A’s minor-league notebook: Tyler Soderstrom improving his whole game; injuries taking their toll

After a lost minor-league season, organizations around baseball were eager to see how their prospects performed coming off a year where almost none of them accumulated any competitive at-bats or innings. The A’s have had several standout performances thus far, perhaps none more impressive than that of 2020 first-round pick Tyler Soderstrom, who is pushing for a promotion from Low-A Stockton to High-A Lansing after hitting .299/.398/.511 in his first 35 games as a pro.

Soderstrom, 19, collected his first multi-homer game on June 10, is 12th in the Low-A West in OPS (.908) and ranks first in doubles despite being one of the youngest position players in the league.

His offensive talent is special, but Soderstrom has made recent strides behind the plate defensively as well, according to A’s director of player development Ed Sprague.

“His defense has really, really improved,” Sprague said over the phone on Wednesday. “He still has games where, if he’s not swinging the bat he can take it behind the plate, and that’s not atypical of a younger player, carrying his offense into his defense. When it’s the catching position, and you’re involved in every pitch, that tends to show up a little more than if you’re hiding in a corner outfield position or something.

“He’s aware of that. Doesn’t mean that’s going to be solved overnight. He’s still young and has high expectations of how he wants to perform. He gets frustrated at times, but then he goes out and has great games too, so I feel good about where he’s at right now. The consistency will come when he gets more playing time.”

The A’s are in no rush to move Soderstrom this early in his career, but his hot start could force their hand in the next few weeks. Several other prospects have also put themselves in position for a promotion, including High-A Lansing closer Jack Weisenburger, who has been dominant since the start of the season, posting a 1.76 ERA and 26:4 K:BB in 15 1/3 innings with four saves. The Michigan alum was a 20th-round pick in 2019. Fellow Lugnuts late-inning reliever Aiden McIntyre has also put himself in a position to move to Double A with a strong start — 1.47 ERA and a 27:4 K:BB in 18 1/3 innings — in his first season as a reliever.

(Jack Weisenburger / Courtesy of the Lansing Lugnuts)

Like many organizations, the A’s have had to deal with a lot of injuries as players have returned to the field after a year at home. The organization’s starting pitching depth chart was hit particularly hard early in the season, as top prospects Daulton Jefferies, Hogan Harris and Tyler Baum all began the season on the injured list. After one start with High-A Lansing, 2020 second-round pick Jeff Criswell joined that rehab group.

Jefferies has made a successful return to the active roster (more on him later), while Harris and Baum are just starting to throw to hitters at the A’s minor-league complex in Mesa, Ariz. Sprague says the team is hopeful both will be on active rosters by late summer. Criswell is making progress with his rehab but hasn’t started throwing to hitters yet and may not return before late summer or even fall Instructional League.

With the A’s in need of starters, several pitchers originally ticketed for bullpen roles were asked to step into the rotation. Two in particular — right-hander Chase Cohen and left-hander Brady Basso — have raised their stock significantly since moving into the rotation.

Cohen actually made his first three appearances this season out of the bullpen and had a 9.00 ERA in those three outings. After moving into the rotation, he ran off a streak of 16 straight scoreless innings that was broken on Thursday against San Antonio. He still allowed only the one run in four innings in that outing and has lowered his ERA from that 9.00 high-water mark down to 1.93. Cohen hit 100 mph a few times at instructs last fall, and while his velocity hasn’t been at that level as a starter, he’s still throwing hard.

“He’s pitched well. We aren’t seeing the 100, but he’s pitched 93-94 but reaches back for 97-98 when he needs it,” Sprague said. “Good competitor and he’s thrown well.”

Basso was a reliever at Oklahoma State but he embraced the opportunity to become a starter when the A’s approached him about it this spring. The 6-foot-2 left-hander allowed four runs in a start on May 26 for Lansing and has otherwise allowed just four runs in 16 1/3 innings all season. In his latest outing on June 8, he allowed just two hits and a walk in three innings. Because Basso was a reliever prior to this season, his innings will be capped at around 75 for the season, so he isn’t expected to get beyond the four- or five-inning per outing limit in 2021.

