The next A’s player in our “Season in Review” series is left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Soderstrom is knocking on the door of stardom and we’re all excited to see how he will build on his breakout 2025
season.
How was he acquired?
Tyler’s dad is Steve Soderstrom, the sixth overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in 1993. His career was limited to just three appearances for the major league club.
As a senior in 2020 playing for the Turlock High School team, Tyler was named the Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year. He signed to play college baseball at UCLA, but wasdrafted by the Oakland Athletics with the twenty-sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from Turlock HS here in Turlock, California. He signed with the A’s, choosing to forgo his college education.
What were the expectations?
In 2023 he broke into the majors with the A’s. He split his time between starting as a designated hitter (eighteen games), catcher (fifteen games) and first baseman (eight games). He struggled at the plate batting just .160 with three home runs and seven RBIs. In 2024 he was able to focus on playing first base exclusively, logging only four innings as the team’s catcher. That focus seemed to increase his batting productivity. But he injured his left wrist in July and spent two months rehabbing before making it back to the A’s for the final month of the season.
2025 Results
In 2025 he opened the season as the A’s starting first baseman, and he did so with a show of power that ensured a spot in the starting lineup even after rookie of the year phenom Nick Kurtz broke in as the everyday first baseman. He had three two-homer games in the first three weeks of the season. There were moments when he looked a bit shaky in left field, some may have even called him a liability, but in the end, he was a finalist for the gold glove award, losing out to perennial winner Steven Kwan. That is not an accolade offered up to a liability. In fact, he made more spectacular fielding plays than mistakes finishing second in the league in outfield assists with eleven. He also became a consistent hitter in the middle of the A’s talented batting order. He finished the season batting .276 with twenty-five home runs and 93 RBIs.
2026 Outlook
Unfortunately, Soderstrom’s name has been tossed around quite a bit this past month as a valuable trade commodity. There’s no doubt that his stock in on the rise and he’d be an asset to most any MLB team…especially the A’s. That said, he would likely (if the A’s front office is smart and strategic) bring in some real talent to fill gaps in our rotation. My hope is that he remains in the kelly green and gold and continues to grow as a player in left field and in the middle of a vastly improved A’s batting order.
