Bleday is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Cubs.
The Cubs are sending lefty Justin Steele to the hill, so the left-handed-hitting Bleday will begin the game on the bench. Daz Cameron will get a start in center field for the Athletics.
Bleday went 2-for-4 with a double in a win over the White Sox on Friday.
Bleday extended a modest hitting streak to four games with the productive night, one that also featured his third double in that span. The slugging outfielder has been in an atypical power drought -- he hasn't left the yard in the last 13 games -- but his current modest surge in production and the fact he's starting to get good wood on the ball again could be the harbinger of another resurgence. Bleday has demonstrated impressive pop in his breakout campaign, knocking exactly half of his 130 hits for extra bases, including a career-high 20 home runs.
Bleday is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers.
Bleday will sit Sunday after a run of eight straight starts, during which he went 11-for-35 (.314 average) with three doubles and three home runs. Daz Cameron will shift to center field and Seth Brown will move to left, opening up first base for Tyler Nevin.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Reaches 20-homer mark
Rotowire
Bleday went 2-for-5 with a homer, a double, four RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-2 win at Texas.
The Oakland center fielder slugged a 370-foot, three-run homer off Jon Gray in the third inning to stretch the team's lead to 4-1. Bleday later laced an RBI double in the ninth inning before being driven home on a Shea Langeliers long ball. Bleday has swung a hot bat in the second half, hitting .305 (40-for-131) with nine homers, 11 doubles, 26 runs scored and 22 RBI across his last 36 games.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Five hits in Thursday's loss
Rotowire
Bleday went 5-for-5 with a solo home run, two doubles and three total runs scored in Thursday's 10-9 loss to the Reds.
Bleday went 6-for-39 (.154) over a 10-game span without a multi-hit effort before a massive breakout game Thursday. The outfielder is now hitting .295 (26-for-88) with six homers and five doubles over 23 contests in August. Overall, he has a .249/.330/.460 slash line with 19 homers, 50 RBI, 65 runs scored, 35 doubles, four triples and a stolen base through 131 games as a centerpiece of the Athletics' offense this year.
Bleday went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in a loss to the Brewers on Saturday.
Bleday launched a 408-foot shot to right center in the first inning off Colin Rea to give the Athletics a quick start they weren't able to sustain. The slugging outfielder is on quite a power surge over the last two weeks, smacking five homers across 49 plate appearances, including three in his last five games.
Bleday went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in a loss to the Rays on Wednesday.
The slugging outfielder opened the scoring with a 373-foot solo shot to right field, his fourth homer in the last nine games. Bleday has had two hitless games during that span, but a pair of three-hit efforts in the same sample and the quartet of round trippers has helped him to a .303 average and 1.092 OPS across 40 plate appearances.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Absent versus lefty
Rotowire
Bleday is not in the lineup for Thursday's game versus the Rays, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Southpaw Jeffrey Springs will take the hill for the Rays, so the left-handed-hitting Bleday will begin the contest on the bench. Daz Cameron will draw the start in center field for the Athletics.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Powers offense in victory
Rotowire
Bleday went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk Monday in a 3-0 win against Tampa Bay.
Bleday provided all the offense starter Joe Boyle and three relievers would need with his two-run blast in the first inning. The center fielder had gone 0-for-8 over his previous two games but has been hot overall of late, batting .346 (9-for-26) with three home runs and nine RBI over his past six games. Bleday ranks third on the Athletics with 16 homers and 47 RBI across 123 contests on the campaign.
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Three hits, grand slam in win
Rotowire
Bleday went 3-for-5 with a grand slam, a stolen base and an additional run scored in Thursday's 7-6 win over the Mets.
Bleday filled up the box score Thursday, and his big hit came in the fourth inning when he launched a two-out grand slam off Jose Quintana to get Oakland on the board, cutting their deficit to 5-4 in the eventual comeback win. The 26-year-old Bleday has been hot at the plate for over two weeks now, going 19-for-53 (.358) with three homers, nine RBI and a 1.028 OPS in his last 15 games. Overall, he's slashing .249/.330/.449 with 15 homers, 45 RBI, 57 runs scored and one steal across 483 plate appearances this season.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Keeps hot streak going Tuesday
Rotowire
Bleday went 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs in a win over the Mets on Tuesday.
One game after unloading for his 14th home run of the season and crossing the 40-RBI mark, Bleday got it done in small-ball style Tuesday. The hot-hitting outfielder lifted his OBP on the season to .326 with his three trips on the basepaths, and he now boasts a .333 average and .956 OPS with five extra-base hits, five RBI and nine runs across his last 13 games.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Homer, three hits in win
Rotowire
Bleday went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and three RBI in Sunday's 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Bleday hit a two-run homer in the first inning and was perfect at the plate until his final at-bat. It was the outfielder's first long ball in August, a month in which he has gone 10-for-33 while hitting safely in seven of nine contests. On the season, he is hitting .243 with 14 home runs, 41 RBI and 52 runs scored across 469 plate appearances.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: On base twice in loss
Rotowire
Bleday went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in a loss to the Blue Jays on Friday.
Bleday provided one of three extra-base hits on the night for the Athletics, hitting safely for the ninth time in 10 games in the process. The slugging outfielder is currently in an eight-game home-run drought, but Bleday still carries a serviceable .756 OPS on the campaign thanks to having laced over half (50) of his 99 hits for extra bases.
... See More... See Less
Athletics' JJ Bleday: Multi-hit effort in win
Rotowire
Bleday went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run in a win over the Dodgers on Friday.
Bleday's fifth-inning two-bagger, his 31st double of the season, plated Miguel Andujar to extend the Athletics' lead to 4-2 at the time. Bleday now has a five-game on-base streak and back-to-back multi-hit efforts, and all three components of his .241/.320/.441 slash line are comfortably career highs.
