Jeff

McNeil

It’s McNeil’s fourth career game with three extra-base hits; he last did it by collecting two homers and a double in Coors Field in June 2025. McNeil is now sitting at .409/.437/.561 in 21 games in the second half. He even has five steals during the span, which is four more than he had in the first half and two more than he had in 122 games for the Mets last season. As the Athletics’ current leadoff man against righties, he’s worth playing in mixed leagues when the team is at home in West Sacramento.

This didn’t look good at all. Kurtz was in a great deal of pain after taking a pitch off the left arm from Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval in the opening frame. It appeared to hit him somewhere in the forearm just above his wrist. He managed to stay in the game initially before being replaced by Jeff McNeil at first base in the second inning. The 23-year-old offensive force will head for further evaluation, including X-rays, to determine whether he suffered any fractures. There should be an update his status following the contest.

Kurtz has gone 1-for-8 with a three-run homer in a pair of games since coming back from the injured list over the weekend. The 23-year-old offensive force will get a breather with hard-throwing lefty Peyton Tolle toeing the rubber for Boston in this one. It’ll be Jeff McNeil taking over at first base.

Gelof appears to have avoided serious injury when his right hand was stepped on by Matt Chapman during Tuesday’s series opener, which subsequently ended his 24-game hitting streak. Athletics manager told reporters afterwards that Gelof is day-to-day after X-rays didn’t reveal any fractures and he didn’t require stitches. The 26-year-old has been phenomenal since the start of June, hitting .329 (23-for-70) with five homers, 10 RBI and two steals during that span. It’ll be veteran Jeff McNeil taking over at the keystone on Wednesday evening.

McNeil’s homer was a 359-footer to right that would have stayed in play in 18 ballparks, but that’s pretty much the typical McNeil homer. There’s the chance he could lose additional playing time with Max Muncy back and Zack Gelof still putting up solid numbers, but nights like this will help keep him in the lineup against righties. He’s hitting .238/.311/.324 in 236 plate appearances for the season.

McNeil, who is 1-for-19 with thres GIDPs in his last six games, played against Carlos Rodón last night, but he’s sitting against fellow lefty Ryan Weathers tonight. Alika Williams is playing second base in his place.

Rob Refnsyder hit a three-run homer immediately after McNeil’s error with two outs in the first. McNeil is in a 10-for-61 slump that has dropped his average from .309 to .257 and his OPS from .780 to .673. If he can’t do any better than this, there’s the chance he could lose some playing time after Max Muncy and Jacob Wilson return.

McNeil was just happy to be in the lineup against Parker Messick, as he started against a lefty for only the fourth time this season. He’s batting .314/.379/.422 on the season, and he’ll probably keep getting more chances against lefties with Max Muncy out.

McNeil led off the second inning with a single, then took Luis Castillo deep for a solo homer in the fourth. The 34-year-old second baseman gets on the board with his first home run of the season while hitting a solid .278/.361/.389 with seven runs scored and five RBI across 83 plate appearances.

Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil each led off for the Athletics over their last four games. The surface-level stats remain underwhelming, but Kurtz has recorded an elite 98.7 mph average exit velocity and 17.9 percent barrel rate this season, per Statcast. It feels like only a matter of time before the reigning AL Rookie of the Year gets things going after hitting .225/.421/.352 with two homers, nine RBI and two steals through 21 games.