WEST SACRAMENTO — Two ballplayers from Turlock were involved in a flurry of roster moves made by the Athletics on Monday morning ahead of a critical three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Sutter Health Park.
Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, a native of Turlock, and shortstop Jacob Wilson were each placed on the 10-day injured list, while relief pitcher José Suarez went on paternity leave.
As a result of the injuries and Suarez being away from the team, the A’s recalled Pitman High graduate and No. 12 prospect Kade Morris alongside infielder Darrell Hernáiz from Triple-A Las Vegas. Also brought up to make his major league debut was the organization’s No. 9 prospect, infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer.
Morris was called upon Monday to face the daunted Dodgers offense for what would be his second big league appearance, serving in long relief over the final three innings. Entering in the top of the seventh inning with the A’s trailing 8-3, Morris worked around early-inning traffic to limit the two-time defending World Series champions to just one run.
The Turlocker tossed a perfect seventh inning on only nine pitches. Kyle Tucker had the hardest hit ball when he drove the ball to the center field warning track that was swiftly caught. He then induced a shallow flyout off the bat of Max Muncy, and ended the inning by fielding a weak Alex Freeland grounder towards first base.
Morris gave up the lone run of the outing in the eighth inning following three soft but well placed hits from Dalton Rushing, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. He ended the inning by freezing Teoscar Hernández on a four-seamer in the bottom half of the zone. It was his fifth career strikeout.
In the ninth, Morris worked around a leadoff walk to Tucker by forcing Muncy and Rushing to fly out and striking out Freeland.
The final score was 9-4 after the A’s scored in the home half of the ninth.
The 51-pitch outing marked a solid bounce back following a rough MLB debut on June 6 in which he gave up nine runs on nine hits and three walks over four-plus innings in a 13-2 loss on the road against the Houston Astros. He was optioned back to the minors three days later.
Morris’ return to the A’s this week came just four days after he took the mound at Sutter Health Park as the starting pitcher for the Las Vegas Aviators. The 24-year-old tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits with three strikeouts. He improved to 7-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 14 games this year in Triple-A.
As for the latest injured A’s, the timelines on their returns could vary, general manager David Forst said on Tuesday’s episode of A’s Cast Live.
According to Forst, Wilson’s IL stint due to right thumb inflammation is retroactive to Friday, and he could be back after the minimum days he’s required to sit. Soderstrom, meanwhile, may take longer to recover from left hip impingement.
“Tyler’s hip is going to take a little while to calm down the inflammation,” Forst said. “It’s a strain of the hip labrum with some bruising in there. He dove for a ball in Anaheim that kind of aggravated an issue he was already nursing for the previous few weeks. He’s going to need some time for his hip to calm down.”
Soderstrom, 24, exited Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels in the third inning after experiencing what the team initially called left hip tightness. He did not play Sunday and was reevaluated on Monday morning.
The injury comes at a time where Soderstrom was dominating at the plate. In his last 30 games, Soderstrom posted a 1.072 OPS with 32 hits, eight home runs, 17 RBI and 21 walks. In total through 80 games played for the A’s in 2026, Soderstrom has slashed .242/.343/.460/.803 with 70 hits, 35 extra-base hits including 13 home runs, 47 walks, 41 RBI and 41 runs scored.
The two recently injured stars add to a long list of players out of the A’s lineup dealing with ailments. DH Brent Rooker has been out since June 8 with a left knee bone bruise, outfielder Denzel Clarke has been inactive since April 20 with a left hamstring strain, and infielder Zack Gelof has been out since June 23 after having his right hand accidentally stepped on by Giants star Matt Chapman on a play at second base at Oracle Park.
The A’s lost again to the Dodgers on Tuesday by a 9-3 score and dropped to 40-46 on the season, sitting in fourth place in the American League West and four games behind division leader Texas Rangers.
Carrigg continues hot start to career
Turlock High alumnus Cole Carrigg has been a model of consistency at the plate for the Colorado Rockies.
The team’s No. 6 prospect who made his MLB debut on June 9 collected a base hit in Tuesday’s 14-3 loss to the Miami Marlins at Coors Field in Denver to extend his hitting streak to three games and his on-base streak to 14 games.
Carrigg has reached base safely in 17 of his first 19 games as a big leaguer. Through those first 19 games, Carrigg has collected 17 hits with 10 walks. Three of those hits have been home runs, and he has driven in 11 runners. The speedster has also scored 13 runs of his own.
Carrigg, 24, entered Wednesday slashing .266/.368/.484/.852.
The Rockies sport a 33-53 record, the worst record in baseball, though they are 9-10 since Carrigg’s promotion to the majors.
