{"id":473358,"date":"2026-02-17T06:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/473358\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T06:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:57:06","slug":"as-preparing-zack-gelof-for-utility-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/473358\/","title":{"rendered":"A’s Preparing Zack Gelof For Utility Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

The A\u2019s trade pickup<\/a> of\u00a0Jeff McNeil<\/a> solidified second base, where the veteran is expected to play regularly. That pushed Zack Gelof<\/a> out of the projected starting lineup. The former second-round pick had an impressive half-season as a rookie back in 2023 but has struggled with strikeouts and injuries over the past two years.<\/p>\n

Gelof enters camp slightly behind schedule after undergoing surgery to fix a dislocated left shoulder at the end of last season. Gelof is a little delayed in his ramp-up offensively, but Mart\u00edn Gallegos of MLB.com<\/a> writes that he can participate fully in defensive drills. He\u2019s not only taking those at second base but in center field to prepare for a potential utility role. Manager Mark Kotsay said that Gelof could see outfield work in games this spring.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old hasn\u2019t played anywhere other than second base in a major league game. Gelof has more than 2000 innings over 237 MLB appearances at the keystone, grading as a slightly above-average defender. The only other position at which he has any significant experience is third base. He played the hot corner at the University of Virginia and during his first year or so in the minor leagues. He didn\u2019t play the outfield at all in college and has nine innings there as a professional \u2014 one Double-A game as a center fielder in 2022.<\/p>\n

Gelof is a good athlete and an above-average runner. The A\u2019s won\u2019t be able to tell how his instincts and reads will play in the outfield without getting him reps out there. Spring Training is the best time to experiment with different roles. It\u2019d certainly be a big help to Gelof\u2019s chances of making the roster if he\u2019s capable of building defensive versatility. Most teams only carry four position players on the bench to maximize a 13-man pitching staff. Using one of those roster spots on a player who only plays second base isn\u2019t ideal. Gelof has a pair of minor league options and would head back to Triple-A Las Vegas if he doesn\u2019t break camp.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s have\u00a0Tyler Soderstrom<\/a> and\u00a0Lawrence Butler<\/a> in the corner outfield. They\u2019re likely to give\u00a0Denzel Clarke<\/a> the first opportunity in center field. Clarke is a phenomenal defender but has massive strikeout rates, so the A\u2019s may not want to live with that tradeoff all season. Gelof isn\u2019t likely to push Clarke for everyday playing time in center. He\u2019s only a year removed from leading the American League in strikeouts himself, and he\u2019s almost certainly not going to defend at the same level that Clarke does. There\u2019s an opening for a fourth outfielder, while Gelof\u2019s old third base position is also up for grabs in camp. Waiver claim\u00a0Andy Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/a> joins holdovers\u00a0Max Muncy<\/a>,\u00a0Brett Harris<\/a> and\u00a0Darell Hernaiz<\/a> in that mix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The A\u2019s trade pickup of\u00a0Jeff McNeil solidified second base, where the veteran is expected to play regularly. That…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99,105280],"class_list":{"0":"post-473358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-zack-gelof"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}