Tyler Christian Soderstrom (; born November 24, 2001) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization. He was selected 26th overall by the Athletics in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season ...

and made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career

Soderstrom attended

Turlock High School Turlock High School (THS) is a comprehensive high school located in Turlock, in the heart of the northern San Joaquin Valley in the U.S. state of California. It is a 40+ acre campus, in the midst of a long established residential neighborhood, c ...

in Turlock, California, where he played baseball. In 2019, his junior year, he hit .450 with four home runs. That summer, he played in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game. He also played for the 18U

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

, hitting .364. As a senior in 2020, he was named the Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year after batting .357 over five games before the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He signed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Professional career

Soderstrom was considered one of the top prospects for the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season ...

. He was selected 26th overall by the

, and signed with them for $3.3 million. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

of the Low-A West. In June, Soderstrom was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

at Coors Field. After not playing in a game since July 23, he was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

on August 16 with a back injury and missed the remainder of the season. Over 57 games with Stockton, Soderstrom

slashed ''Slashed'' is a low budget independent horror film, financed and directed by Ash and written by Jed Shepherd.

.306/.390/.568 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and twenty doubles. Soderstrom was assigned to the Lansing Lugnuts of the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

to begin the 2022 season. In early August, he was promoted to the Midland RockHounds of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Near the season's end, he was promoted to the Las Vegas Aviators of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Over 134 games between the three teams, he slashed .267/.324/.501 with 29 home runs and 105 RBIs. To open the 2023 season, Soderstrom was assigned to Las Vegas. He was selected to represent the Athletics at the 2023 All-Star Futures Game. In 69 games for Las Vegas, he batted .254/.303/.536 with 20 home runs and 59 RBI. On July 14, 2023, Soderstrom was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In 45 games during his first big league season, Soderstrom hit only .160. Soderstrom was optioned to Triple–A Las Vegas to begin the 2024 season. On May 10, he was recalled from Las Vegas and hit a homerun in his first game back with Oakland.

Personal

Soderstrom's father, Steve Soderstrom, was selected sixth overall by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in the

1993 Major League Baseball draft The 1993 Major League Baseball draft began with first round selections on June 3, 1993. Alex Rodriguez was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners. Other notable draftees included Chris Carpenter, Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Scott Rolen, ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soderstrom, Tyler 2001 births Living people Baseball players from Turlock, California Lansing Lugnuts players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball catchers Midland RockHounds players Oakland Athletics players Stockton Ports players Turlock High School alumni United States national baseball team players