A’s prospects Soderstrom, Butler selected to All-Stars Futures Game

There’s not just the MLB All-Star game coming up. The Future’s Game is right around the corner too and a couple A’s prospects have been selected to the game:

The two youngsters will be representing the A’s on the big stage come the All-Star break. And both players definitely earned the recognition.

Top prospect Tyler Soderstrom is having a solid year in his first taste of Triple-A. In 61 games he’s slashing .255/.302/.526 with 16 long balls. He’s bounced between first base and catcher and done well as the A’s try to figure out where he’ll be playing for the big league club long-term. The 21-year old will now get to show off his power for a national audience.

As for Butler, the 22-year old has been thriving at Double-A, slashing .284/.350/.460 with 9 home runs and 10 stolen bases while playing solid defense in center and above-average defense in right field for Midland. He’s also been making consistent contact as he’s only struck out 52 times compared to 26 walks, which was something he’s been working on over the past couple years. He might be the next 20-20 player the A’s grow.

It’s a big honor for the two top prospects, both of whom have a solid chance of making their MLB debuts at some point in the second half. There’s a slight log jam at the positions where Soderstrom plays but if he keeps hitting like he has the club will find a way to get him at-bats. And even though Butler’s at Double-A the team has been aggressive with their prospect promotions this year and they might keep that going with a Butler call-up. We might have to wait until September to see these two guys in the same lineup but they’re on their way and it shouldn’t be long now. We’ll just be getting a sneak peak of these two studs.

Congrats Tyler and Lawrence!