The A’s are ruling Tyler Soderstrom out for the season. Manager Mark Kotsay told reporters that the outfielder will undergo left hip surgery on Friday (link via Robert Falkoff of MLB.com).
Soderstrom has battled a hip impingement dating back to late June. He had a minimal IL stay, came back for five weeks, then was shut back down over the weekend. The surgery will hopefully address the issue for good and allow Soderstrom to enter next season at full health. Playing through the discomfort didn’t really impact his performance, as he hit .252/.322/.505 with six homers in 29 games between the injured list stints.
The 24-year-old concludes his season on an 11-game hitting streak. He finished the year with a .245/.338/.472 slash with 19 homers over 453 plate appearances. Soderstrom’s batting average is down 30 points relative to last season, but he drew more walks and hit for more power on a rate basis. He’s a middle-of-the-order bat and core piece for the A’s moving forward.
Soderstrom joins Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers and likely Nick Kurtz in shutting things down for the season. Although the A’s were probably never going to contend with this pitching staff, a decimating series of lineup injuries have made them completely noncompetitive for the last two months. At 49-76, they’re tied with the Angels for the worst record in MLB.
