The Athletics were .500 and a half game out of first place in the AL West just about three weeks ago after they staged a comeback, 10-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels on June 19. Now at the All-Star break, the A’s are staring at a 41-55 record. They’re fourth in the AL West and eight games back of the division-leading Texas Rangers.
They’re 3-17 in their past 20 games, losers of 13 of their last 14 and currently mired in a nine-game skid. Looking to snap out of their midsummer malaise, the A’s made a staff change Monday, firing longtime pitching coach Scott Emerson.
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The Athletics rank second to last in the majors with a 5.21 ERA this season. Only the Colorado Rockies (5.44) are worse in that fateful category. Of the A’s last 17 losses, 11 of them have featured their opponents scoring six or more runs.
It’s important to note, however, that the Athletics have had a hitter-friendly home ballpark since moving into a Triple-A stadium last year, Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. That’s certainly factored into the A’s settling near the bottom of MLB’s ERA table, next to the Rockies, who of course carry the double-edged sword of playing at the high-altitude and power-charged Coors Field in Denver.
But Emerson’s staffs have struggled for a while. The Athletics were 27th in ERA (4.70) in 2025, 25th (4.37) in 2024, 29th (5.48) in 2023 and 24th (4.52) in 2022.
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He replaced A’s staple Curt Young as the team’s pitching coach in 2017. During Emerson’s first four full seasons in the role, he facilitated staffs that were in the top half of MLB in ERA, notably when the A’s reached the postseason in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Emerson, 54, took over for Young midseason in 2017. Then a bullpen coach, he got the bump and took a larger role within an organization he first joined in the early 2000s as a minor-league pitching coach. Similarly, Dan Hubbs — this year’s Athletics bullpen coach — will fill the vacancy left by Emerson, shouldering the pitching coach responsibilities on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2026 campaign.
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The A’s have been riddled by injury of late. That’s certainly affected their offense. That said, they’re also hoping for an improvement on the other side of the ball, with Hubbs now in charge of a pitching staff that’s in desperate need of a second-half spark.
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