Jul 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof (20) bats against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Will Player of the Week Honors Earn Zack Gelof a Return to A's Roster?

Originally posted on Oakland Athletics on SI
By Jason Burke | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The 2025 campaign has been a tough one for Zack Gelof, who was hoping to come into the season and put the 2024 campaign behind him. Instead, an injury right before the start of the regular season kept him out until July 4 and in his return he went 2-for-25 while striking out at a 46.4% clip. He's been in the minors for the past month looking to make some adjustments, and this past week things seemed to click.

In fact, he was so good last week with the Las Vegas Aviators that he earned himself Pacific Coast League Player of the Week honors after batting .364 (8-for-22) with seven home runs, 11 RBI, six walks, four stolen bases, and 11 runs scored. He's also hit six home runs in his past four games played, a streak that will continue into play on Tuesday.

The question is whether or not this hot week will be enough to get him back to the A's roster. The answer to that question is probably how much the adjustments Gelof has been working on played a role in his week against Tacoma.

Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

On the season in Triple-A, he's hitting .255 with a .376 OBP, has clocked 11 home runs and scored 42 runs in a total of 41 games played. At the same time, he'd struck out 14 times in nine August games leading up to last week, so it would also be reasonable to give him a few more games to continue to show that those adjustments will stick against a different opponent.

Gelof will almost certainly receive a chance with the A's again this season, but the question is when it'll happen. It could be on Tuesday in Minnesota, or they could end up waiting until September 1 when rosters expand to 28 players. You'd have to think he's at the top of the list for position players to join the club, unless someone like Max Muncy is ready to come off the injured list by that point.

Other than the players on the IL, Gelof is the only position player currently on the A's 40-man roster that is not already in the big leagues.

Luis Urías has been getting most of the time at second base this season in Gelof's absence, though with his contract being up at the end of the season, the A's could choose to DFA him when Gelof is ready, like they did with Gio Urshela last week.

On the year Urías is batting .233 with a .315 OBP and eight home runs. Since June 1, he's been struggling, batting .222 with a .298 OBP and a 64 wRC+ (100 is league average). That is slightly worse than the production the club was receiving from Urshela over the same period of time.

Regardless of when the A's decide to call Gelof back up to the main roster, he'll be looking at regular playing time with the club in September. The goal will be to get him in there and have him lock down second base heading into the 2026 campaign.

This article first appeared on Oakland Athletics on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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