Zack Gelof Nearing A's Return, Max Muncy's New Position

Jason Burke | May 11, 2024

Apr 22, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Oakland Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof (20) reacts after / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Zack Gelof and Aledmys Díaz were each added to the Las Vegas Aviators roster on Friday, and will begin their rehab assignments with the club beginning on Saturday. Mark Kotsay told reporters before Friday's game that Gelof would play Saturday and Sunday and then the team would evaluate him to determine whether he was ready to be activated from the IL. The earliest Díaz can return from the IL is May 27.

There was a flurry of moves made with the Vegas roster on Friday, including Osvaldo Bido being optioned back to Triple-A after his spot-start as the 27th man in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader. The 28-year-old righty tossed 2 2/3 innings, gave up three hits and walked two which led to four earned crossing the plate. He also struck out four batters.

The Oakland A's also moved left-hander Scott Alexander from Stockton to Vegas to continue his rehab assignment, and his first outing with the Aviators went pretty bad. He threw 22 pitches, his velocity was down about a mile and a half on his sinker and changeup, and two mph on the two sliders he threw. To make matters worse, he surrendered three hits, a walk, and hit a batter, which led to five earned runs scoring. He didn't record an out.

With Jacob Wilson getting promoted earlier this week, and Gelof beginning his rehab assignment on Saturday, it was interesting to see that Max Muncy was activated on Friday, too. Muncy had been out since April 23 after taking a pitch off his hand. In his first game back, with his old high school teammate Wilson at short, Muncy was stationed at second base. How that trio lines up on Saturday will be very interesting, because all three are considered building blocks for the organization. Muncy went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his return.

The most likely scenario for the next two days is that Gelof takes second, Wilson sticks at shortstop, and Muncy slides over to the hot corner for a couple of games. The A's have a lot of options on the left side of the infield to evaluate with Wilson, Muncy, and Hernaiz all viable shortstop candidates, and Muncy and Hernaiz potentially being third base options, too. Then you throw in Brett Harris (3B) and Nick Allen (SS), and all of a sudden there will be a bit of a competition for playing time both in Oakland and Las Vegas.

Through seven games with Las Vegas, Ryan Noda is 2-for-21 (.095), but has drawn 11 walks, giving him an on-base of .424. He also has ten strikeouts in that span, giving him a strikeout rate of 30.3%, which is on par with his 32% rate with the A's this season.

Finally, Joey Estes is in Seattle with the team according to Martín Gallegos, and will be starting Saturday's game against the Mariners. This will be Estes' first big-league start of the season after making his debut down the stretch last year. One of those starts was against Seattle in Oakland, and he went 4 2/3 innings, gave up six hits and two walks which led to six runs (five earned). He also hit two batters, gave up three homers and struck out two. It was his MLB debut.

Estes has a 6.04 ERA through six starts in the tough PCL this season.