Jeff

McNeil

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.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay decided to shake up his lineup card on Thursday by moving McNeil to the top of the order with Nick Kurtz hitting third behind red-hot Shea Langeliers. The 34-year-old veteran has gone 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles during that span and is probably going to continue leading off against right-handed starters with Lawrence Butler going to the bottom of the order.

The 103.8-mph double was his first extra-base knock, but McNeil has hit in five straight games after opening the season 1-for-13. The A’s have sat him all three times they’ve faced lefties and they’re hitting him eighth when he does play, so there’s no fantasy value here right now. Still, he might have a stretch or two this summer when he’s viable, in part thanks to his big ballpark upgrade from Citi Field to Sutter Health.

It’s technically McNeil’s first homer of the spring, since the one he hit against Nicaragua last week doesn’t count. He’s batting .368/.478/.579 in his 23 official plate appearances. It’s too bad for McNeil that the A’s like their power hitters at or near the top of the lineup, so he will probably hit sixth initially.