Bleday is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.
Bleday has a .184/.259/.490 slash line with three doubles and four homers through 13 games in May, and he'll take a seat Sunday for the second time in the Athletics' past four contests. Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker will start from left to right in the outfield while Shea Langeliers receives a turn at designated hitter against San Francisco righty Justin Verlander.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Homers in Tuesday's win
Rotowire
Bleday went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Tuesday's 11-1 win over the Dodgers.
Bleday has homered in back-to-back games, and four of his six long balls this season have come over his last nine contests. In that span, he's gone 9-for-35 (.257) with seven RBI and a 4:9 BB:K. The outfielder has gotten off to a somewhat slow start in 2025 despite his relatively steady play lately. He's at a .222/.315/.410 slash line over 165 plate appearances.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Absent from lineup against lefty
Rotowire
Bleday is not in the lineup for Monday's contest in Texas.
It's a day off for the left-handed-hitting Bleday as the Rangers send southpaw Patrick Corbin to the bump. Max Schuemann will start in center field and hit ninth for the Athletics.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Receiving first day off
Rotowire
Bleday is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.
The 27-year-old outfielder will get his first day off of the season in Sunday's series finale, paving the way for Seth Brown to pick up a start in center. Bleday has delivered disappointing returns through the Athletics' first 15 games, batting .208 with one home run, one steal, nine runs and six RBI.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Breaks out of slump
Rotowire
Bleday went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, three RBI and three runs scored in Tuesday's 10-4 win over the Padres.
Bleday broke out of a slump as he was hitting just .175 (7-for-40) with one extra-base hit in 11 games before Tuesday. He's showing good plate discipline with an 8:9 BB:K so this could be the start of a turnaround.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Having solid spring
Rotowire
Bleday is hitting .304 (7-for-23) with two home runs in nine games this spring. He's set to return as the everyday starter in center field, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Prior to the 2024 campaign, Bleday's performance both at the major- and minor-league levels never really matched up to the pedigree of a No. 4 overall pick. He made some real strides last year, however, in his first full major-league season by hitting .243/.324/.437 with 20 home runs. He also improved against left-handed pitching by posting a .714 OPS against southpaws, which should keep him in the everyday lineup.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Out against left-hander
Rotowire
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.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Multi-hit effort Friday
Rotowire
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.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Not in Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
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.
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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.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Belts 18th homer Saturday
Rotowire
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.
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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.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Lifts 17th homer Wednesday
Rotowire
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.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Homers late in win
Rotowire
Bleday went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in Tuesday's win over the Giants.
Bleday entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth and came through with a solo blast to right in the eighth to extend the Oakland lead. It was just his second home run in July and his first RBI in just over a week, as he's struggled to get going at the dish for most of the month. The 2019 first-round pick is slashing .236/.316/.437 with 13 homers, 37 RBI, 48 runs, zero stolen bases and a 44:80 BB:K in 428 plate appearances. He's also tied for second in the American League with 30 doubles for the year.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Idle against lefty
Rotowire
Bleday is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Angels.
Bleday will get the night off Saturday with the Angels putting southpaw Tyler Anderson on the bump. Bleday is slashing .233/.314/.430 with 12 home runs in 422 plate appearances this season.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Getting breather against LHP
Rotowire
Bleday isn't in Oakland's lineup Thursday against the Angels.
With southpaw Kenny Rosenberg slated to start Thursday's game for the Halos, the left-handed bat of Bleday will stay put in Oakland's dugout. Daz Cameron will fill the void in center field and bat seventh.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Three hits in win
Rotowire
Bleday went 3-for-4 with an RBI double in Monday's 4-0 win over the Astros.
Bleday has at least one double in five straight games, with his two-bagger Monday plating the Athletics' third run. The outfielder is 10-for-21 over those five games after opening July in a 3-for-38 rut. Overall, Bleday is at a .238/.319/.438 slash line with 12 homers, 29 doubles, four triples, 36 RBI and 44 runs scored over 100 contests.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Ends homer drought
Rotowire
Bleday went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and a double in Friday's 13-3 win over the Angels.
Bleday has five extra-base hits over his last two games, but he hadn't homered since June 22 before taking Matt Moore deep in the sixth inning. Bleday also recently endured a stretch of 20 contests without a multi-hit effort. That's taken some of the shine off a decent year for the outfielder, who is slashing .232/.314/.431 with 12 homers, 34 RBI, 42 runs scored, 25 doubles and four triples over 97 games. He's yet to successfully steal a base in 2024.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Idle Friday
Rotowire
Bleday is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Phillies.
Bleday will get the night off Friday after making four consecutive starts in center field. In his place, Daz Cameron will get the nod and bat leadoff.
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Athletics' JJ Bleday: Snaps brief slump Tuesday
Rotowire
Bleday hit out of the leadoff spot for the fourth straight game in Tuesday's win over the Angels, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single.
Bleday brought Brett Harris home with the final run of the night for Oakland in the sixth via a single, giving the former his 30th RBI of the season. Coming into the night, the talented outfielder had been mired in an 0-for-13 skid that had encompassed his previous three games, but that clearly hasn't discouraged manager Mark Kotsay from keeping Bleday atop the order for the time being.
