Athletics Prospects: Tyler Soderstrom stays hot

Soderstrom continues to hit the ball hard, and Vegas has ridden his performance to a good week.

Injuries have started to clear up a bit for the hitters in the Oakland Athletics system, and we’re getting full lineups and some solid performances especially from guys like Tyler Soderstrom. Darell Hernaiz also impressed in his first week back with the Aviators. Unfortunately as some guys have gotten to hit two bigger named pitching prospects hit the injured list.

Las Vegas Aviators

Game Results

Record: 9-11, 4th in PCL West, 4.5 GB

Vegas was on a slide heading into this week and sat in last place in their division, but they snuck out four straight close wins to end the week and make up ground.

Season stats

• Logan Davidson - 8 G, 25 PA, 0 HR, 0 BB, 11 K, .160/.192/.160, -13 wRC+
• Jordan Diaz - 14 G, 62 PA, 1 HR, 4 BB, 16 K, .246/.306/.351, 67 wRC+
• Joey Estes - 19 ⅓ IP, 6.98 ERA, 7 BB, 16 K, 7 HR, 8.14 FIP
• Brett Harris - 18 G, 68 PA, 1 HR, 9 BB, 18 K, .298/.412/.439, 123 wRC+
• Darell Hernaiz - 4 G, 18 PA, 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 K, .286/.389/.571, 131 wRC+
• Max Muncy - 17 G, 68 PA, 2 HR, 6 BB, 15 K, .271/.368/.458, 111 wRC+
• Tyler Soderstrom - 17 G, 73 PA, 5 HR, 9 BB, 20 K, .242/.356/.597, 128 wRC+

Top Performers

For those that had concern about Tyler Soderstrom after his major league debut last season he has done his best early to answer questions, consistently performing as the best player on the Aviators roster. His strikeouts and whiffs remained high last week, but he has hit the ball hard with regularity and last week drew five walks. Soderstrom had a double in each of his final four games last week and over his past seven games has totaled six doubles and two home runs and he now ranks fifth in the Pacific Coast League in isolated power (.355) among hitters with 40+ plate appearances. An important addition to the roster was Darell Hernaiz, and shockingly giving a talented young player consistent at bats allows him to turn in top level performances. Hernaiz cranked a home run in his season debut, taking a changeup from MLB veteran Dallas Keuchel the opposite way in his second plate appearance. Brett Harris has been solid throughout April for Vegas, and once again turned in a good performance reaching base in the first five games of the week. He saw his six game on base streak come to an end when he grounded out in his lone plate appearance as a pinch hitter on Sunday. Harris racked up strikeouts early in the season with nine in just his first five games, but in the 13 since he has cut back on that significantly and been the best on base threat for the Aviators with a .412 OBP on the season.

On the other hand we saw some regression from Max Muncy, who has managed to keep down the strikeouts much of the early part of the season but led the team with seven last week. Overall Muncy has been solid this season and the hope is this is a blip for him, but his higher whiff rates indicate we may see a bit more of this going forward. Still he has held his own, and added his second home run of the season in Friday’s game. Joey Estes managed to make it through his start without allowing a home run and ended with decent final results allowing only two runs. Estes didn’t force many swings and misses, partially due to his high fastball usage, but managed to give up very little hard contact to keep the Rainiers offense at bay. Estes got seven whiffs on his fastball, his best performance on the pitch this season, but unfortunately after this start he was placed on the injured list. Stevie Emanuels made his Triple-A debut after a promotion and pitched an impressive inning, striking out two batters in his lone inning of work.

