Finding a spot for Tyler Soderstrom on the Oakland A's Opening Day roster was always going to be a little tricky. On the one hand, he's a former top prospect that has a lot of potential. On the other, he wouldn't be getting much playing time as a backup catcher behind Shea Langeliers.
It also doesn't help that Ryan Noda is settled in at first base with Brent Rooker at DH, which are the other two positions that Soderstrom could fit.
The A's announced today that Soderstrom has been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to begin the season. There, he'll get regular playing time and some extra time to work on his defense behind the dish. Langeliers is the only catcher on the 40-man left in camp, with Carlos Pérez and Kyle McCann hanging around as non-roster invites. Soderstrom had been hitting .121 through 33 at-bats, and struck out eight times to just two walks.
Pérez began the season with the A's last year and served as the team's backup backstop for the majority of the season after Manny Piña suffered an injury in camp and missed most of the season. McCann is still looking to make his big-league debut. One of them will need to be added to the 40-man roster ahead of Opening Day.
The A’s also reassigned four non-roster invitees to their minor league camp, including infielders Armando Alvarez and Max Muncy and outfielders Daz Cameron and Max Schuemann.
The non-roster invitees still in camp are outfielder Hoy Park, who is batting .467 this spring, the two catchers, and right-handed reliever Tyler Ferguson, who has not allowed an earned run to cross the plate in 5 1/3 innings of work.
Ferguson, 30, has yet to make his MLB debut after spending time with the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, and now the A's the past three springs. He has combined for 14 scoreless innings the past three years, given up six hits, nine walks, and struck out 16.
The A's have 35 players remaining in camp, 31 of whom are on the 40-man roster, along with the four non-roster guys. They have 18 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders, and seven outfielders. The max number of pitchers that can be on the roster to begin the year is 13, so five guys will not make the club. Three of those players are currently injured in Scott Alexander, Freddy Tarnok, and Luis Medina, none of whom have a return date at the moment.
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