Athletics 2024 Season In Review: Janson Junk
Junk, we hardly knew yee
The Season in Review series continues with a pitcher that made a grand total of one appearance for the Green & Gold. Still, Janson Junk can tell his grandkids that he donned the Oakland A’s uniform one time in their final season.
How was he acquired?
The club brought Junk in late in the season after claiming him off waivers from the division rival Houston Astros on August 31st.
What were the Expectations?
The righty will surely-handed Junk was nowhere on the radar for the club at the start of the season. Having only made nine major league appearances entering this year Junk was struggling to break through in a more permanent way. If he could soak up a few innings here and there while at least keeping the team within striking distance, that’d be enough.
2024 Results
Junk began the year in Triple-A in the Brewers system and looked good over the first two+ months of the season, pitching in 18 games (3 starts) while posting a 2.55 ERA. That earned him his third major league call-up, pitching 5 games for the Brew Crew. He wasn’t able to bring his success in Triple-A with him to Milwaukee however and soon the club would DFA Junk.
The A’s division rival Houston Astros then picked Junk up off waivers and sent him to Triple-A. The righty was exclusively a starting pitching for the short time he was in Houston’s system but frankly that experiment didn’t end well. Junk was DFA’d for the second time without ever making it to Houston and suiting up for the Astros.
That’s when he found his way to Oakland. The team claimed him off waivers and immediately brought him up to the major league team and he soon found himself in game action. On September 9th Junk entered in relief of JP Sears facing a 5-2 deficit. Not great but one the team could come back from. Junk needed to keep Seattle off the board but instead disaster struck. Junk faced eight batters and all eight batters reached base. Without recording a single out Junk gave up 7 runs to turn a close game into a blowout. The next day Junk was designated for assignment for the third time in 2024 but this time cleared waivers and returned to Triple-A Las Vegas, where he would spend the rest of the season.
2025 Outlook
Junk is back on the free agent market after electing free agency on November 6th. The righty will surely have offers even after a relatively down 2024, and that team could be the A’s if they’re interested. Junk posted strong numbers in the first half of 2024 as a reliever in Triple-A and the club is still on the lookout for more pitching depth before entering the season.