PITTSBURGH -- A tough luck 2025 campaign for Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof came to a premature end on Friday night.
During the bottom of the fifth inning of a 4-3 A’s victory over the Pirates at PNC Park, Gelof writhed in significant pain after diving for a ground ball hit by Bryan Reynolds in shallow right that got by for a double and was immediately pulled from the game after getting checked out by head athletic trainer Jeff Collins.
After the game, manager Mark Kotsay revealed that X-rays showed a dislocated left shoulder for Gelof, which will keep him out for the final eight games of the season. A roster move to officially place Gelof on the injured list is expected to come Saturday.
“Really unfortunate for him right now,” Kotsay said. “This ends his season.”
Kotsay noted that Gelof has dealt with a similar left shoulder injury in the past and lauded the 25-year-old’s all-out hustle on defense, which has been a trademark style of play since his first call to the Majors in 2023.
“It just shows the way he plays the game,” Kotsay said. “It’s a relentless style. It’s something I appreciate and admire. Unfortunately, that injury is something that he’s had in the past, and we’ll have to work our way through it again.”
The shoulder dislocation falls in line with what has been an injury-riddled year for Gelof, who was looking to return to his 2023 rookie breakout form after a down ’24 campaign. After working hard this spring on making adjustments to address his swing-and-miss issues, Gelof sustained a hook of the hamate fracture as a result of getting hit by a pitch on his right hand during the final week of Spring Training. He then suffered a setback in May due to a stress reaction in his ribs while rehabbing in the Minors.
Making his season debut on July 4, Gelof was optioned back to the Minors after going 2-for-25 in eight games with the A’s and rejoining the club on Aug. 25 after finding his groove at Triple-A Las Vegas.
Gelof, who went 0-for-1 with a walk on Friday, finishes his season batting .174 with a .502 OPS in 30 games for the A’s. With just over a week of games left, Darell Hernaiz, who took over for Gelof at second base to close out Friday’s game, is likely to get the majority of reps at the position going forward.