Fellow Lansing starter Richard Guasch continues to emerge as a breakout prospect. Although he allowed a season-high four runs on Thursday, Guasch had his fastball up to 97 in that outing and has flashed a plus slider all season. He has a 1.85 ERA and a 30:11 K:BB in 24 1/3 innings this season after posting a 4.24 ERA in 63 2/3 innings in 2019. Sprague says Guasch had trouble landing his breaking ball in 2019.

“Now he’s starting to really land that breaker and as he’s going deeper into games, you can see the stuff and the confidence grow,” he said. “We really like him. He just starting to command the baseball better which allows him to get ahead and put guys away with his wipeout slider.”

Injuries have recently thinned the outfield depth chart in the A’s system. Midland center fielder Jhonny Santos was placed on the 7-day injured list last week, and Lansing center fielders Michael Guldberg (hamstring) and Austin Beck (quad) are dealing with leg injuries that have kept them sidelined recently. In Las Vegas, Greg Deichmann tweaked a hamstring on June 7 and didn’t return to the lineup until Sunday, while Buddy Reed has been playing with a badly bruised thumb that limits how much he can swing from the left side and has kept him in part-time duty for now. In addition, Midland outfielder Tyler Ramirez announced his retirement last week.

Those injuries and retirements have opened opportunities for several lower-profile outfield prospects to step forward. In Las Vegas, Cody Thomas was named to MLB Pipeline’s Prospect Hot Sheet on June 7 and is batting .267/.330/.616 on the season. Since the start of June, he has a .341/.413/.829 slash line with five home runs in 41 at-bats. Acquired in the trade that sent Sheldon Neuse to the Dodgers, Thomas is starting to put up the numbers the A’s expected from him after a slow start to this season.

“Sometimes being in a new organization and being comfortable with everyone around can take a little time,” Sprague said. “I’m happy for him. A little bit surprised given his athleticism and the simplicity of his swing that he did struggle for that much but happy for the way he’s coming around now.”

Legend has it, the ball made it all the way to The Strip pic.twitter.com/oPNuN21axc

— Las Vegas Aviators (@AviatorsLV) June 13, 2021

Sprague also identified Midland outfielder Devin Foyle as an unheralded prospect who has taken a big step forward in 2021. A 17th-round pick out of Kansas in 2018, Foyle posted a .702 OPS in Low A in 2019 but skipped over High A completely and is batting .284/.396/.506 with seven extra-base hits in 24 games with Double-A Midland this season. He was named the Double-A Central Player of the Week on June 6. The 24-year-old left-handed hitter and thrower is long and lean with some pop in his bat and is a solid baserunner.

Last summer, the A’s signed undrafted free agent outfielder Jake Suddleson out of Harvard and the 23-year-old has hit the ground running in his professional career. After batting .284/.346/.526 with 14 extra-base hits in 24 games for Lansing, he was promoted to Midland on June 8. Suddleson took the roster spot of another underrated outfield prospect, Mickey McDonald, who moved up to Las Vegas after hitting .290 with a .443 OBP in 80 plate appearances for Midland.

Sprague also noted that Lansing infielders Max Schuemann (.803 OPS and 22 stolen bases) and Elvis Peralta (.763 OPS) have impressed in the early going.

In two weeks, the Arizona Rookie League (now rumored to be called the Arizona Complex League) kicks off, and several more prospects will get an opportunity to improve their stock. Currently, there are 42 players participating in A’s extended spring training in Mesa, with several others also there rehabbing injuries. High-profile international free agent signing Pedro Pineda should make his official professional debut during the rookie ball season. Sprague says the 17-year-old outfielder has looked “really good” in the camp setting thus far.

“He’s starting to show some power. He’s driving some balls into the gap. Hitting some doubles,” Sprague said. “He’s been fun. He can really run. He seems like a really happy kid. His English is improving and he’s smiling all the time.”

Sprague also noted that right-hander Daniel Palencia, who was signed out of Venezuela before the 2020 season, hit 100 mph three times in an extended spring training outing last week. He said Palencia, 21, may be sent out to a full-season affiliate in the next couple weeks. Catcher Carlos Franco, 17, is another player who has impressed at extended spring, as has shortstop Dereck Salom, 20, who has been particularly good defensively, according to Sprague.

Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators

Record: 18-16

A blowout loss to Reno on Sunday ended the Aviators’ week on a sour note, but the team has played well of late, winning five of their last seven. They’ve split the first four of their six-game series against first-place Reno and sit in third place, three games out of first.

