Elephant Rumblings: Oakland’s potential breakout candidate for 2024

News and notes for the Oakland Athletics and the rest of Major League Baseball

There weren’t many bright spots for the Oakland Athletics in 2023, but rookie second baseman Zack Gelof was the exception. Gelof didn’t make his major league debut until July 14 and led the Athletics with 2.9 fWAR despite playing in just 69 games. A strong start like that would lead you to wonder what his numbers might look like over a full season. Gelof is listed as the A’s potential breakout candidate in this feature by MLB.com.

You can almost classify what Gelof did in 2023 as a mini-breakout, when he received his first call to the big leagues in July and proceeded to hit .267 with an .840 OPS, 14 home runs, 20 doubles, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 69 games. If last year’s impressive cameo was any indication, Gelof might be in line to truly make his presence felt around the league as a budding star in 2024.

A’s Coverage

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• Managers and top front office executives on expiring contracts
• Feinsand: Explaining my 2024 Hall of Fame ballot
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