Remember his Opening Day win against Shohei Ohtani? Me neither.
In what might be the worst of several lackluster tear-down trades, Kyle Muller came to the Athletics on the premise that he’d be at least a middle-of-the-rotation anchor — essentially what JP Sear has been — for years to come. Instead, he had a perplexingly bad debut season in Oakland before finding his way to mop-up duties out of the bullpen, where he looked excellent early but had an unsatisfying ending. Now a free agent, he likely won’t rediscover his potential wearing green and gold.
How was he acquired?
In their controversial trade of young breakout catcher Sean Murphy, the Athletics received a prospect package from the Atlanta Braves without a clear headliner. While some contend it was Esteury Ruiz, who sadly could have been two-time All-Star William Contreras if the A’s front office didn’t try to get cute, the most surefire talent was supposed to be Kyle Muller, a solid but not elite performer that got buried for several years beneath Atlanta’s deep rotation.
Drafted as a second rounder, the 6’ 7” lefty brought the size and stuff of a reliable starter to the Braves’ system. In 2019, at 21 years old, he pitched to a 3.03 ERA in 111 2⁄3 innings with 120 strikeouts at Double-A, leading to four subsequent years of being ranked in Baseball Prospectus’ top 100 prospects. Usually, prospects that are in the upper minors and perform well find their way to the majors within a couple of years. Muller, on the other hand, got stuck in the minors as the Braves’ rotation filled up and took off. He had chances here and there but never fully seized the opportunity, leading him to get sent off to the rebuilding Oakland A’s where he’d get plenty of runway.
What were the expectations?
At the time, the expectations of the Oakland front office and fans were pretty reasonable. No one counted on him to be the next Barry Zito, but he’d proven year after year that he could handle a starter’s workload and perform capably, just not yet at the major league level. The A’s had plenty of tolerance for growing pains that year; they did after all sign Drew Rucinski and Shintaro Fujinami to be the anchors of the rotation. He even shockingly was named the club’s Opening Day starter, a game which he won pitching opposite of that year’s AL MVP Shohei Ohtani.
Unfortunately, his Athletics career peaked there, as he went on to put up 7.60 ERA in 77 innings. The bite on his pitches didn’t seem to be there and he only struck out a way below average 15.1% of batters. He spent some time at Triple-A Las Vegas and unsurprisingly didn’t perform much better there. This past season, he came into camp open to the idea of working full-time out of the bullpen with the hope that he could work through his struggles in a lower-stakes role.
2024 Results
Muller not only took to the role initially, he was one of their better relievers throughout the first half, pitching to a solid 3.44 ERA across 36 2⁄3 innings. On top of that, he only walked seven batters and struck out a 29. The numbers weren’t overwhelming, but he definitely looked like a useful major league pitcher. I even campaigned for him to get another shot in the rotation.
It's officially #StartKyleMuller time https://t.co/ZTDydAbaRy
— Sad A’s Fan (@SadAsFan) April 13, 2024
However, a rough outing on August 3, in which he gave up six earned runs in just one inning, prompted the A’s to designate him for assignment. It seems the rest of the league agreed with their assessment as he went unclaimed and went back to Vegas. He got a trio of September outings back in Oakland but he only struck out one batter over 6 2⁄3 innings and looked as underwhelming as he did the year prior.
2025 Outlook
The A’s could’ve kept Muller and given him another chance at 27 years old to find himself in the majors but they instead opted to cut him from the 40-man roster, paving the way for him to elect free agency and search for a new opportunity elsewhere. He could always end up back with the A’s, likely on a minor league deal, but it seems like his time in the organization is over, leaving us one player away from never having to talk about the Murphy trade ever again.
