Zack Gelof Has Green Light to Chase Elusive Personal Milestone
· Yahoo Sports
This weekend the Athletics will have one mission: to end the Houston Astros push toward the postseason. The A's are 5-4 against Houston this season, and trail the Texas Rangers by a half-game heading into Thursday night's game. A win would put them back to even atop the AL West with three to play.
Beyond the team goal this weekend, Zack Gelof has the green light to chase his own personal milestone.
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On Wednesday night, Gelof swiped two bags against the Angels, and in the process gave him 16 on the season, four away from 20 on the year. He already has 20 home runs this year, so the power portion of a 20-20 campaign is taken care of.
Athletics Roundtable asked Gelof if he's making a late push to get those missing steals.
"I wasn't, [but] I'm pretty close," Gelof said. "It's tough to get on base to begin with."
Then the all-important question for this chase is whether he has the green light.
"I mean, yeah, if the situation calls for it," Gelof said. "I'm not going to be just running out of my --- to get to 20."
His personal focus will be on the game, though he also mentioned that it's easier to get the steals than the home runs.
Gelof Chasing 20-20Gelof debuted in 2023, and hit the ground running. In 69 second-half games he ended up with 14 home runs and 14 stolen bases, leading many to see a future 20-20 player in the making. The following season he struggled mightily, batting .211 with a .270 OBP and a 34.4% strikeout rate — the highest in MLB among qualified hitters that season.
He entered that offseason with the goal of turning things around in 2025, but a late-spring injury delayed the start of his season, and he was unable to find consistency, playing just 30 games with the A's last year.
Gelof started the 2026 season in the minors, but was called up in April after Brent Rooker landed on the IL and has been on the active roster — when healthy — since. This year has been a rebound campaign for him offensively, despite a couple of freak injuries sidelining him in the middle of summer.
Now 26, Gelof is in the final weekend of 2026 needing four stolen bases to achieve the status many saw for him in his debut season. The one caveat this year is that he's making his push while only playing in 107 games, showing that same promise he had when he debuted in Oakland in 2023.
When we asked A's manager Mark Kotsay pregame how much of a green light Gelof would have from his vantage point, he said, "Zack I trust. He's been pretty successful in his career."