This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ Athletics Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Of the 60 players announced as Gold Glove Award finalists last week, Tyler Soderstrom might have been the most unexpected of the lot, especially given the position.
Soderstrom is vying for his first Gold Glove Award alongside Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Texas’ Wyatt Langford for the honor of top defensive left fielder in the American League. Yes, this is the same Soderstrom who was drafted as a catcher in 2020 by the Athletics, began the 2025 season as their starting first baseman, then shifted to left field -- a position he’d never played at any level of professional baseball -- in late April to help accommodate the arrival of rookie sensation Nick Kurtz.
The A’s were optimistic about Soderstrom’s chances to handle left field adequately based on his overall athleticism. What they ultimately got from him as an outfielder was likely more than what they could have imagined in year one.
“The reality is, he turned himself into a really good left fielder in a short amount of time,” A’s general manager David Forst said. “Given a full offseason and Spring Training to work on it, I think he can be an outstanding defensive left fielder.”
What began as an experiment quickly evolved into Soderstrom emerging as a solid defender. Among AL left fielders, Soderstrom finished the year tied for the most outs above average (five), second in defensive runs saved (10, min. 850 innings) and tallied the second-most assists (11) by an AL left fielder.
How does Soderstrom stack up with the competition? Well, it’s going to be difficult for him or Langford to beat out Kwan, who is aiming for a fourth consecutive Gold Glove and led all left fielders with a +12 fielding run value and an MLB-best 13 outfield assists.
Regardless of Soderstrom’s Gold Glove fate, the 23-year-old slugger proved that he is capable of being more than just an offensive force, coming a long way from his days of being touted as a bat-first prospect.
“For Tyler, the adjustments defensively, we really asked a young player to make a position change in-season twice,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We knew he could play first base. … But to quickly adjust and put him in left field, it really didn’t impact the offense. That says a lot about Tyler and the acceptance of making that positional move.”
Soderstrom and teammate Luis Severino are both Gold Glove Award finalists. To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their respective league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%.
Winners will be announced on ESPN at 5:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, Nov. 2.