UVA third baseman Jake Gelof is the second Gelof taken in the second round of an MLB Draft, going Sunday night to the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 60th pick.
Jake’s older brother, Zack, went in the second round, also with the 60th pick, to the Oakland A’s in the 2021 draft.
Zack Gelof, who is also a third baseman, may not be far from getting a callup to the bigs. The third-rated prospect in the A’s farm system going into the season, the older Gelof is slashing .304/.401/.529 with a .930 OPS, 12 homers and 44 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas in 2023.
To get a sense of the near-future for the younger brother, Zack started in 2021 at the Rookie level, played one game there, ended the summer of 2021 in Triple-A, and then split between Double-A Stockton and Vegas in 2022 before beginning this season at the Triple-A level.
The younger Gelof had the better numbers of the two, by a good bit, at Virginia, hitting 48 homers (to Zack’s 16), slashing .329/.429/.684, with an OPS of 1.113 (Zack’s slash: .316/.396/.478, with an OPS of .874).
Gelof put up record-setting numbers for the UVA offense in 2023, setting program records in homers (23) and RBIs (90).
The Gelofs are the second set of brothers to play at UVA and be drafted in the first five rounds of an MLB Draft.
The other: Joe McCarthy (fifth round, 2015, currently a free agent) and Jake McCarthy (first round, 2018, currently slashing .246/.319/.355 with an OPS at 674, two homers, 11 RBIs in 206 plate appearances with Arizona).
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Chris Graham
