A's Zack Gelof a Late Scratch Against New York Yankees

Jason Burke | Apr 24, 2024

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

When the Oakland A's released their initial lineup today, second baseman Zack Gelof was in it, just as he has been for every game so far this season. A couple of hours later, the team announced that he would miss Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees due to left abdominal soreness. Abraham Toro will get the start and bat sixth in place of Gelof.

Gelof has started the year by batting .196 with a .260 OBP and a 79 wRC+ (100 is league average) after becoming the face of the franchise following his debut during the second half of last season.

There has been no word on how long Gelof is expected to miss.

Depending on the matchups, the likely duo to fill in at second would be Toro, who is a versatile switch-hitter, and Max Schuemann, who can play a little bit of everywhere on the diamond. They could also bring up No. 4 prospect Darell Hernaiz, who began the season with the club. He was optioned to Triple-A after going 3-for-29 to start the season while getting irregular at-bats.

If the A's brought up Hernaiz, they could also just use him as the full-time starting second baseman to give him regular playing time for a better look at him in the hope that he'd be able to carve out a spot in the lineup even when Gelof returns.

That all said, there is no guarantee that Gelof will miss any time beyond tonight. With Thursday's game being a day game after a night game, we'll likely see him get tomorrow off too to give him two days of rest before the A's head to Baltimore for the weekend series against the Orioles.

We'll keep an ear out for what manager Mark Kotsay says about Gelof's status after tonight's game.