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Elephant Rumblings: Gelof set to return as Urias injured

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Athletics v New York Yankees
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MLB news roundup

Morning everyone!

The biggest and best news to come out of the baseball world yesterday was the selection of A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson to be the starter for the American League at the Midsummer Classic. The first of likely many All-Star selections for the young rookie, Wilson certainly deserved it more than anyone else. As the front-runner for the AL Rookie of the Year and a possible dark-horse MVP contender, the selection was certainly expected and now A’s fans can stop fretting about their prized player getting snubbed for the honor of being the second rookie shortstop to start an All-Star Game. Now we can start hoping that he won’t be going alone to Atlanta.

That wasn’t the only good news for the A’s yesterday however. The A’s provided a pair of encouraging updates regarding the only two position players currently on the injured list: second baseman Zack Gelof, and left fielder Miguel Andujar.

First, yesterday we learned from beat writer Martin Gallegos that Gelof looks to be on the very cusp of rejoining the Athletics’ active roster after missing the first half of the season to two separate injuries:

And all did go well for Gelof last night. Playing in his 11th game and manning second base for the third time in four days, Gelof went 0-for-3 with a pair of walks, two strikeouts and a run scored. The important thing is that he made it through all nine innings playing second base last night and more or less seems healthy and ready to rejoin the roster. During this second rehab stint the third-year second baseman has gone 9-for-34 with one home run but an encouraging 15 walks compared to nine punchouts.

While Gallegos’ post indicates “this weekend”, his activation may come as soon as Friday with the recent injury to incumbent second baseman Luis Urias. The 28-year-old fill-in, who has done an admirable job in Gelof’s absence and made himself an attractive trade target for second base-needy teams, unfortunately suffered a strained right hamstring during yesterday’s series finale loss to the Rays. While fans watching probably feared the worst and an IL stint just before the All-Star Break/Trade Deadline, manager Mark Kotsay doesn’t seem to think it’s that bad:

If that’s the case, then great. At the same time, the timing happens to work in the Athletics’ favor to a degree. While you never want to see a possible trade chip such as Urias get injured in the leadup to trade season, Gelof’s imminent return allows the A’s to slow walk Urias and his hammy. Placing him on the IL may be a bit much, but just giving him the weekend off while Gelof settles back into his spot at second base doesn’t sound like the worst plan. And when Gelof is ready for a breather, Urias’ return to the lineup will show to interested clubs he’s back to fully healthy. It could be worse timing but things are already semi- working themselves out.

As for Andujar, he’s not nearly as close as Gelof to returning but he’s heading in the right direction. Last night was the official beginning of his rehab assignment, starting the 20-day timer for his return. The 30-year-old went 0-for-3 with a strikeout as the DH in his first game action last night. He was lifted late for a pinch-hitter but there’s no indications he suffered any sort of setback.

At the time of his injury Andujar was one of the more productive right-handed bats the A’s had in their lineup. For the season he’s slashing .296/.328/.402 with three home runs, but against left-handed pitching is mashing to a .389/.405/.500 line. That matches up with his career profile of being a stronger hitter against lefties. He makes for a natural platoon partner with the lefty-swinging Tyler Soderstrom in left field, who struggles against left-handed pitching.

For a reference to Andujar’s injury, catcher Shea Langeliers also went down with an oblique strain like Andujar and ended up not playing baseball for 20 days before beginning his rehab assignment. Andujar has been out of action longer at just over a month, but he’s finally begun his rehab assignment with the Aviators, which means he’ll almost certainly be rejoining the A’s before the Trade Deadline comes around. If he proves to be fully healthy he could be a cheap right-handed option for a contender. He’s only signed to a 1-year deal and the A’s likely want to give as many at-bats to young options such as Soderstrom and Colby Thomas moving forward.

Now that July is finally here we can expect to hear more and more trade rumors swirl in the leadup to the August 1st deadline. Let’s hope everyone stays healthy enough to give the A’s front office lots of space to maneuver. Plenty to speculate on from now until then! Have a great day A’s fans.

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