[Unrelated opening note: I keep mentally referring to Tyler Soderstrom as 'Tyler Sodeepop' every time I hear about him. That can't be good for his legitimacy.]
The way the Athletics have run out of steam this season has been frankly insulting. On June 19th they were a .500 team, mostly in second place, powering through some rough stretches but staying on target and keeping in the race. Then they go on a truly appalling losing stretch, they lose Nick Kurtz, get him back but not his power bat, and now they're so far under .500 that they're not even a competitor anymore. It's looking like some people might be dealt, and if it wasn't for the injury, Shea Langeliers would definitely be one of them. Just very, very sad, as if they'd kept their stuff together they might have had a shot.
Once again, Tyler Soderstrom, who's somehow only 24, has cemented himself as a very crucial lineup piece, with an .821 OPS, 17 homers and 50 RBIs. Not quite the power season he was having last year around this time, as his hot start got him to his first 25 homer year, but potentially evenly-displaced enough to get past that mark by October. Aside from Kurtz, Soderstrom might be the most accurate pure hitter on the A's this year, and with both Rooker and Langeliers out for a while, and Gelof and Kuroda-Grauer down for a little while [JKG had one of the single most unfortunate MLB injuries I've seen in a while, and in the midst of a stretch where he was hitting .400 no less], a lot more is riding on him. He might be one of the few people left on this team who hasn't gotten hurt or gone cold for a substantial percentage of the season. And it's weird that we're down to him. Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler were supposed to mean so much more to this team, but they're both having down years, with Wilson being much less accurate than his rookie campaign, and Butler only hitting .199 with 5 homers. We've seen him take off in the second half before, so I'm not terribly worried, but this still isn't great, especially for a very big piece of this team.
I guess on the bright side I feel better about the long term development of this team's pitching than before. The Springs and Severino gambits did not work. Not inevitable but...yeah, I figured there was a chance. J.T. Ginn getting more starts was a very good thing, he could be the ace next year, he had a 3.50 ERA and 100 Ks in 22 appearances. Gage Jump is also very much MLB-ready, and has a 4 ERA and 68 Ks in 12 starts. Given a fuller season he should be on his way. Beyond that, I'm not sure though. Lopez and Morales just aren't getting it done this year. Logically Joey Estes should get another shot but who knows if he'll be any better. It's still two young, controllable arms more than I would have credited them for going into the season.
Not much else for the A's to do at this point but just ride it out and prep for 2027. Two more months of grueling play and missed opportunities, hopefully they're at least a slight upgrade from the last two.
Coming Tonight: One of the most effective power hitters in baseball. In case you were worried he'd have nothing to say this year.
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