Oakland's Zack Gelof Still Has the Tools to Become a Franchise Cornerstone

Zack Gelof is struggling in his second season with the A's, after breaking out last season as a rookie. The question is, why?

Jul 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Oakland Athletics infielder Zack Gelof (20) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

On July 13th last year, a day before the second half of the season started, the A's called up Zack Gelof along with then No.1 prospect, Tyler Soderstrom. Gelof, who was the A's No. 3 prospect at the time, shined immediately with the big league club and was the team's best bat in the second half of the season, even over the team's 2023 All-Star representative Brent Rooker.

Gelof was making noise around the league and was a shining light in a dark year for the A's, where they lost 112 games, the most since their move to Oakland in 1968. Gelof was posting fantastic numbers and on a historic 162-game pace, which led him to winning American League Rookie of the Month honors for August of 2023. He finished the 2023 season slashing .267 with an .840 OPS, hitting 35 extra base hits including 14 home runs and stealing 14 bases, all in 270 at-bats.

Coming into the 2024 season, many expected Gelof to be the A's best hitter along with Rooker. The expectation was Gelof and Rooker would carry the load, while hopefully getting support from other potential breakout bats. Gelof was red-hot in spring this year batting .288 with seven extra base hits (four home runs) in 52 at-bats.

So far, Gelof has come up very short of that expectation. It's fair to say that those expectations were not set too high because Rooker is currently blowing his 2023 stats out of the water. The A's lineup as a whole has exceeded expectations: with JJ Bleday's breakout year, Shea Langeliers' power, a revitalized Miguel Andujar, and Lawrence Butler breaking out in July, the A's are putting up some of the better offensive numbers in the league. All without their preseason favorite for the team's best hitter.

The question now is, what has happened to Gelof's offensive game leading him to this disastrous sophomore year, and how can he get back on the potential star trajectory he was on?

Taking a look at some of the surface level numbers that stand out, Gelof is hitting .217 against fastballs in 2024 where as he hit .324 against them in 2023. He sees more fastballs than any other pitch, with breaking pitches being the second. Against those, he is hitting .194 in 2024 and was hitting a respectable .225 against them in 2023. Less than twenty percent of the pitches he sees are off-speed and he has never hit well against those, so no shock there.

Sinkers are specifically giving him a problem, as they have all season. In 2023 he hit .390 with an expected batting average (xBA) of .346. Now in 2024, he is hitting .204 with a xBA of .182 against said pitch and he has seen significantly more of them as pitchers are catching on.

One of the biggest things that stands out when looking at Gelof's percentages is his absurdly high strikeout percentage. Gelof is striking out at a 34.9 K%, which ranks bottom 2% in MLB according to baseball savant. Even in 2023, Gelof had a poor K% at 27.3, but that is a number the A's can deal with and look to improve. Almost 35% however, suggests there is some serious work to be done with Gelof's approach.

Some have proposed a demotion to Triple-A Las Vegas, in an attempt to build some confidence in a hitter-friendly league and tweak some things in his approach, and swing, in a less daunting environment. This worked for Butler, who was sent to Triple-A in May and recalled in June. However one of the main reasons behind sending Butler to Triple-A was to give him more regular at-bats. Gelof is already getting every day at-bats with the A's at second base. Not to mention, the major tweak to Butler's swing came at the end of June from the help of A's bench coach Darren Bush. Therefore, the only logical reasoning behind sending Gelof to Triple-A would be from a confidence standpoint. Letting him excel consistently to restore the confidence he once had.

A's manager Mark Kotsay was recently asked about Gelof's impact on the club, and he spoke highly of Oakland's second baseman, saying that he comes in and puts in the work every day, has a great attitude, and that the adjustment that they're trying to make with him is less of a quick fix, so it takes some time to unlearn the old way and commit the new method to muscle memory. While he wasn't asked directly about a demotion for Gelof to gain some confidence, the feeling was that a trip to Triple-A was not in the cards for Gelof at this time.

That said, there may come a day when the A's still might entertain this idea because of how much infield talent they have all ready to get major league at-bats. No. 8 prospect Max Muncy, No. 20 prospect Cooper Bowman, and former top prospect Jordan Diaz. They'll also be getting top prospect Jacob Wilson back from the IL soon. It might behoove the A's to give Diaz another shot in the majors after he was surprisingly assigned to Triple-A before the season. Diaz, who just turned 24, earned PCL Player of the Week two weeks ago and PCL Player of the Month in June. Not to mention, A's 2019 switch-hitting first round pick Logan Davidson who has been consistent in Triple-A but continues to be overlooked.

Sooner rather than later there will need to be signs of improvement. There have been small stretches where Gelof will hit well and the numbers will back it up, leaving speculation as to if he is ironing things out, but then the struggles come back and the rut at the plate continues.

Gelof is still very young, not turning 25 until October, and he just recently surpassed his 162 game mark. The coaching staff continues to have faith in Gelof, putting him in the lineup every day. He has always had a great bat going back to his college days, so the improvement will come. The fans may not see Gelof back on track until next season, but these every day at-bats now while he is struggling will prove to be important for his development. In time, Gelof will show that he is the cornerstone piece and future of the A's franchise like he showed last season.