Fastball

Exciting Young Player Doing Something That No Other Oakland Athletics Player Has Done

As the Oakland Athletics limp to the end of a miserable season, infielder Zack Gelof has given the fans something to be excited about.

Brady Farkas

Exciting Young Player Doing Something That No Other Oakland Athletics Player Has Done
Exciting Young Player Doing Something That No Other Oakland Athletics Player Has Done /
In this story:

As the Oakland Athletics limp to the end of a miserable season, there is something to be excited about in the form of infield prospect Zack Gelof.

The 23-year-old Delaware native has come up and provided a spark in the Athletics' lineup, hitting .294 with 10 home runs and 19 RBI through his first 136 at-bats.

He's also made some team history with those 10 home runs, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

ZACK GELOF 

10 HR in his 1st 35 career games 

the fewest games to 10 career HR in A’s franchise history

The University of Virginia product has also put out a .360 on-base percentage and stolen eight bases, giving him a unique blend of power and speed.

Gelof has officially graduated off the Athletics top prospect list as put out by MLB.com, but he was ranked No. 3 at the time of his promotion in mid-July.

The A's enter play on Friday at 37-91 and with the worst record in baseball, Gelof helps them give them some hope that the future will be better. The A's also have young catching prospect Tyler Soderstrom and young flamethrower Mason Miller in the system, the latter of which is working his way back from injury.

The A's beat the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night and will play again on Friday. First pitch from the South Side is set for 8:10 p.m. ET as Zach Neal pitches for Oakland against Dylan Cease.

Neal is 0-0 with an 8.25 ERA while Cease is 5-6 with a 4.50.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also subscribe to "The Payoff Pitch" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Check out more Oakland Athletics coverage at Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Inside the Athletics.

Published
Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

Home/History