Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Majority of starts at catcher
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Soderstrom has played more games at catcher (eight) than first base (three) with Triple-A Las Vegas.
He has been roughly league average (97 wRC+) in the early going, as a .267/.346/.511 slash line is par for the course in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, the fact the A's have continued to stress his development behind the dish is noteworthy, as most evaluators view him as the team's first baseman of the future.
Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Getting taste of Triple-A
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The Athletics promoted Soderstrom from Double-A Midland to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.
With Midland's season coming to a close Sunday, the Athletics will reward one of their top prospects with a look in Las Vegas, where he could end up spending a large portion of the 2023 campaign. Las Vegas marks the third stop of the season for the 20-year-old backstop, who slashed .265/.324/.509 with 28 home runs across 518 plate appearances between Midland and High-A Lansing.
Soderstrom was promoted to Double-A Midland on Sunday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Soderstrom performed well at High-A Lansing to begin the season, slashing .259/.322/.515 with 20 home runs, 71 RBI and 47 runs over 88 games. The 20-year-old is one of the Athletics' top prospects and has impressed over his first two years in the minors after being selected 26th overall by Oakland in 2020. Soderstrom's defensive abilities lag behind his potential at the plate, but he'll have a chance to prove himself against an increased level of talent.
Soderstrom has generated a .278 average and .889 OPS across 36 plate appearances over his last eight games with High-A Lansing.
The 20-year-old's numbers were in dire straits as recently as May 13, when he carried a .173/.263/.346 slash line over his first 29 games. However, Soderstrom's current surge has seen him lace five of 10 hits for extra bases, a sample that includes another three home runs to push his season total to seven. The promising prospect's 26.0 percent strikeout rate is currently a tick higher than last season's 24.0 percent figure at Low-A Stockton, but he's also been partly victimized by a .223 BABIP.
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Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Tough start to 2022
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Soderstrom is hitting just .156/.224/.338 with three homers, 10 RBI and eight runs across 22 games for High-A Lansing.
After wreaking havoc at Low-A Stockton last year, Soderstrom came into 2022 with great expectations and lofty rankings on a lot of prospect lists. However, the 2020 first-rounder has been lost at the plate to open the season, having collected just a single multi-hit game (in which he hit two of his three home runs) while seeing his walk rate sink to 7.5 percent and his strikeout rate climb to an alarming 30.0 percent. It's worth noting that Soderstrom, who was drafted as a catcher and mostly played behind the plate last year, has been used at first base or DH in five straight games. It's possible that this year's issues have to do with the strain of catching (which likely was responsible for ending his season prematurely last year) catching up to him, or perhaps due to a focus on adjusting to a new defensive position. Most analysts agree that his future isn't behind the plate, and perhaps making that move to a less stressful position will lead to better results. He did hit a 111 mph double while starting at first base Thursday, according to Lansing broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, so perhaps that's a sign that he's starting to come around.
Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Fully healthy for 2022
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Soderstrom reported to minor-league spring training at full health after he was sidelined for the final two months of the 2021 season plus the Arizona Fall League with an oblique strain, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.
The injury spelled an early end to an impressive professional debut season for the 20-year-old catcher, who was a 2020 first-round selection. He saw action in 54 games for Low-A Stockton, slashing .306/.390/.568 with 33 extra-base hits and a 10.8 percent walk rate across 254 plate appearances. Soderstrom profiles as one of the top backstop prospects in all of baseball, but his bat remains firmly ahead of his glove at this stage of his development, making it uncertain whether he'll stick behind the plate long term. He's expected to begin the 2022 campaign at High-A Lansing.
Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: On IL with back issue
Rotowire
Soderstrom was placed on the 7-day injured list at Low-A Stockton on Tuesday because of a back issue, Athletics Farm reports.
Soderstrom hasn't played since July 23 due to a collarbone injury, and it now sounds like he's also hampered by some sort of back problem. The severity of the latest issue isn't clear, so it's not known how long the Athletics expect their top prospect to be on the shelf. The backstop has slashed .306/.390/.568 with 12 homers and 49 RBI across 222 at-bats with Stockton this season.
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Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Dealing with collarbone injury
Rotowire
Soderstrom has been sidelined since July 23 after taking a foul tip to the collarbone, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.
The catching prospect was hit by the foul ball July 20, although he did play July 23 and went 2-for-5 with a home run. It's unclear what injury Soderstrom is dealing with and whether he's at all close to returning to the field for Low-A Stockton, where he's hit .306 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI in 57 games this season.
