A's Zack Gelof likely heading to IL with oblique strain

A’s second baseman Zack Gelof has been diagnosed with a left oblique strain, tweets Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The second-year infielder is likely headed to the 10-day injured list.

Oakland hasn’t provided a specific timetable for Gelof’s return, nor have they announced the variety of the strain. Even Grade 1 strains (the lowest severity) usually require multiple weeks to recover. The A’s will be hoping for a relatively quick return for one of their most talented hitters.

Gelof, a second-round pick out of UVA in 2021, was arguably the A’s best player as a rookie. He earned his first MLB call around the All-Star break. Gelof popped 14 homers with a .267/.337/.504 batting line in his first 300 plate appearances. 

While he’ll need more than a half-season of strong play to establish himself as an organizational building block, his performance was a rare bright spot for a team that limped to a 50-112 record.

The right-handed hitter has started this year slowly. He’s fanned 33 times in his first 101 plate appearances, hitting .196/.260/.337. Gelof drilled a two-run homer to break a scoreless tie in the ninth and secure a 2-0 win over the Yankees on Monday before an 0-4 showing Tuesday. Abdominal soreness led the A’s to scratch him from Wednesday's lineup and send him for testing that apparently revealed the strain.

Gelof had started all 24 games at second base before tonight. Manager Mark Kotsay went with Abraham Toro at the keystone Wednesday evening. Toro had otherwise played either third base or designated hitter this season. If the A’s stick with Toro at second base, they could turn to Tyler Nevin at the hot corner. 

They recently optioned 22-year-old infielder Darell Hernaiz, who hit .103/156/.103 in his first look at MLB pitching. He seems the most logical candidate to be called back up if the A’s want to add another infielder to the big league roster. Jessica Kleinschmidt tweets that Hernaiz was removed from Wednesday's Triple-A contest, seemingly in preparation for a promotion.