'Old-school' Sears finishes 2nd season as A's workhorse

SEATTLE – Upon first glance, JP Sears might not give off the appearance of a “workhorse” pitcher on the mound with his 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame. But make no mistake, he is about as durable as they come.

Making his team-leading 32nd and final start of 2024 for the A’s, Sears finished on a strong note in Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park by notching his career-high 13th quality start of the year. The left-hander bounced back from a frustrating outing against his former team by limiting Seattle to two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts across six innings.

Sears has demonstrated a sturdiness that has not been seen around these parts in nearly a decade. Following up on his 32 starts from 2023, Sears became the first A’s pitcher to make 32 starts in back-to-back seasons since Gio Gonzalez in 2010-11.

Since the start of the 2023 season Sears has made 64 starts, tied for fourth-most in the Majors. The only pitchers with more starts in that span: Miles Mikolas (67), Dylan Cease (66) and Logan Webb (66), all three of whom are listed over 6 feet and at least 200 pounds.

“It isn’t prototypical for a guy his size to stay healthy for two full seasons and make every start,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “He works really hard. He’s dedicated to his craft. He reminds me a little bit of an old-school lefty that utilizes three pitches and is not overpowering by any measure, but he competes.

“We’ve seen that now in back-to-back years. He has established himself as a guy you can trust and a guy that’s going to give you some innings.”

The two runs against Sears came on a pair of solo home runs by Mitch Garver and Cal Raleigh. Outside of those two big swings, he was able to keep the A’s within striking distance and gave a chance to the A’s offense, which was ultimately shut down by Oakland native Bryan Woo’s five shutout innings with eight strikeouts.

Sears ends up the A’s first 10-game winner since 2021 by going 11-13 with a 4.38 ERA compiled over a career-high 180 2/3 innings, good for 10th-most among American League pitchers. Not bad at all for a pitcher whose scouting report -- he was acquired by the A’s from the Yankees as part of the return for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino near the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline -- described him as somewhat of a tweener who might end up in the bullpen due to his stature.

“As far as my career, I never really knew what I would be,” Sears said. “That’s why I feel super thankful to be here and just getting that opportunity to do my best the last two years. … It’s a lot to do with taking advantage of the opportunity. I’m super proud of my availability.”

Completing just his second full Major League season, there still might be room for the 28-year-old Sears to improve his overall game.

“I think he can continue to grow,” Kotsay said. “The sweeper has been a good pitch. I think he’s going to continue to work on that. The changeup has become a good pitch for him this season. He’ll master that and I think he’ll be able to have an ability to use that as a strikeout pitch and not just a contact pitch as he develops more.”

Sears will have some time to develop a gameplan for how to go about making those improvements. At the forefront of his mind on Friday night was upping his strikeout totals, which dipped from 161 last year to 137 in ‘24. Sears would also like to hit the ground running in 2025 and avoid a sluggish start like he did this season, which saw him post a 5.00 ERA through his first 17 starts before combining for a 3.06 ERA in 10 starts in July and August.

“Next year, I want to start the season off on a stronger note and have that rhythm that I had in the middle part of the season a little bit earlier,” Sears said. “That’s a big part about being a really good Major League pitcher. Trying to be super consistent with how your work is done and not going through those ups and downs. My goal will be to sharpen those tough starts out and elongate the really good ones."