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Jack Ohman departs Chatham 1 step closer to his freshman year self
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass. — You would’ve thought he was the hottest thing since the Mesa, Arizona, neighborhood where he grew up. Hot enough to win Ivy League Pitcher of the Year honors at Yale, and then have SEC schools falling over themselves to try and get him that offseason. Hot enough to earn an ESPN profile about all the SEC schools falling over themselves to get him. Hot enough to earn another profile from The Athletic, also about — you guessed it — all the SEC money he turned down.
But that was freshman year Jack Ohman. Sophomore year Jack Ohman was an entirely different pitcher, and if you asked him about it, he’d be the first one to admit it, too.
“I know I'm better than that,” Ohman said. “I proved that the year before.”
Ohman had a rough go of it last spring. After that aforementioned freshman year — the one where he sported the nation’s best earned run average with a 1.34 mark — Ohman came to Chatham on the heels of a sophomore season at Yale where his ERA jumped over four runs, all the way up to 5.54. He wanted to prove he wasn’t the sophomore year Ohman; that his true talent level aligned with his freshman year.
The Anglers gave him that opportunity. Ohman’s stay in Chatham wasn’t very long — only three starts — and it ended Tuesday in South Yarmouth with a five-inning, one-run performance. But in those three starts, he got one step closer to reclaiming his freshman year form. The A’s righty pitched 14 innings for the A’s, punched out 16 batters and notched a minuscule 1.93 ERA.
That’s more like it. That’s the Ohman Yale fans all know and love.
“This was a fresh start, you know? New chance to prove myself,” Ohman said. “I know that last year's season isn't a representation of myself as a pitcher.”
More than anything, a reset is what he was hoping to get out of his time on the Cape. The Bulldogs were mightily successful in spite of Ohman’s struggles, going 30-15 in 2026, and he relished the team’s accomplishments. But on a personal level, Ohman was ready to close the book on that trying season.
He wasn’t sure exactly what went wrong for him this past year at Yale. He tried to feature his curveball more than before, which he feels may have messed with his timing and contributed to some growing pains as he adjusted his arsenal.
But if he had to guess, and pinpoint one factor that led to his regression, it was all in his head.
Jack Ohman begins his windup, ready to throw a pitch in Chatham's 17-2 win over Cotuit on June 18. Making his A's debut against the Kettleers, Ohman tossed five shutout innings. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
“I think it all boils down to just the mental side of things, and just confidence,” Ohman said.
He didn’t have as much of it as the spring went on. But he had a ton of it almost as soon as he stepped foot in Chatham, and the performances reflected it.
First, he began his A’s tenure by pitching five shutout innings in Chatham’s first win of the season, a 17-2 romp at Cotuit’s Lowell Park on June 18. Gabe Fraser (Florida State/Transfer) ultimately stole the spotlight that game — as is expected when you hit two homers and drive in six runs — but outside of him, Ohman might’ve been the night’s standout performer.
“I really liked what (Ohman) did,” A’s manager Dennis Cook said after Chatham’s June 18 win. “He attacked the strike zone, he had low pitch count innings.”
Ohman didn’t even need to display the strikeout stuff, the swing-and-miss ability that’s yielded him an average of 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings at Yale. He only struck out three Kettleers, but inducing soft outs was enough.
He put Cotuit on perfect-game watch through four innings, and threw just 39 pitches in those frames. If it wasn’t for a 24-pitch fifth inning, where he gave up two singles and walked a batter to load the bases, he might’ve considered that outing to be his best of the summer.
But he’d say it wasn’t. Four perfect innings, and a fifth scoreless one? Cute, but not enough in Ohman’s eyes. The bar had to be raised, and after his final start of the season at Red Wilson Field, he finally felt like he had done so.
“Of the three starts I made, I felt like that one was the sharpest,” Ohman said postgame.
Ohman may have given up a run to the Red Sox, and it didn’t end in a win for Chatham — albeit through no fault of his own — but he still felt that Tuesday’s display was his best yet. He said was in the zone more against Yarmouth-Dennis, something Cook said pregame he thought Ohman lacked in his June 24 start against Falmouth — an eight-strikeout game that somehow managed to be the most forgettable performance of Ohman’s three outings.
Jack Ohman releases a pitch in his third start of the season, a five-inning one-run performance against Yarmouth-Dennis. Ohman may have given up a run, but he felt his performance against Y-D was his best. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
He also felt that his off-speed pitches were finding the zone against the Red Sox, and that helped him attack hitters more effectively than he had before. Ohman’s one blemish on the evening was a fielder’s choice to Phoenix Call (UCLA), which helped score Yarmouth-Dennis’ first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Ohman ended his Chatham career just how he began it, though, with two soft outs to finish his outing. With that, he bid adieu to his time in Chatham, and closed the book on yet another chapter of his baseball career — though perhaps less eagerly than the last chapter he closed.
“All the hitters in this league are really good, and all the teams are very, very competitive,” Ohman said postgame. “But you have to have belief in yourself, go out there mentally and act like it's just a bunch of random joes over there.”
The plan was always for Ohman to make about three or four starts in Chatham, Cook revealed postgame. He pitched 73.2 innings as a freshman, and he tossed 66.2 more this past spring; it’s not like he particularly needed to get more experience as a starter.
But candidly, Cook would’ve liked to see him stay a little longer. After wrapping up his interview on the Anglers Extra Postgame Show, Ohman walked over to Cook, A’s pitching coach Jay Powell and A’s general manager Mike Geylin. He shook their hands, thanked them, and said his goodbyes as they stood together on the Red Wilson Field grass.
