PHOENIX — The sun is shining down on the Phoenix metropolitan area with the sounds of bats cracking and gloves popping filling the air. It can only mean one thing — It’s baseball season.
If it feels as if the offseason has flown by and that Major League Baseball operations are getting underway at a much more rapid pace than in previous years, you are correct. With 2026 being a World Baseball Classic year (more on that later), ballplayers are reporting to camp early, including Turlock’s trio of professional ballplayers.
Here are the top storylines revolving around Tyler Soderstrom, Cole Carrigg and Kade Morris as they report to camp in Arizona:
Kade Morris, RHP, Athletics
We begin in Mesa, where right-handed pitcher Kade Morris has reported early to the Lew Wolff Training Complex for what is expected to be a spring filled plenty of opportunity.
Morris, a 2020 graduate of Pitman High School, enters Athletics big league camp for the second straight season. This year’s invitation carries significantly more weight, as it marks the first since the starting pitcher was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas last summer.
This spring, the former third round draft pick out of the University of Nevada is looking to prove that his second-half success last season was no fluke, and that he can be a major contributor to the pitching staff.
As the A’s starting rotation currently stands, Morris is in a prime position to contribute, though the opportunity to do so may not come immediately. The top of the rotation includes returners Luis Severino and lefty Jeffrey Springs and recent free-agent signee Aaron Civale. Top contenders to take the final two starting spots are returning southpaw Jacob Lopez and sophomore Luis Medina. Behind them is Morris, the organization’s No. 14 prospect per MLB Pipeline, as well as Jack Perkins, Mason Barnett and Gunnar Hoglund, who each appeared in games last season. Other top prospects vying for position are No. 2 Jamie Arnold, No. 3 prospect Gage Jump and No. 4 arm Braden Nett.
Morris made 19 regular season starts with the Aviators, finishing with a 7-7 record and a 5.22 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In 98 1/3 innings, he struck out 80 batters and surrendered 37 walks and 112 hits. He was named the club’s Most Valuable Pitcher.
In the postseason, Morris started the first game of the PCL Championship Series against the Tacoma Rainers, earning the win after tossing seven innings of one-run baseball for the eventual champions.
If Morris were to make the major league roster out of camp, or achieve enough success to himself for an in-season call-up, he would be just the second graduate of Pitman High School to reach the big leagues, joining Bradin Hagens, who appeared in two games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.
The A’s begin their Cactus League slate on Feb. 21.
Morris is expected to take the mound in multiple games this year. Last season, ahead of his first full season with the organization following a 2024 deadline deal from the New York Mets, Morris only appeared in one game, earning his first professional save.
Cole Carrigg, OF/INF, Colorado Rockies
Very few players in baseball will be under a brighter spotlight than that of 2020 Turlock High School graduate Cole Carrigg.
For one, Carrigg is also now just one step away from “The Show.” At Colorado Rockies Fan Fest on Jan. 24, Carrigg (who spent the entire 2025 season with Double-A Hartford) was introduced with members of the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. The No. 3 prospect in the Colorado system, Carrigg has received an invite to major league camp for the third year in a row.
Carrigg, who is reporting to Rockies camp at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, will be with the Rockies through the first month of Spring Training before hopping on a flight to Miami. That’s because the speedster will be participating in this World Baseball Classic, representing Israel.
The full rosters for each of the 20 teams in the sixth edition of the international tournament were announced Feb. 5. One aspect of the announcements that may have come as a surprise to some fans was that Carrigg was listed as a shortstop for Team Israel, despite the Rockies having him develop primarily as an outfielder. In 110 games in the field with Hartford, Carrigg played all in the outfield, including 99 in center field.
Team Israel will be in Pool D for this year’s tournament, competing in a round-robin format at LoanDepot Park in Miami March 6-11 against the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands and Nicaragua. The Pool D and C quarterfinals March 13 and 14, as well as the semifinals March 15-16 and the championship game on March 17 will also be in Miami.
In 123 games with Hartford, the former Bulldog and San Diego State Aztec collected 113 hits — including 18 doubles, six triples and 15 home runs — with 64 RBI. He reached base another 46 times on walks. On the basepaths, he set a new club record for stolen bases with 46, helping him score 81 times. His hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and runs, as well as his .316 OBP, .394 SLG and .710 OPS, led all Yard Goats.
Being in big league camp and testing his talents against major leaguers in the WBC could help Carrigg accelerate his development and could eventually be the key in playing regular season games at Coors Field, where he’d provide a much-need spark to a Rockies club coming off the worst finish in Major League Baseball at 43-119.
The Rockies open up the Cactus League on Feb. 20.
Tyler Soderstrom, OF, Athletics
Not many people had a more successful 2025 than 2020 Turlock High graduate Tyler Soderstrom, whose career year earned him the largest guaranteed contract in Athletics franchise history.
The new $86 million dollar man arrived to the Lew Wolff Training Complex in Mesa this week alongside pitchers and catchers, more than a week before the club’s first full-squad workout.
The contract is nice. It’s a lot of money over the next seven seasons. It also takes the stress of trying to earn a roster spot which he has experienced over the last two years, off his broad shoulders. But Soderstrom was adamant at his ceremonial press conference in late December that his goal is to help the Athletics clinch a postseason berth for the first time since 2020 and deliver the organization its first World Series since 1989.
“There's so much potential that we have,” Soderstrom said of the A’s youthful roster and their potential. “Words can't really explain how excited I am to be a part of that. Going forward, I think the sky's the limit, for sure.”
In his first full season in the majors in 2025, the left-handed slugger blasted 25 home runs and drove in a team-high 93 runs. The 24-year-old batted .276 (155-for-561) with a .346 OBP, .474 SLG and a .820 OPS, all while qualifying himself as a premier defender at a new position.
Despite not having played the outfield since he was in Little League prior to late April, the Turlocker was named a Gold Glove finalist. In 108 games in left field, Soderstrom recorded 231 putouts and 11 assists, while only having two errors. The assists were second-most among AL left fielders. Additionally, Soderstrom finished with five outs above average, tied for the most in left field in the AL, and was second in defensive runs saved with 10.
The A’s will open the 2026 season north of the border. against the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays March 27-29. After another road series against the Atlanta Braces March 30-April 1, the team will take on the Houston Astros on April 3 for the club’s home opener at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park.
