A's prospects Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler named to MLB Futures Game

Two young players of the Oakland Athletics organization will play in the 2023 MLB Futures Game on Saturday, July 8, after getting named to the final rosters released by MLB on Monday.

First baseman Tyler Soderstrom (Triple-A) and outfielder Lawrence Butler (Double-A) will be the A's present in the festivities as part of the American League Team next month in Seattle.

Just one day after the MLB released an updated Top 100 Prospects list, the league announced the rosters for the Futures Game to be held two weekends from now.

Soderstrom is ranked as the 37th-best prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline while Lawrence Butler didn't crack the top 100 youngsters announced by the league hours ago.

While Soderstrom split time between the catcher and the first-base position in his early pro days, he's slowly but surely transitioning into a full-time 1B now. Soderstrom has been considered the best prospect in the A's system for a while and he's slashing .255/.302/.526 with the Aviators in 268 PA while having walked 17 times and hit 16 homers through 61 games.

Butler might not have cracked the top-100 list but that has more to do with a sudden rise of late rather than an overall lack of talent. Had he shown his recent surge for a longer period, he would have probably made it to the top prospect list of players released by the MLB.

The outfielder, who has also been stationed at first here and there, has gone from being the 17th-best prospect in the A's organization last year to the 7th-best so far this season.

Butler has topped at AA so far, though a promotion to Triple-A is expected before the year is over and he might actually get an MLB cup of coffee late in the season considering his progression through the A's organizational ladder.

Butler is slashing .284/.350/.460 this year at Double-A Midland through 59 games and 280 PA. He's amassed 45 hits (nine of them homers) while adding 10 stolen basses to his tally walking 26 times and striking out on 52 occasions.

Soderstrom will play in his second Futures Game after having done it already back in the 2021 edition, while this will be Butler's first appearence in such an event. Good luck to the two young A's!

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