CHICAGO — When Tyler Soderstrom was a child, he knew better than to root against the Cubs when his maternal grandmother, LuAnn Boone, was around. It’s a fandom that stems from the family’s roots in Illinois.
“My grandma is a huge Cubs fan,” Soderstrom said. “You know I had to be repping Cubs gear every time I was with them. We were always rooting for the Cubs. My brother (Tate) started rooting for the Cardinals for some reason. He was a big Cardinals guy, so it was always a Cubs vs. Cardinals thing going on in the house.”
So, with the Athletics making the trip to Wrigley Field this week for the first time since 2024, Soderstrom’s grandparents made sure to make the trip. Perhaps with some extra motivation, Soderstrom’s offensive statistics at the iconic venue continued to improve as he helped the A’s take two of three from the Cubs
Soderstrom had four hits and drove in three runs in the Windy City this week with the additional (and familiar) faces in the crowd.
“It’s super special to be able to have them here and add to the experience this week,” Soderstrom said.
The Turlock native watched intently as the Cubs rebuilt into a powerhouse in the mid-2010s and reinvigorated the north side with a win in the 2016 World Series, the club’s first in 108 years. Former first baseman Anthony Rizzo was a player he looked up to, and he was in attendance Thursday when Soderstrom went deep.
In the 7-6 loss for the A’s, the star left fielder blasted his eighth home run of the season 396 feet. Soderstrom, not known for showing much emotion, clapped his hands and yelled “Let’s go!” as he took the turn around second base.
Soderstrom now has eight hits with two home runs and five RBI in five career games at Wrigley Field.
“It’s a cool place to play,” he said. “We all know how much history there is here…. Rizzo is probably the guy that sticks out the most to me. Everybody loved him. I mean, what he did to bring a title here was huge.”
The big fly marked Soderstrom’s lone knock of the day, but still extended his hitting streak to 10 games. It was his 15th hit since the start of the streak. He is batting .373 during the stretch.
After a slow statistical start to the season (although underlying metrics remained strong), Soderstrom entered Friday slashing .231/.316/.434/.750 with 51 hits (27 extra base hits), 29 walks and 29 RBI.
“Objectively, when you look at what Tyler went through, there was a lot of bad luck,” said A’s skipper Mark Kotsay. “He was batting some balls, he was taking some consistent at bats and not getting results. There was a short window where I think, in my opinion, he started really pressing and trying to get those results, and of late — I referred to a game a week and a half ago where he got an infield hit in San Diego off of (Wandy) Peralta — and it just seemed like the shoulders dropped and the relaxation started to set in. The confidence came back, and now he's getting the results, which obviously builds more confidence.”
“I think just slowing the game down kind of shifted my focus mentally a little bit,” added Soderstrom, who inked a $86 million, seven-year contract extension over the offseason. “I think that has helped me a lot, just being mentally prepared, just knowing that the physical part of it is kind of out of our control sometimes. I’m honing in on stepping back and just realizing and remembering that I'm a great baseball player, and I just need to trust my skill set.”
The success at the plate and the family ties, as well as the cuisine, is enough for Soderstrom to keep his affinity for the city strong.
“I love Chicago,” he said. “Especially all the food here. Gilt Bar was a solid place we went to this week, and Robert’s Pizza was great last year. It’s hard to go wrong with pizza around here. Chicago is just a great place, you know.”
