Jacob

Lopez

Civale was bumped from the rotation to both help acquiesce Jacob Lopez’s return and also because of his own struggles lately. Coming in after Lopez retired the first five batters of the game on 12 pitches, Civale had a few easy innings before being hit hard in a four-run fifth. He hasn’t been effective in over a month, doesn’t miss many bats, and should not be considered a serious option in even the deepest of leagues. Pay attention to Lopez’s workload though, as he went from 63 pitches in his first start off the injured list to again, just 12 in this one.

Lopez is getting another shot after struggling mightily prior to his demotion at the end of May. The 28-year-old has shown the ability to miss bats and had relative success in 2025, but fantasy managers should wait and see how Lopez pitches — and what kind of role he’ll pitch in — before even remotely considering the southpaw.

Lopez gets the boot after allowing seven runs over just two innings of work against the Yankees on Sunday. He’s forged an ugly 6.75 ERA, and the A’s will hope the 28-year-old can work things out in the Pacific Coast League. A replacement should be announced shortly.

Lopez struck out three, walked one, and allowed six hits. Luis Medina served as an opener since Lopez entered the start with an ERA over 6. The plan worked as it was the first time this season he pitched multiple innings and allowed fewer than two runs. Consider him an avoid for fantasy purposes with his next appearance at home against the Yankees.

Lopez held the Angels scoreless over two innings, then gave up a leadoff homer to Mike Trout in the third. He couldn’t make it out of the fourth, giving up three runs on a bases-loaded walk and a base hit with two outs. He’d depart at 83 pitches with two strikeouts. The 28-year-old left-hander ends the day with a 6.14 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, and a 32/30 K/BB ratio across 44 innings. He lines up for a start against the Padres in San Diego on Sunday.

Lopez have up homers to Victor Scott II in the fifth and Jordan Walker in the sixth before departing. He walked three and struck out just two, with only four of the 42 swings against him producing whiffs. His ERA sits at 5.80, and even worse is his 30/27 K/BB in 40 1/3 innings. The A’s probably aren’t going to turn to Gage Jump just yet, but it’d seem to be time to try someone else in Lopez’s spot.

Lopez struck out five opposing hitters in the ballgame while issuing a pair of walks. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Pete Alonso launching a solo shot in the fourth inning and Adley Rutschman repeating the feat in the sixth. The 28-year-old southpaw got six whiffs on 91 offerings on the day, posting an underwhelming CSW of 27 percent. He’ll carry an uninspiring 6.11 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and a 28/24 K/BB ratio (35 1/3 innings) into Thursday’s showdown against the Cardinals.

Lopez tossed two scoreless innings before Austin Hedges took him deep for a solo homer in the third. The Guardians would break through with four more runs in the fifth on four hits and a sacrifice fly. Lopez would return for the sixth and surrendered a solo homer to David Fry to lead off the inning. He recorded one out, then was relieved at 96 pitches. He struck out five. The 28-year-old left-hander will take a 6.60 ERA, 1.90 WHIP, and a 23/22 K/BB ratio across 30 innings into a start against the Orioles in Baltimore on Friday.

Morales will get another shot with the Athletics after coughing up 10 runs on 13 hits with an abysmal 5/8 K/BB ratio across 7 1/3 innings over two starts to open the season. He’ll presumably be available to pitch in long relief after starter Jacob Lopez against the Guardians on Saturday afternoon. The 23-year-old is a talented pitching prospect, but the results simply haven’t been there for fantasy managers to trust him in any capacity.

Lopez had been lined up for two starts next week, but the A’s announced on Sunday that Aaron Civale, Luis Severino and Jacob Springs would start the three games in their series against the Royals. That means that Civale will now pitch twice — both at Sutter Health Park — against the Royals and Guardians. Even if you’re desperate for volume and looking for weekly starters to stream, don’t put yourself through the pain of those two starts from Civale.