Midland Rockhounds

Game Results

Record: 9-6, t-1st TL South, 0 GB

2-4 last week

Season stats

• Cooper Bowman - 14 G, 64 PA, 1 HR, 6 BB, 18 K, .193/.270/.281, 57 wRC+
• Denzel Clarke - 13 G, 59 PA, 1 HR, 2 BB, 29 K, .164/.220/.236, 30 wRC+
• Ryan Cusick - 10 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 11 K, 0 HR, 2.57 FIP
• JT Ginn - 13.1 IP, 7.24 ERA, 3 BB, 11 K, 0 HR, 3.06 FIP
• Gunnar Hoglund - 15 ⅔ IP, 3.45 ERA, 4 BB, 12 K, 1 HR, 3.63 FIP
• Royber Salinas - 16 ⅓ IP, 2.20 ERA, 7 BB, 21 K, 2 HR, 4.24 FIP
• Daniel Susac - 5 G, 20 PA, 0 HR, 0 BB, 12 K, .200/.200/.200, 9 wRC+
• Colby Thomas - 14 G, 64 PA, 4 HR, 4 BB, 14 K, .316/.375/.579, 159 wRC+
• Jacob Wilson - 11 G, 43 PA, 2 HR, 1 BB, 8 K, .359/.395/.564, 163 wRC+

Top Performers

Coming off of two impressive starts there were expected to be eyes on Ryan Cusick for Midland, but his start this week was skipped and it appears he is headed to the injured list. This is unfortunate news for a guy who seemed to be turning a corner in his career after facing a slew of injuries. It was just not a great week overall for Midland, but the one player who has maintained solid play is Jacob Wilson. Wilson put up an impressive plate appearance when he hit his home run, waiting out a handful of pitches before getting a pitch on the inner half that he could drive. This sort of selectiveness is what could take Wilson’s offensive game to the next level, as his ability to make contact is unquestioned and being able to lay off in zone pitches that aren’t necessarily something he can drive will allow him to put up deeper plate appearances. Overall he was the top offensive performer, with Colby Thomas dropping off of a cliff after his huge week last week. Daniel Susac returned to the lineup and didn’t look particularly good, but it’s more important to see him healthy and working back into form as the coming weeks pass. Denzel Clarke is the one that is really creating growing concern, as he just hasn’t been able to make contact at any sort of reasonable rate and added nine more strikeouts in four games last week.

Royber Salinas was outstanding on the mound on Saturday, and early in the season he has been a force for the RockHounds pitching staff. Salinas went seven strong innings and allowed one run, striking out seven batters for the third consecutive game. Salinas is the team’s leader in strikeouts, and though the walks remain high his ability to keep it in check with two in this outing made a huge difference. Gunnar Hoglund has also been solid, and for the first time in his professional career made it through six innings in his last start. Hoglund didn’t miss many bats in this game but was keeping the ball on the ground, and needed only 77 pitches to get through six innings. It’s clear the A’s haven’t completely turned Hoglund loose yet, but these flashes of performance have started to be more common as he works his way forward.

Lansing Lugnuts

Record: 7-8, 3rd in MWL East, 1.5 GB

Season stats

• Henry Bolte - 13 G, 58 PA, 3 HR, 3 BB, 26 K, .241/.293/.481, 110 wRC+
• Brayan Buelvas - 14 G, 61 PA, 3 HR, 11 BB, 16 K, .189/.328/.377, 102 wRC+
• James Gonzalez - 11 ⅓ IP, 0.79 ERA, 1 BB, 13 K, 1 HR, 2.87 FIP
• Wander Guante - 9 IP, 6.00 ERA, 2 BB, 11 K, 4 HR, 8.09 FIP
• Will Simpson - 14 G, 61 PA, 2 HR, 17 BB, 15 K, .326/.508/.535, 194 wRC+
• Jacob Watters - 9 ⅔ IP, 6.52 ERA, 6 BB, 7 K, 0 HR, 4.17 FIP

Top Performers

This was a tremendous week for the Lugnuts, with many of their top players posting their best performances of the season. Notable among those was Henry Bolte, who hit two home runs and finally showed the hard contact I was hoping to see when he struggled early this season. Bolte still struck out nine times and that has been a significant concern early in the season, but his two home runs and four total extra base hits last week were a sign of him coming around offensively. The same could be said of Brayan Buelvas, who had a hit in each of his six games last week along with home runs in the first three. They were not cheap shots either, Buelvas was ranking early in the week and when it turned into singles in the final three games he did damage on the bases with four stolen bases. Buelvas’s numbers are overall hurt by a .209 BABIP, but this is one of the more impressive stretches of his young career. Of course there was also Will Simpson, who got on base in more than half of his plate appearances. Simpson drew six walks last week, leads the Midwest League in walk rate, and ranks second in on base percentage. When he has needed to make contact he did well with that last week, notching his first home run of the season.

