Tyler Soderstrom blasts 19th homer in victory

It’s a procedural move to generate a roster spot for Johnathan Rodriguez. Sodestrom is already out for the season.

It’s not hyperbolic to say that the Athletics were crushed by injuries to key offensive contributors this season with Soderstrom joining Brent Rooker (knee), Nick Kurtz (thumb) and Shea Langeliers (knee) among those to miss significant time. The 24-year-old hit the injured list with a hip impingement over the weekend and will miss the final six weeks of the year. He finishes with a .245/.338/.472 slash line with 58 runs scored, 19 homers, 56 RBI and two steals across 453 plate appearances in 109 games. He’ll be a top 30-40 range outfielder in fantasy drafts next spring.

The 24-year-old slugger will be shelved for at least a couple of weeks while dealing with the hip issue. Darell Hernaiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move to take his place on the A’s active roster.

The A’s had Thursday off, so Soderstrom has started just twice in five days. However, at least this day off, unlike the last one on Tuesday, is against a lefty. Soderstrom is still bothered by the sore hip that put him on the IL in early July. He’ll probably do a lot of DHing the rest of the way.

Soderstrom receives his first day off since July 12. The 24-year-old corner outfielder is hitting .258 (23-for-89) with five homers, 14 RBI and one steal in 23 games since last month’s All-Star break. It’ll be Zack Gelof taking over in left field with Carlos Cortes taking a turn at DH.

He provided one of two Athletics hits and all the scoring for his team in a messy 13-1 loss. It’s the lefty slugger’s first homer in his last seven games and second in his last 15, but he’s played about to expectations this year with a .245/.340/.467 overall line and 18 homers.

Soderstrom was the only person to drive home a run with a hit in this game as the Athletics outlasted the Twins 2-0 and scored their other run via a sacrifice fly. He’s quietly had another strong season with 16 home runs, 49 RBI, a .248 batting average, and .819 OPS in 91 games. His play has been especially strong lately with eight homers and a .964 OPS over his last 30 games as he’s put an ice cold start to his season far in the rear view mirror.

Soderstrom gave the A’s an 8-0 lead in the sixth inning with a two-run shot that was the 16th of the season. Not exactly high-leverage, but counts just the same. He also singled, and those reaches bring his slash up to .246/.356/.484 on the campaign with 46 RBI over 306 at-bats. Soderstrom certainly has his flaws, but it’s tough to complain too much about the production over the last two campaign.s

The A’s have been careful to ease Soderstrom back into action since his return from the injured list, so he’ll get another day off with left-hander Noah Schultz taking the mound for the White Sox in this one. Expect to see him utilized off the bench against a right-hander later in the game if needed. Joey Meneses will start in his place at first base and bat sixth for the A’s on Sunday.

At the time, it seemed like Soderstrom had hit a meaningful home run. He cut the White Sox’s lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh and there was a whiff of momentum in the air. Then, the White Sox responded with an eight-run bottom of that inning and the rout was on. Alas, that was Soderstrom’s 14th home run in a first half where he had to battle a couple of injuries.