitcher Gage Jump has a simple philosophy: win the day. Win the workout. Win the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2391],"tags":[537,5,4,3226],"class_list":["post-708962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-athletics"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116639096054631322","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}