A’s minor league report: Soderstrom, Diaz among most intriguing prospects off to hot starts

All levels of minor league baseball are officially in action with the Triple-A leagues hosting Opening Day on Thursday. The Oakland A’s have a bevy of exciting young prospects starting this year in Low-A Stockton and High-A Lansing and some prospects on the cusp of big league action in Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas that will be well worth following this year.

Tyler Soderstrom, the A’s No. 1 overall ranked prospect, wasted no time flashing his bat in Low-A Stockton. Plus, a few other big name prospects are off to strong starts. Here is breakdown of how some of the A’s most intriguing prospects have started the minor league season.

Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators: SP James Kaprielian looking for consistency

The A’s alternate site participants played a month’s-worth of scrimmages against the Giants’ alternate site participants. So of course, the Aviators open their season with a series against the Sacramento River Cats, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

Kaprielian, the A’s No. 10 prospect (per MLB Pipeline), faced a good portion of the River Cats hitters plenty at the alternate site in April. On Thursday, he dealt 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and a walk as the Aviators’ Opening Day starter. The key for Kaprielian, who has dealt with injuries plenty in his career, will be to stay healthy and regain consistent command.

The Aviators lost 8-1 to the River Cats, collecting a grand total of four hits from returnee Skye Bolt, No. 7 prospect Luis Barrera, veteran Pete Kozma and No. 9 prospect Greg Deichmann. Barrera, Kozma and Diechmann have been on the A’s taxi squads this year and all four could very well contribute to the big league club this year.

From the reliever squad, keep an eye on 27-year-old Matt Blackham — not a top prospect but was impressive this spring and could factor into the big league picture down the road.

A’s No. 4 prospect, starter Daulton Jefferies was placed on the 7-day IL with bicep tendinitis. Reliever Wandisson Charles was also placed on the 7-day IL.

Double-A Midland RockHounds: INF prospect Jeremy Eirman off to nice start at the plate

The RockHounds roster is host to the A’s dynamic infield prospect trio of Nick Allen (A’s No. 3 prospect), Jeremy Eierman (No. 21 prospect) and 2019 first-round pick Logan Davidson (No. 5 prospect). Off to the hottest start is Eierman, who is 3-for-11 with home run and double and a .970 OPS.

Davidson is 1-for-11, Allen hitless with two walks.

High-A Lansing Lugnuts: Watch out for Jordan Diaz 

At age 20, third baseman Jordan Diaz is the youngest player on the Lugnuts roster. The A’s No. 12 prospect skipped a step after dominating rookie and short-season ball in 2019 — with the Vermont Lake Monsters, he batted. 264 with nine home runs, 17 doubles and a triple.

He’s one of Lansing’s hottest hitters right now, batting 4-for-13 with a home run in three games. Catcher William Simoneit is 4-for-8 with three RBI in his first two games.

A 2020  draft pick Michael Guldberg, the A’s No. 29 prospect, is 2-for-11 with six strikeouts.

Colin Peluse, 22-year-old pitcher with the Lugnuts, upped his fastball velocity from 93mph to 97mph during the pandemic. Brady Basso allowed one run over four innings in his start.

Low-A Stockton Ports: Tyler Soderstrom’s hot start

The Ports roster is rife with some of the A’s most exciting, young prospects. A handful are off to strong starts, others a bit slower.

The 19-year-old No. 1 prospect Soderstrom has a three-game hit streak, going 4-for-13 with a double, a walk and three strikeouts. That’s including a two-hit day against the Modesto Nuts on Monday. He’s batting.308 with a .742 OPS.

The No. 19 prospect, outfielder Lazaro Armenteros is 3-for-8 in two games with two stolen bases and a walk — batting .375 with a .819 OPS.

In Stockton, also keep an eye on left fielder Brayan Buelvas, shortstop Robert Puason and center fielder Junior Perez, who came from San Diego Padres as PTBNL in the Jorge Mateo trade in 2020. Buelvas, 18, has shined at a young age and is expected to turn into a plus hitter. At age 18, Puason and Soderstrom are the youngest players in the A’s prospect Top 10 list (Puason is 6), was one of the youngest to participate in the A’s alternate site last year in San Jose.