Athletics move to shake up pitching staff, dismiss Scott Emerson

The Athletics dismissed pitching coach Scott Emerson on Monday, a staff shake-up announced by the organization as Oakland headed into the All-Star break on a nine-game losing streak. The decision puts an immediate reset behind the team’s pitching instruction and offers a new look at how bullpen and pitching roles will be managed for the final stretch of the 2026 season.

According to the club’s announcement, Emerson had been a fixture in the Athletics’ organization for years, joining as a Minor League pitching coach in 2002 and working across Oakland’s player-development affiliates. In 2017, the organization elevated him from within the development pipeline to the major league pitching staff, where he served as pitching coach.

With Emerson’s role ending, the Athletics named bullpen coach Dan Hubbs as interim pitching coach. Hubbs will remain in charge of pitching-coach duties for the remainder of the season, an arrangement that keeps him within the same staff ecosystem while adding responsibility beyond his bullpen focus.

The timing of the move matters because the All-Star break is often a pivot point for teams that are trying to address execution and consistency issues before the second half begins. For Oakland, the decision came during a stretch the club described as “brutal,” and it reflects a willingness to make organizational changes in season rather than waiting for offseason adjustments.

Emerson’s tenure with the Athletics’ system had been long enough to span multiple eras of pitching development and major league roster construction. While pitching coaches do not control results alone, changes at that position can report shifts in how teams approach mechanics, pitch selection, game-plan communication, and how pitchers are utilized in leverage situations, especially when bullpen management becomes more consequential late in games.

The interim arrangement also raises practical questions for the Athletics’ staff. Hubbs’ dual role may require balancing daily preparation and bullpen oversight with the broader, game-to-game responsibilities of a pitching coach. It may also affect how Oakland structures pitching meetings and late-inning planning, since the pitching coach typically coordinates with the bullpen coach but is also expected to provide a wider view of the staff’s needs across starting rotations and bullpen arms.

What to watch next is how the Athletics’ pitching operations are run immediately after the All-Star break, including whether Oakland emphasizes different pitch usage or alters decision-making patterns from one start to the next. With Hubbs now serving as interim pitching coach, the organization will look for early signs of improvement in execution, particularly during high-leverage sequences where small differences in command and plan adherence can swing outcomes.