Saturday Potpourri: A’s Living High On The Hog

Welcome to the 18-15 “In the post-season if the season ended today, though it very likely won’t” A’s. Some recent changes have helped to propel the A’s from mediocre to hot-and-rising, and they are the focus of today’s assortment of observations...

Gunnar Hoglund

Short analysis: Wow. He blew some of the Statcast data out of the water, but the Eyeball Scout didn’t need no stinkin’ data to know he was special last night in his major league debut.

First off, I always give a long leash for nerves with any debut but far from being wild or erratic, Hoglund had zero moments of struggling with command. Literally one spiked changeup is the only pitch I can recall getting away from him out of 81 pitches, 56 strikes.

What stood out most to me is the signature command Hoglund showed of all his pitches, seeming able to paint the corners on both sides of the plate at will. The next noticeable skill was his ability to miss bats with his fastball in the zone, the result of a 4-seamer/sinker combination that has terrific movement in either direction with the 4-seamer topping out at 95 MPH.

When you can spot pitches on the corners and getting whiffs on meatier strikes, you have a lot going for you right there. But Hoglund also unleashed a plus changeup that kept hitters off his fastball, and when he mixed in a cutter or curve he did not hang a single one in the zone.

Even the HR was not on a mistake — it was probably not a strike, just a good piece of hitting by a red hot hitter taking a pitch above the top of the zone the other way.

Hoglund’s line, as good as it was, didn’t do him justice. 6 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, but the first hit came after a bad ball/strike call and was poked gently to the SS hole. Another hit was what everyone but Miami’s official scorer calls “an error on the third baseman”. A different infield hit was an out overturned on replay.

In sum, Hoglund pitched like an ace and he did it in his big league debut. Perhaps most importantly, he did it in ways that are sustainable: great command, terrific action on his fastball, a plus changeup, all part of his scouting profile.

Will he dominate every start going forward? No. Might he be a legitimate mid-rotation SP who is ready to perform at that level right now? I think so. He was truly impressive.

Soderstrom, Left Fielder

I was not a fan of the Nick Kurtz call up, as Kurtz was showing some struggles he could have used more AAA time to work through and Miguel Andujar was proving to be a valuable hitter in the lineup.

Kurtz has contributed some at the plate and played exquisite defense at 1B, but is also still in search of his first walk and his first extra base hit while striking out an alarming 50% of his 32 initial plate appearances. He’ll be fine but he was, in fact, rushed unnecessarily.

One positive that has come out of it, though, is that Tyler Soderstrom has gotten a “trial by fire” in LF and it has gone as well as one could possibly hope. After an eerie string of 25 innings in which not a single fly ball was hit to him, finally Soderstrom has been challenged and the results have been terrific.

He has already made 3 great plays, the first being a throw to 3B to nail a runner, the second being his catch leaning over the rail down the LF line, and the third being last night’s sliding catch of a sinking liner.

What stands out most to me is that Soderstrom plays LF with confidence. He is not too cautious nor does he “try to do too much” — rather he seems to know what he should do and is not tentative in making decisions that have almost always been the right ones. He only makes the sliding catch if he is decisive from the start and he was.

The other noticeable trait Soderstrom shows in LF is basic athleticism that belies his draft profile as a catcher. John Wathan was the rare catcher who could lead off and steal bases and Craig Biggio was the unusual catcher who could pivot to 2B and CF. Heck, Shea Langeliers is an outlier in boasting the lineup’s best sprint speed according to Statcast.

Well, Soderstrom is not your every day “former catcher” either. He is lean, runs well, and moves like an athlete. This is in stark contrast to Andujar, and Soderstom is poised to run down fly balls JJ Bleday can only dream of getting to.

We will see if Soderstrom still has struggles ahead with reading a big swing and a ball off the end of the bat, or with the dreaded high line drive over his head. But so far there has been no challenge that has left him looking inexperienced or like a fielder with limitations.

So far so great.

Luis Urias: Midget Power!

I refer to Urias as our midget only as an affectionate nickname, just as I have dubbed his double play partner “Fidgety Guy”. I wouldn’t want to offend the midget community, as I know many midgets and they really look up to me.

Anyhoo, Urias has been a big upgrade over the 1.0 version of Max Muncy 2.0. Muncy may have a bright career ahead of him (he’s batting .382/.421/.588 at AAA since his demotion), but he struggled mightily both at the plate and in the field in his big league debut.

Stepping in for him until Zack Gelof returns, Urias has been excellent. He has consistently shown patience at the plate and his walk rate for the season is currently a robust 13.4%. He has flashed power with 4 HR in just 67 plate appearances, none bigger than his 2-run walk-off HR that brought the A’s from being on the brink of defeat to slicing pie. Overall his battling line of .255/.348/.473 is good for a 134 wRC+.

At 2B he has been everything you could ask for from a utility infielder filing in at the position. Most notable to me is how he turns the DP, with a consistent low arm slot that delivers an accurate throw with some zip on it.

Perhaps just as importantly Urias makes all the plays, yet to be charged with an error (Muncy was charged with 4 in his 18 games). Urias may not have great range, but he’s steady as they come with routine plays, gets to his fair share of balls, and turns two efficienctly and effectively.

He’s a good find who can make a case for playing time at 3B when Gelof returns. Gio Urshela has been inconsistent defensively, though not bad, but his bat just looks slow and the stats don’t lie: .210/.256/.321 (63 wRC+) and the Eyeball Scout sees that it isn’t a matter of batted ball luck so much as feeling for pitches, rather than attacking them, due to his difficulty getting to the ball on time.

The lineup won’t be truly complete until Denzel Clarke (hopefully) arrives to save the day and give the A’s a strong defensive outfield, but this lineup could look pretty strong mid-May:

Butler - RF
Wilson - SS
Soderstrom - LF
Rooker - DH
Kurtz - 1B
Langeliers - C
Bleday - CF
Urias - 3B
Gelof - 2B

Oh, by the way here are Clarke’s stats for the season now at AAA: .291./451/.473, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 5 stolen bases, and 12 walks. In 17 games.

Osvaldo Bido on the mound at 1:10pm to continue what is currently a 4-1 road trip...