Sitting below .500 in the early portion of the 2025 MLB season, Athletics fans haven’t had all that much to cheer about. But one of the bright spots for the team, Tyler Soderstrom, continued what has been an excellent start to the year in Thursday’s matchup against the Chicago White Sox.
Coming into the game, Soderstrom was tied for the most home runs in MLB with eight on the year. Additionally, the third-year slugger has shown off a complete skillset, also hitting for a .324 batting average through the first 18 games of the year.
While the batting average went down in Thursday’s game, Soderstrom claimed the lone top spot for home runs in the MLB with a solo home run off of White Sox reliever Brandon Eisert in the top of the seventh inning.
In the first two seasons of Soderstrom’s career, he has shown flashes of potential. And now, it seems as if that potential is starting to be realized.
At just 23 years of age, Soderstrom has entered some rarified air when it comes to the number of home runs this early on in his third MLB season.
According to MLB statistician Sarah Langs, Soderstrom is just the fifth player in MLB history to hit nine home runs in the first 19 games of the season at just 23 years of age or younger, joining the likes of Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger, Austin Kearns, and George Scott on that list.
All of the players on that list, aside from Austin Kearns ended up making the All-Star Game in the season that they accomplished this feat.
So while it may be a bit premature to say that Soderstrom is destined to do the same, he is at least on a great track to truly make some noise for an organization that has been desperately seeking impact hitters for years now.