James Gonzalez finally allowed his first home run of the season, as a first inning home run ended his scoreless streak. He then shut down Lake County’s offense for the rest of the game, leading Lansing to a win as his ERA got back down to 0.79. Gonzalez has been clearly the Lugnuts best pitcher early this season. Jacob Watters had his best start from the early season, allowing only one run over five innings of work. Watters has been a bit of a disappointment early on, as although we knew the command issues would exist, their presence along with a drop in swing-and-miss has led to an overall unimpressive showing so far in 2024.

Stockton Ports

Game Results

Record: 3-10, 4th in CAL North, 7 GB

Stockton continues to slip, taking only one win out of six games from Fresno.

Season stats

• Cole Conn - 13 G, 59 PA, 0 HR, 12 BB, 6 K, .326/.500/.442, 166 wRC+
• Nathan Dettmer - 7 ⅔ IP, 7.04 ERA, 3 BB, 8 K, 2 HR, 6.50 FIP
• Will Johnston - 11 IP, 2.45 ERA, 8 BB, 20 K, 0 HR, 2.57 FIP
• Ryan Lasko - 12 G, 55 PA, 0 HR, 8 BB, 20 K, .170/.291/.213, 45 wRC+
• Nate Nankil - 12 G, 51 PA, 2 HR, 6 BB, 11 K, .262/.392/.476, 132 wRC+
• Myles Naylor - 12 G, 53 PA, 2 HR, 13 BB, 14 K, .150/.358/.300, 89 wRC+
• Tzu-Chen Sha - 9 ⅔ IP, 7.45 ERA, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 7.23 FIP
• Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang - 5 ⅓ IP, 1.69 ERA, 2 BB, 8 K, 0 HR, 2.15 FIP

Top Performers

It was a rough week out there for Stockton, who has been one of the worst teams in minor league baseball early this season. There has been just no offensive production from the team, as they’re averaging nearly a run less per game than the next worst offense in the league. Maybe the biggest bright spot early on has been Cole Conn, who at the very least has been able to hit consistently. Conn has 12 walks to only six strikeouts early this season, and after reaching safely in 12 of his 22 plate appearances last week has his on base percentage up to an even .500. 2023 7th rounder Nate Nankil had an alright week, ending it with his second home run of the season, but the player of the week has to go to Luke Mann. Mann struggled the first couple of week this season but went off last week with six hits, a home run, and a 1.233 OPS. For the actual prospects on the team it was tough sledding. Ryan Lasko struck out ten times in five games, and it’s been a significant disappointment to see his strikeout rate staying so high early in the season.

Myles Naylor went 1-14 last week, but as it compares to others it’s hard to say he had a truly bad week. His one hit was a home run, and for his eight balls in play he went 0-8. Naylor drew four walks in eighteen plate appearances, and while his strikeout rate hasn’t been good early this year I’m not particularly concerned by him striking out at 26.4% especially with his walk rate. Naylor’s contact quality hasn’t been fantastic, but given his physical toolset and the patience he has shown at the plate, the hope is that over the next few weeks some of these misses will turn into barrels and the overall poor start can turn around. Nathan Dettmer had a decent short outing for Stockton, notching three strikeouts across three innings of work.

Roster Moves:
4/16 - SS Elvis Rijo assigned to Lansing Lugnuts
4/17 - RHP Billy Sullivan released
4/18 - 3B Yeniel Laboy assigned to Stockton Ports
4/18 - Stockton Ports place SS BJay Cooke on 7-day IL
4/18 - RHP Stevie Emanuels assigned to Las Vegas Aviators from Midland Rockhounds
4/18 - Oakland optioned SS Darell Hernaiz to Las Vegas Aviators
4/18 - Las Vegas Aviators transfer IF Logan Davidson to the Development List
4/19 - Midland Rockhounds place C Mario Gomez on 7-day IL
4/19 - Midland Rockhounds activate C Daniel Susac from 7-day IL
4/20 - Las Vegas Aviators place RHP Joey Estes on 7-day IL, retroactive to 4/19