Bits and pieces were audible from just a few feet away, so one could almost overhear an invitation being extended. It’s still in the air, of course.
But who knows? Ohman might need another reset, and if he does, the door will always be open.
“Come next year,” Cook said to Ohman. “Before the Draft.”
But that was freshman year Jack Ohman. Sophomore year Jack Ohman was an entirely different pitcher, and if you asked him about it, he’d be the first one to admit it, too.
“I know I'm better than that,” Ohman said. “I proved that the year before.”
Ohman had a rough go of it last spring. After that aforementioned freshman year — the one where he sported the nation’s best earned run average with a 1.34 mark — Ohman came to Chatham on the heels of a sophomore season at Yale where his ERA jumped over four runs, all the way up to 5.54. He wanted to prove he wasn’t the sophomore year Ohman; that his true talent level aligned with his freshman year.
The Anglers gave him that opportunity. Ohman’s stay in Chatham wasn’t very long — only three starts — and it ended Tuesday in South Yarmouth with a five-inning, one-run performance. But in those three starts, he got one step closer to reclaiming his freshman year form. The A’s righty pitched 14 innings for the A’s, punched out 16 batters and notched a minuscule 1.93 ERA.
That’s more like it. That’s the Ohman Yale fans all know and love.
“This was a fresh start, you know? New chance to prove myself,” Ohman said. “I know that last year's season isn't a representation of myself as a pitcher.”
More than anything, a reset is what he was hoping to get out of his time on the Cape. The Bulldogs were mightily successful in spite of Ohman’s struggles, going 30-15 in 2026, and he relished the team’s accomplishments. But on a personal level, Ohman was ready to close the book on that trying season.
He wasn’t sure exactly what went wrong for him this past year at Yale. He tried to feature his curveball more than before, which he feels may have messed with his timing and contributed to some growing pains as he adjusted his arsenal.
But if he had to guess, and pinpoint one factor that led to his regression, it was all in his head.
Jack Ohman begins his windup, ready to throw a pitch in Chatham's 17-2 win over Cotuit on June 18. Making his A's debut against the Kettleers, Ohman tossed five shutout innings. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
“I think it all boils down to just the mental side of things, and just confidence,” Ohman said.
He didn’t have as much of it as the spring went on. But he had a ton of it almost as soon as he stepped foot in Chatham, and the performances reflected it.
First, he began his A’s tenure by pitching five shutout innings in Chatham’s first win of the season, a 17-2 romp at Cotuit’s Lowell Park on June 18. Gabe Fraser (Florida State/Transfer) ultimately stole the spotlight that game — as is expected when you hit two homers and drive in six runs — but outside of him, Ohman might’ve been the night’s standout performer.
“I really liked what (Ohman) did,” A’s manager Dennis Cook said after Chatham’s June 18 win. “He attacked the strike zone, he had low pitch count innings.”
Ohman didn’t even need to display the strikeout stuff, the swing-and-miss ability that’s yielded him an average of 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings at Yale. He only struck out three Kettleers, but inducing soft outs was enough.
He put Cotuit on perfect-game watch through four innings, and threw just 39 pitches in those frames. If it wasn’t for a 24-pitch fifth inning, where he gave up two singles and walked a batter to load the bases, he might’ve considered that outing to be his best of the summer.
But he’d say it wasn’t. Four perfect innings, and a fifth scoreless one? Cute, but not enough in Ohman’s eyes. The bar had to be raised, and after his final start of the season at Red Wilson Field, he finally felt like he had done so.
“Of the three starts I made, I felt like that one was the sharpest,” Ohman said postgame.
Ohman may have given up a run to the Red Sox, and it didn’t end in a win for Chatham — albeit through no fault of his own — but he still felt that Tuesday’s display was his best yet. He said was in the zone more against Yarmouth-Dennis, something Cook said pregame he thought Ohman lacked in his June 24 start against Falmouth — an eight-strikeout game that somehow managed to be the most forgettable performance of Ohman’s three outings.
Jack Ohman releases a pitch in his third start of the season, a five-inning one-run performance against Yarmouth-Dennis. Ohman may have given up a run, but he felt his performance against Y-D was his best. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
He also felt that his off-speed pitches were finding the zone against the Red Sox, and that helped him attack hitters more effectively than he had before. Ohman’s one blemish on the evening was a fielder’s choice to Phoenix Call (UCLA), which helped score Yarmouth-Dennis’ first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Ohman ended his Chatham career just how he began it, though, with two soft outs to finish his outing. With that, he bid adieu to his time in Chatham, and closed the book on yet another chapter of his baseball career — though perhaps less eagerly than the last chapter he closed.
“All the hitters in this league are really good, and all the teams are very, very competitive,” Ohman said postgame. “But you have to have belief in yourself, go out there mentally and act like it's just a bunch of random joes over there.”
The plan was always for Ohman to make about three or four starts in Chatham, Cook revealed postgame. He pitched 73.2 innings as a freshman, and he tossed 66.2 more this past spring; it’s not like he particularly needed to get more experience as a starter.
But candidly, Cook would’ve liked to see him stay a little longer. After wrapping up his interview on the Anglers Extra Postgame Show, Ohman walked over to Cook, A’s pitching coach Jay Powell and A’s general manager Mike Geylin. He shook their hands, thanked them, and said his goodbyes as they stood together on the Red Wilson Field grass.
Bits and pieces were audible from just a few feet away, so one could almost overhear an invitation being extended. It’s still in the air, of course.
But who knows? Ohman might need another reset, and if he does, the door will always be open.
“Come next year,” Cook said to Ohman. “Before the Draft.”
