The Athletics have seemingly found a key piece of their starting pitching staff for many years to come in left-hander Gage Jump. Jump, the A's No. 3 prospect and MLB Pipeline's No. 38 overall prospect for 2026, produced an absolute gem in his fifth start in the big leagues. The 23-year-old tossed seven scoreless innings on Thursday, allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out seven in the A's 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The southpaw also threw 107 pitches in this outing, setting a new career high early in his MLB career. The young lefty was called up by the A's at the end of May. After giving up nine hits in his MLB debut, Jump has only allowed 12 hits across four starts in June. He also has three starts of at least six innings this month, two of which were scoreless outings. It's obviously still early, but the 2024 second-round draft pick is seemingly establishing himself as a long-term part of the A's rotation. A's decision to call up Gage Jump is paying offJun 18, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics pitcher Gage Jump (61) pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn ImagesFollowing his standout performance against the Angels, Jump now has a 2.37 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings through the first five starts of his big league career. In nine Triple-A outings this year, the 23-year-old had a 4.50 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 38 innings. But the young hurler's seven strikeouts on Thursday represent the most he's had in a single outing in the majors to date, which could be a sign that he might miss more bats as he continues to gain experience in the big leagues. If you take out his MLB debut, when he gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings against the Seattle Mariners on May 26, Jump has a 1.42 ERA across his four other starts with the A's. In fact, he's only given up four runs in total so far this month. The young lefty is also seemingly working his way into the A's circle of trust, as evidenced by manager Mark Kotsay feeling confident enough to leave him in for over 100 pitches on Thursday. The A's head into their game on Friday with a 37-38 record, which is good enough for second place in the American League West right now. If the A's are going to make a run for a postseason spot, Jump will likely have a major role to play. But, at the same time, it will be interesting to see how the A's handle the southpaw's workload as the season progresses. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow