Tyler

Soderstrom

A series in Las Vegas was just what the doctor ordered for Soderstrom, who hasn’t had much luck while already playing his home games in a very friendly ballpark for offense. He hit homers on 99- and 104-mph flies tonight, bringing his season total to 10. He’s 19-for-47 with five homers and 11 walks in his last 14 games, raising his OPS from .655 to .790.

The Athletics were down 6-0 in what felt like the blink of an eye in this one. Soderstrom’s run-scoring single in the third inning felt like it could’ve helped get a rally going, but it was eventually for naught as the Astros put up an additional touchdown before this one was said and done. For Soderstrom, a nearly 1.100 OPS over his last 15 games with practically twice as many walks as strikeouts has helped raise his season long stats to acceptable levels following an abysmal start to the season. Through 61 games, he now has a .754 OPS with 30 RBI and his 17 doubles are third-most in the American League.

Soderstrom helped complete the Athletics’ comeback with a single off Caleb Thielbar to tie the game in the eighth inning. Heading into this game, he had a .182 batting average against left-handed pitchers, so that knock was as shocking as it was huge. He’s gotten his season back on track with hits in 12 of his last 13 games with three home runs and three doubles over that stretch.

The walk came in the fourth after Soderstrom challenged a called strike that was clearly a ball, was shown to be a ball on the ABS replay and yet deemed a strike anyway.. Statcast thinks Soderstrom has been pretty unlucky this year, but that wasn’t the case tonight, as he got a homer on a 403-foot fly that would have stayed in play in 13 ballparks and a double on an 84-mph liner to right. He’s 10-for-21 with two homers and just one strikeout in his last six games, raising his OPS from .655 to .739.

Soderstrom knocked a base hit in the fifth, then put the A’s on the board for the only run of the game with a solo homer off Andrés Muñoz in the ninth. It was a 110.5 mph shot over the center field wall for his sixth of the season. The 24-year-old outfielder has been a bit unlucky, with a .233 BABIP, while still generating plenty of hard contact. The home run on Tuesday was his first since May 6, but hopefully the two-hit game was the start of a turnaround. Soderstrom is slashing .207/.288/.384 with 24 runs scored and 25 RBI across 222 plate appearances.

Soderstrom’s RBI gave the A’s an insurance run in the top of the ninth. It’s been a slow start following last year’s breakout, but one has to figure the entire Athletics offense will heat up once the summer home games begin piling up. Soderstrom has actually increased his walk rate and lowered his strikeout rate so far. He entered Sunday with a .225 BABIP that should positively regress in the coming months.

Soderstrom plated automatic runner Nick Kurtz in the 10th with a fly that dropped in front of Mike Trout and Josh Lowe in left-center. It looked like Trout might try to dive for it, but he wouldn’t have had much of a chance, and as he crossed in front of Lowe, the ball got by Lowe for a two-base error. Soderstrom is now up to 23 RBI in 46 for the season.

Soderstrom had a 108-mph GIDP in the first, which wound up being the second hardest-hit ball in the game. In the third, he hit a 344-foot fly to right that would have been a homer in 10 ballparks, including Sutter Health, if Jordan Walker hadn’t casually grabbed before it could get over the ballpark’s low wall. In the sixth, Soderstrom barreled up a ball to left-center that projected at 396 feet, making it a homer in 13 ballparks. In this one, though, it was knocked down by the wind and was an easy play for Victor Scott II. Later came a 105-mph groundout for his fourth hard-hit ball of the day. Soderstrom is down to .195 after this, but the hits will come.

Soderstrom has been struggling against lefties — he came into the day 4-for-38 — so it was nice to see him homer off Parker Messick. He’ll face another good one in Christopher Sánchez when the A’s face the Phillies on Tuesday.

It was an extremely encouraging development to see Soderstrom back in Friday’s lineup following a two-game absence due to a lingering neck issue that cropped up while attempting to make a diving catch earlier this week. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status this weekend, but all indications are that he’s healthy and won’t require any additional time off.