Ahead of Sunday's finale against the Texas Rangers, the Athletics announced that left fielder Tyler Soderstrom has been placed on the IL with a left hip impingement retroactive to August 15. To take his spot on the roster, the A's have recalled Darell Hernaiz from Triple-A Las Vegas. He is in the lineup playing third this afternoon.
Soderstrom has been battling this hip impingement for the past couple of months, also spending 10 days on the IL from late June to early July. Since last Sunday, Soderstrom had played in four of the team's six games, and in three of those he was the club's DH.
While Soderstrom's season started out slowly, with the lefty batting .195 on May 23, he has picked things up immensely since. Since May 24, he has been the fourth-best hitter in baseball in terms of wRC+, posting a 160 (100 is league average).
That stretch has helped his season look fairly similar to the breakout year he had in 2025, with Soderstrom quietly batting .245 (.276 last year) with a .338 OBP (.346 last year), and a .810 OPS (.810 last year). He's also notched 19 home runs in 109 games, a slightly higher rate than he was hitting them last season.
His most impressive gain on the year has been his walk rate going from 8.8% last year to 11.7% this season, while his strikeout rate was shaved by 2.5% to 20.1%.
The A's have not said whether or not this injury will be season ending, but the fact that they made the move retroactive to August 15 likely bodes well for him returning at some point this season. If there was no hope of a return, it wouldn't matter when he was placed on the IL.
Zack Gelof is playing left field on Sunday against a left-hander, with Hernaiz sliding over to third base in his first game back with the club since June 6. He was with the team at the end of June and into early July, but did not see the field.
This season with the A's, Hernaiz has hit .237 with a .318 OBP and a .606 OPS across 134 plate appearances. The biggest thing he needs to work on is driving the ball more consistently. While his four home runs across 146 games stand out, it's his 11 doubles in that same span that is more troubling.
Of his 91 hits across three seasons, just 16 of them have gone for extra bases.
With the Aviators this season, Hernaiz has hit .295 with a .394 OBP and a .793 OPS in the hitter-friendly Las Vegas Ballpark. Even with more walks (29) than strikeouts (27) and 14 extra-base hits this season, his wRC+ in the PCL still comes out to a below-average 97.
With the A's out of postseason contention, this will be Hernaiz's chance to make an impression on the coaching staff, or potentially another front office.
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