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Athletics 3B Zack Gelof next to judge with a gavel
There’s only so much professional athletes can do to avoid falling victim to an injury. However, Athletics third baseman Zack Gelof seems to think he could have avoided the one he suffered against the Tigers after filing a lawsuit over a setback he experienced at Comerica Park earlier this year.
Anyone who plays a sport for a living knows injuries are a virtually inevitable aspect of that particular line of work, as they are essentially forced to accept that they’re a matter of “when” as opposed to “if.”
It is slightly easier to deal with that reality when you’re making millions of dollars a year, but you’re also expected to push your body to the limit and potentially prioritize winning over your personal well-being when receiving that kind of compensation.
We’re frequently reminded of that reality courtesy of MLB players who won’t think twice about slamming into a wall in pursuit of an out, but one man who did exactly that over the summer has filed a lawsuit against a team he alleges didn’t do enough to protect him.
Zack Gelof is suing the Tigers over a knee injury he suffered during a road game
Zack Gelof has been all too aware of the risks that come with playing professional baseball since he was selected by the Athletics in the second round of the MLB Draft in 2021.
In 2022, the infielder was sidelined for close to two months with a torn labrum after diving for a grounder while playing Double-A ball. He made his MLB debut the following year, but he suffered multiple setbacks in 2025 due to a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder that limited his playing time.
He was thankfully healthy when the 2026 campaign got underway, but he landed on the injured list after Matt Chapman’s cleat did some damage to his hand in a game in June. He was reactivated on the Fourth of July, but his return was short-lived due to what transpired less than a week later.
On July 9th, Gelof was tapped to play left field during a game against the Tigers, and in the bottom of the third inning, he chased down a fly ball off the bat of Zach McKinstry. He was able to make a sliding catch, but slid into a fence in the process before grabbing his knee while in visible pain.
He once again ended up on the 10-day IL with what was classified as a ” deep right knee laceration,” although he didn’t suit up again until August 10th. According to Fox2, he believes that could have been avoided based on the lawsuit that was filed on Monday.
The outlet reports the Tigers, Ilitch Holdings (the franchise’s management group), and the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority (which oversees Comerica Park) have been named as the defendants in a case where Gelof argues those parties bear responsibility for the injury by failing to safeguard the metal fence he asserts made it worse than it had to be.
Marko Law, the firm representing Gelof in the matter, said, “Professional stadiums and ballparks have a fundamental responsibility to ensure that their playing surfaces and surrounding structures are reasonably safe,” and the filing cites sharp metal and insufficient padding among the risks that were not taken into consideration before the incident.
It’s unclear what damages Gelof is seeking, and while the Tigers have since installed padding on the fence in question, that certainly doesn’t erase what unfolded.
This isn’t an unprecedented situation in the MLB. In 2025, Darin Ruf sued the Reds after suffering a career-ending injury linked to a tarp roller, and Dustin Fowler went after the White Sox over a knee injury involving an unpadded electrical box in 2017.