Gunnar Hoglund Done For Season Due To Hip Surgery

4:10pm: The A’s have now announced the surgery, per Jessica Kleinschmidt of Baseball America, saying the Hoglund will indeed miss the rest of this year.

2:05pm: Athletics right-hander Gunnar Hoglund will be undergoing hip surgery today and is likely done for the year. The news was reported by his agent Nate Heisler of Klutch Sports (hat tip to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2). Hoglund is already on the 15-day IL but will be transferred to the 60-day IL once the A’s need to open a 40-man roster spot.

It’s an unfortunate setback for Hoglund, a notable young talent who has been held back by health issues. He required Tommy John surgery in May of 2021 while pitching in college, just a few weeks ahead of that year’s draft. Originally projected to be selected in the top ten picks of the draft, the injury seemingly knocked him down a bit, but the Blue Jays took him with the 19th pick.

Before he was even done rehabbing from that surgery, he was flipped to the A’s as part of the Matt Chapman deal in March of 2022. He was able to get back on the mound that year but only logged eight innings. He got up to 61 innings in 2023, though with a 6.05 earned run average.

Last year was a nice step forward, as he logged 130 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.44 ERA. His 22.7% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate were both solid numbers. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

He started this year back at Triple-A and posted a 2.43 ERA over six starts. That got him called up to make his major league debut. The initial results were shaky, with a 6.40 ERA and 16.5% strikeout rate, but that was a small sample of just six starts and it’s possible his hip injury was already bothering him. He was placed on the IL at the start of June.

Now it’s going to be another extended stretch of injury rehab, which is tough timing on a couple of fronts. As mentioned, he had some momentum from a strong 2024 season, both in terms of the quality and quantity of his work. Now 2025 is going to be a step back.

Also, the A’s are 26-44, below every American League team except the White Sox. That’s exactly the right time for exciting young players like Hoglund to develop at the major league level. Ideally, he could have made 20 or more big league starts over the rest of the campaign, but that won’t happen now. He could get back on track in 2026 but will be coming off a mostly lost season. He’ll collect major league pay and service time while on the IL but will come up short of one year of service time since he wasn’t called up until May.

For the A’s, they will likely proceed through the rest of the season under the assumption that Hoglund won’t be a factor. The current rotation consists of Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, JP Sears, Mitch Spence and Jacob Lopez. Guys like Joey Estes and Luis Morales are down in Triple-A, though Estes is on the minor league IL. The major league IL features guys like Ken Waldichuk, J.T. Ginn and Brady Basso, who could be factors after getting healthy.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images