The A’s announced on Friday afternoon the placement of Designated Hitter Brent Rooker on the 10-day IL with what the team is calling an oblique strain:
It’s a tough blow for the Athletics’ offense. Though he’s scuffled in the early going it seemed that Rook was starting to get his bat on track in recent games. His two-homer performance earlier this week sure indicated that he was on the right track but now he’ll have to work through an injury before he’s ready to come back. This’ll snap his consecutive games streak as well, ending at the fourth-most in franchise history with 214 straight games played. How long he’ll be out has yet to be determined but his absence will be measured in weeks, perhaps even months.
Taking Rook’s spot on the active roster will be Zack Gelof. The second baseman was once considered a franchise cornerstone but has seen his star dim in the past couple of years. This season he’s been getting some work in the outfield as well, hoping to expand his positional flexibility and earn more playing time with the big league squad. He’s now earned that chance after a monster start to the year in Triple-A. In 11 games for the Aviators Gelof is slashing an incredible .366/.519/.732 with four long balls. Even considering the hitter-friendly environment that is the PCL, those are big big numbers. Now A’s fans will have to hope he can continue that hot streak against big league pitching.
How the A’s juggle playing time is yet to be determined. The most straight forward option would be to simply put Gelof in the DH role. Or the team could send Gelof back to his old position at the keystone while giving Jeff McNeil some time in the DH spot. Lawrence Butler could get some more half days going forward as well, which wouldn’t be the worst thing considering his recent injury. We’ll see tonight how Mark Kotsay approaches missing his All-Star DH and the team will be hoping to stay afloat until he’s ready to return.
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