The A's might not win a thing, but Oakland Athletics' rookie Zack Gelof doesn't know how to not keep racking up accolades.
According to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com, entering Monday, Aug. 14, Gelof was "the first player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to record eight or more home runs and six or more stolen bases in their first 25 games."
As Gallegos himself pointed out, that's an MLB--not just an Oakland or franchise--record.
This is so wild, in fact, that according to Gallegos' research "the only other player with at least six homers and six stolen bases through their first 25 career games is Mitchell Page, who did it in 1977 with the A’s."
Zack Gelof has only played 27 games with the Oakland A's through Tuesday, but he's been putting up astonishing numbers.
Zack Gelof so far in the Big Leagues:
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 14, 2023
8 HR
13 RBI
6 SB
.978 OPS
The @Athletics rookie is the first player since 1900 with 8+ HR and 6+ SB in their first 25 games 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/634EKgeVc8
Gelof got his first four-hit game last Sunday at Washington when he also hit a couple of homers. He had a three-hit game exactly one week before against the Giants in an 8-6 Oakland victory. He has five more multi-hit games on top of those two, making it 7-of-27.
The 23-year-old, who is ranked as the no. 3 prospect in the A's organization on MLB Pipeline, is slashing .269/.333/.606 through his first 27 games and 114 plate appearances. He's bagged eight homers and stolen six bases while driving him 14 runs already. He's only walked eight times against 33 strikeouts, but they call that "growing pains."
As quoted by Gallego in his story, when presented with some of the aformentioned statistics, Gelof could only say "Wow, that’s pretty cool." Truth be told, it's just ridiculous to hit a ball in 18 of 27 games and get multi-hit outings in more than a quarter of them.
Here's to hoping Gelof can have a sublime career and become the face of the A's, whether that's in Oakland or in Las Vegas in a few years!