Welcome to Margaritaville, where it’s always 5 o’clock, the jerseys (and vibes) are crisp and apparently, Tyler Soderstrom is launching baseballs into orbit.
The top-ranked Athletics prospect was homerin’ away again in an 11-8 Aviators victory on Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark, as the club gave a nod to the Jimmy Buffett-inspired oasis. Soderstrom sent his seventh-inning roundtripper a resounding 461 feet -- his second furthest long ball of the year -- before providing insurance in the form of his 12th homer of the season a frame later.
In front of Triple-A Las Vegas’ eighth sellout crowd of the season, both at-bats saw the lefty-swinging backstop get ahead in the count 1-0 before getting a center-cut pitch and walloping it out to become a souvenir -- to straightaway and left-center, respectively. It marks his second multihomer contest of the year and pulls him into a tie for sixth place in homers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Soderstrom’s power (60, on the 20-80 scouting scale) is his trademark tool and he has continued to put it on display in his first extended taste of Triple-A at just 21 years old. After being named an Organization All-Star in 2022, and slugging up through the ranks, the club’s first-round selection in the 2020 Draft has barreled his way onto the doorstep of a big league callup.
Drafted as the rare first-round high school catcher, Oakland has continued to allow Soderstrom’s development behind the dish to progress, but with an eye toward future big league roster construction, his time in the field has included a steady dose of handling a first baseman’s mitt in 2023.
While the A’s boast electric talent at Double-A Midland, the Aviators' lineup is potent in its own right, with eight of Saturday’s starters finishing the contest with an OPS north of .830 on the year. Third-ranked A’s prospect Zack Gelof scored on both of Soderstrom’s homers, enjoying a two-hit, two-walk, two-steal night.
The next wave of talent has already begun to arrive in Oakland with Mason Miller, Jordan Diaz and Esteury Ruiz all top prospects at the start of 2023 who have impacted the big league club. Soderstrom's power profile remains tantalizing to envision at the heart of the A's order for years to come.