Elephant Rumblings: Gelof, Andujar set for rehab assignments

MLB news roundup

Welcome to Thursday eveyone!

The Athletics are off today after hosting three teams during their home stand. They’ll now head out on their own three city road trip, hitting Seattle, Houston, and Kansas City before coming back home. Before they head out though, the team was kind enough to offer some updates on some of their injured players.

First, second baseman Zack Gelof is set to begin his rehab assignment in a couple days as Martin Gallegos reports. Gelof, who has had an underwhelming start to the season, initially got injured a couple of weeks ago while in Cleveland and it worsened during the Yankees series. He’s been on the IL ever since and has missed the last 15 games.

Oblique problems can be hard to figure out sometimes. They can seem healed only for an aggravation to occur and send you back to square one on your rehab. Luckily for Gelof he’s young and seems to have avoided a serious oblique strain. He’ll need some at-bats in Triple-A to get back into game shape but it might also serve as a sort of restart for Gelof. We can probably expect him back sooner than later. There’s an outside chance he rejoins the club during the road trip but the home stand seems more likely. No matter when he returns, let’s hope this is the last we hear about the oblique.

It’s more of the same news for Miguel Andujar, who has yet to play this season after sustaining a torn meniscus in his right knee. One of the few players the team signed to a guaranteed deal this past offseason, Andujar was one of the hottest hitters for the team during spring training. It gave hope that the former top prospect could finally tap into his potential and ceiling, especially with a team like the A’s that have opportunities for players like him.

Instead it’s a familiar situation for Andujar, who has seen more than his fair share of injuries in his career. It’s been one of the things holding him back but at least this injury is relatively less serious compared to previous injuries he’s had. Once Andujar is ready to rejoin the club they’ll need to decide on what role he’ll play. He could platoon at either first base or in left field.

More encouraging news, shortstop Darell Hernaiz will not require surgery on his ankle sprain after meeting with a Stanford foot specialist:

It’s the best case scenario for Hernaiz and the club. Surgery would have likely taken Hernaiz out of the picture for months, meaning the team would have to rely on the likes of Max Schuemann and Nick Allen at shortstop until he returned. Instead it’ll likely be weeks instead of months. Hernaiz was beginning to play well after taking over everyday shortstop duties once Allen was demoted. He’ll need a rehab assignment but hopefully he can pick up right where he left off.

In more ominous news, left-hander Ken Waldichuk is set to visit renowned doctor Neal ElAttrache next Monday. Waldichuk, who has been on the IL all season with an elbow sprain, just got back on the mound for a 25-pitch bullpen session on April 29th. Unfortunately it didn’t go well as he was immediately shut down afterwards, pointing towards surgical intervention as more and more likely. At this point the best-case scenario is Waldichuk can begin throwing in June and perhaps get back to game action in late July or August, but it’s just as likely that Waldichuk will need elbow surgery. If it’s the dreaded Tommy John surgery, we might not see him again in an Athletics uniform until 2026. It’s an unfortunate development for someone the team had such high hopes for. We’ll all be hoping and praying for that first, best-case scenario.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s take game one of double header against Rangers
• Comeback falls short in second game of double header
• Shea Langeliers sets A’s record during Wednesday double header
• A’s promote top prospect Wilson to Triple-A
• A’s exact stadium location in Vegas still undetermined

MLB News & Interest:

• Pirates promote baseball’s top prospect Skenes
• Giants place Jorge Soler on IL
• Giancarlo Stanton hits MLB’s hardest hit ball of ‘24
• Reds’ Encarnacion-Strand hits IL with broken wrist
• Ohtani’s ex-interpreter pleads guilty, faces 33 years
• MLB warns teams against encouraging teens to drop out of high school to avoid amateur draft
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Former Athletic making Mariners history:

He’s not the only one who will miss the Coliseum:

Tough case scenario, not worst case though: