Promising A’s rookie studying on the fly at MLB stage

Brent Rooker had a greater view than possibly anybody of A’s teammate Zack Gelof’s first Major League hit.

Rooker took his lead off second base throughout a July 14 recreation in opposition to the Twins in Oakland as Gelof — the group’s No. 3 prospect on the time of his promotion — made contact on an 0-2 pitch in his second MLB at-bat.

“I just thought it was an average popup, and I went back to tag at second base,” Rooker recalled. “I only realized really late that he hit it really well and it was carrying.”

Despite being hit at a excessive launch angle of 42 levels, the ball caromed off the very prime of the wall in right-center area. Gelof had simply missed his first profession residence run, however he nonetheless had a double. Rooker sprinted round third and scored with newfound admiration for his rookie teammate’s opposite-field energy.

“That was pretty impressive,” Rooker mentioned.

Rooker is not the one one impressed by Gelof’s prowess on the plate in 2023. The rookie infielder — the American League Rookie of the Month for August — has cooled off since a record-setting begin, however he’s nonetheless made himself a fixture in Oakland’s lineup and stays among the many higher younger hitters within the league.

Here’s what makes Gelof stand out, how pitchers have begun to regulate to him and what he intends to do to remain scorching on the plate.

All statistics are by Sunday’s video games.

Finding success early
Gelof, a second-round Draft select of Virginia in 2021, tore up Triple-A Las Vegas throughout 69 video games in 2023: a .304 common, 12 homers, 21 doubles and 20 stolen bases.

“I think the biggest thing is you can really feel the competition and just know that it’s real life, like work, and these are people’s careers, too,” Gelof mentioned. “They’re going to do everything they can in their preparation to bring it every day no matter how you’re feeling.”

But Gelof proved himself able to bringing it, too.

After the double to plate Rooker in his MLB debut, he legged out a triple in his second MLB recreation. Another double adopted in recreation No. 3. Then the homers began coming.

Gelof first went deep on July 22 in opposition to the Astros, his eighth Major League recreation. He homered once more on July 28, July 29, Aug. 1 and Aug. 3. 

After a two-homer efficiency in opposition to the Nationals on Aug. 13, Gelof went deep in opposition to the Royals on Aug. 21 to develop into the quickest A’s rookie to 9 profession homers (32 video games).

At the top of that recreation, he was hitting .304 with a .994 OPS — his highest postgame OPS since his third MLB recreation.

“It’s been awesome,” Gelof mentioned of his early accomplishments. “Obviously, success is cool, and I’m ultimately just trying to win at this level.”

Excelling up and in
Of the 124 balls Gelof has put in play in 2023, not a single one has been categorised as “weak” contact. His common exit velocity and barrel fee are each above common, and his 93rd-percentile dash pace (a near-elite 29.2 ft per second) doesn’t harm, both.

The 23-year-old is especially adept at hitting high-and-inside pitches. On pitches within the prime left nook of the strike zone (seen from the catcher’s perspective), Gelof is 9-for-17 with three doubles and two homers. His .663 wOBA on pitches in that zone ranks third of 176 qualifying right-handed hitters, and his 1.059 slugging share ranks fifth in that group.

While solely 23 of Gelof’s batted balls (18.5%) have gone to the other area, his energy within the different path hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates.

“I think it’s rare for anybody,” Rooker mentioned. “He hits balls in BP that way that I can’t hit like that. The ability to have as much power to the back side as you do to the inside is something pretty rare in this game, I think. It opens up a lot of doors for you offensively — the ability to stay on pitches and know you don’t have to catch everything super far out front to hit for power.”

Handling the warmth
Another massive a part of Gelof’s success? Absolutely crushing fastballs.

The rookie is slugging .630 in opposition to fastballs in 2023, the ninth-highest mark within the Majors (min. 75 PA). It’s good firm to maintain: The prime 5 gamers on that record embrace Shohei Ohtani (No. 1), Aaron Judge (No. 2) and Corey Seager (No. 5).

Twenty-eight of Gelof’s 46 hits have come on fastballs, together with eight of his 10 residence runs. Seven of these homers got here on four-seamers, on which Gelof’s .745 SLG ranks seventh in MLB.

Highest share of residence runs approaching 4-seam fastballs, 2023
Min. 10 HR (206 hitters)
1-T. Zack Gelof (OAK): 70.0%
1-T. JJ Bleday (OAK): 70.0%
3-T. TJ Friedl (CIN): 66.7%
3-T. Joc Pederson (SF): 66.7%
5. Cedric Mullins (BAL): 61.5%

Consequently, it’s solely pure that pitchers started to regulate to Gelof how one would possibly anticipate: by throwing him fewer fastballs.

Through Aug. 13, the evening of his two-home-run recreation in St. Louis, Gelof was seeing 54.3% fastballs, slightly below the league common of 55.1%. Since then, that share has dipped to 49.4%. It hasn’t gone unnoticed to Gelof, both.

“It’s probably less fastballs,” he mentioned. “I think it’s just typical: sinkers in, sliders away, changeups down and then sneak the fastball in, too. I think that’s what all pitchers are trying to do, and it’s pretty tough, but there’s nothing to do but adjust.”

‘Just get higher’
It’s just about the core challenge for any hitter having fun with a scorching streak: How do you counter the changes pitchers will inevitably make?

Rooker is simply in his fourth MLB season, however he’s a relative veteran in that regard. Not solely did he need to take care of that in his rookie season in 2021 however once more this 12 months after a scorching first half earned him an AL All-Star nod.

“You start getting different pitches, different locations,” Rooker mentioned. “They pitch you differently in different counts. It happens quick. I don’t know what the exact sample size is they need to zero in on what they want to do, but it happens quicker than you think.”

As a rookie, that may be exhausting to take care of. Gelof isn’t immune: he’s hitting .247 with a .314 OBP and .403 SLG since Aug. 14 after posting a .281/.343/.635 slash line previous to that date.

The rookie mentioned he’s glad he received his first style of Major League motion early sufficient within the 12 months to have the ability to climate a relative chilly spell.

“Going through the ups and downs, I think that’s the good thing about getting called up when I did: It’s enough time to go through a stretch of goods and bads and just keep adjusting and knowing what it takes for the next year,” Gelof mentioned.

Asked the best way to make the changes he is aware of he’ll must, Gelof talked about working with teammates and coaches, staying disciplined and refraining from chasing pitches, notably in hitters’ counts.

The three most telling phrases in his reply?

It’s hardly that straightforward, however for a hitter like Gelof, it doesn’t appear out of the query.