KANSAS CITY -- The Athletics announced Friday that right-handed starter Gunnar Hoglund will miss the rest of the 2025 season after undergoing successful right hip labral surgery.
It’s an unfortunate turn for the Athletics’ No. 14 prospect, who made his MLB debut on May 2 after battling injuries and working through the Minor Leagues for parts of four seasons.
Hoglund tossed six innings of one-run ball in his big league debut, but gave up eight runs on 10 hits to the Blue Jays on May 31 -- that’s when he first felt the hip injury. He was placed on the 15-day injured list a few days later on June 2 with what was initially diagnosed as left hip impingement.
“It’s unfortunate for him. He got to the big leagues, earned that opportunity,” said manager Mark Kotsay. “Made a few starts for us and for him to land on the IL, and now having surgery, probably miss most of the season, I’d say. It’s tough, I’m sure, on the individual and yet, he still has a future in front of him. Strengthen it back up and get back out there.”
It’s not the first time Hoglund has dealt with a long-term injury. The 25-year-old starter underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 in the months prior to the Blue Jays selecting him in the Draft. But before he could even recover from that injury, the Athletics acquired Hoglund in 2022, and three other prospects, from Toronto in a trade for Matt Chapman.
Hoglund worked back to pitch eight innings in 2022, and 61 frames the next, but really took off with a 3.44 ERA across 130 2/3 innings in 23 starts (24 games) for Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas in 2024. After posting a strong 2.43 ERA in six starts in Triple-A this season, Hoglund got the call for his MLB debut -- earning a win against the Marlins in his first outing.
Without Hoglund, who was expected to get a long look at the Major League level, in the rotation, the starting five becomes a bit murkier. Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs and J.P. Sears are locks, and Mitch Spence has pitched well since returning to the rotation after starting the season in the bullpen, but Jacob Lopez (0-4, 6.00 ERA) has been a bit shakier. Performance, or injuries, could open the door for others such as Jack Perkins (No. 10 prospect) or Luis Morales (No. 5 prospect).
J.T. Ginn (right quad strain), Ken Waldichuk (elbow sprain) and Brady Basso (shoulder strain) could also get looks in the future, but are currently on the injured list.
Perkins has a 3.23 ERA in eight starts (39 innings) in Triple-A this season, while Morales pitched to a 2.98 ERA across eight starts (42 1/3 innings) in Double-A before earning a promotion to Las Vegas on May 20.
“Perkins had a really nice start last night,” Kotsay said. “He’s had a couple nice starts. I’m sure there’s going to be conversations going forward. I think the Morales kid has done a nice job as well. Both of those guys started their years in Double-A. They’ve been in Triple-A now. The timing of when you call those young arms can always be tricky, but it’s not something that we’re not discussing and looking at for our future.”
The Athletics boasted a 20-16 record on May 5, but have since dropped 28 of their past 34 games. That’s changed the outlook from a surprise Wild Card team to a club focused on developing younger talent for the future. Hoglund was expected to be a large part of that in the rotation, but now the A’s will have to wait on his development.
There was good news on the injury front Friday, however, as AL Rookie of the Year favorite Jacob Wilson returned to the lineup after missing the past two games with left hamstring tightness. The 23-year-old leads all rookies in the Majors in batting average (.366), on-base percentage (.402), slugging (.520), OPS (.920), hits (93) and RBI (38).
“We figured [Wilson] would benefit, obviously, from a couple days and I think there was concern, but not major concern,” Kotsay said. “But for Jacob, having him back tonight you’re going to get the chance to watch two shortstops [Wilson and Bobby Witt Jr.] that are pretty well off this season, doing well, it should be fun.”