First baseman Frank Schwindel has been a one-man wrecking crew on offense lately. He is second in the league with 11 home runs and six of those have come in his last six games. He’s batting .311/.370/.621 on the season and has a 1.129 OPS in June.

AND IT’S GOOOOONE ✈️ HOME RUN SCHWINDEL

Aviators 8, Aces 3 pic.twitter.com/DLJPBMMVEX

— Las Vegas Aviators (@AviatorsLV) June 12, 2021

The aforementioned Thomas, third baseman Jacob Wilson and catcher Austin Allen have been the other hot bats in the Aviators’ lineup recently. Wilson has nine hits in 30 at-bats in June, and seven have gone for extra bases. He’s raised his season OPS from .869 to .963 so far this month. Allen has had more regular playing time this month with catcher Carlos Pérez away from the team to participate in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Team Venezuela. Allen has taken advantage of the regular at-bats, collecting 13 hits in 37 June at-bats, including four home runs.

As mentioned earlier, Deichmann missed almost a week with a mild hamstring injury, but he didn’t miss a beat when he returned to the lineup on Sunday. Although he went 0-for-3, he walked three times, scored a run and drove in a run. Deichmann is batting .285/.445/.494 on the season and his 25 walks are second in the league. In past years he struggled to be selective, but since his stint in the Arizona Fall League in 2019, he’s done a significantly better job controlling the strike zone.

“One of the things he learned when he went to the Fall League that year and had a lot of success was that he stayed in the middle of the diamond, his moves were relatively simple, he allowed the ball to travel so he took more borderline pitches, swung at better pitches,” Sprague said. “He’s a strong guy. When he can make more contact on pitches in the heart of the zone instead of the periphery, he’s going to do better.”

Outfielder Luis Barrera has struggled since being optioned back to Las Vegas on May 27. He has only six hits in 41 at-bats in June and has seen his average fall from .349 at the time of the promotion to .235. It isn’t unusual to see young players struggle in Triple A after a demotion from the big leagues, and Sprague isn’t worried about Barrera’s long-term outlook.

“You see it all the time. Sometimes it takes a couple of days, sometimes it takes a couple of weeks,” Sprague said. “Luis is too talented of a player, too dynamic of a player to let this linger for too long.”

Heading into Monday, the A’s starting rotation ranks fourth in the American League with a 3.79 ERA, thanks in no small part to the work of Las Vegas Opening Day starter James Kaprielian, who has a 2.51 ERA in six starts since his promotion to the big leagues. If the A’s want to dip into the Aviators’ rotation again, Jefferies has positioned himself since his return from the injured list to be the next man up. On June 8, he went a season-high six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits in Albuquerque. In 19 2/3 innings, he’s yet to walk a batter and has a 1.37 ERA and 13 strikeouts.

Jefferies was hit around in his major-league debut last September, but Sprague says that outing gave the right-hander a good lesson in the difference between locating against minor-league hitters and hitting his spots in the big leagues.

“Emo (A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson) has him throwing more sliders and the more he’s throwing the better it’s gotten,” Sprague said. “That goes along with his changeup and I think he’s trying to take a couple ticks off his changeup. I think it was a little too hard when he made his debut last year. He’s pitched very well. His velocity is there, his secondary pitches are there. I think he’ll be ready when they need him at any given point.”

The path hasn’t been as clear for right-hander Grant Holmes, who has been rocked to the tune of a 11.14 ERA in 26 2/3 innings. Sprague says Holmes’ stuff has been good and he’s been throwing strikes, but hitters have keyed in on his offerings.

“With his delivery, hitters can see the ball a little bit so we addressed that,” he said. “There are things that Gil (Patterson, A’s minor-league pitching coordinator) and RickyRod (Rick Rodriguez, Las Vegas pitching coach) and Emo have chimed in on. It’s not about his stuff. It’s about usage. It’s about location. It’s about deception. Those sort of things. He’s continuing to work on it.”

Left-hander A.J. Puk has also been making adjustments as he tries to get back into the A’s bullpen mix. Home runs have been an issue for Puk thus far, as he’s allowed five in 12 2/3 innings. But he’s also struck out 18, while walking six. His ERA is an ugly 11.37, however. Recently Puk made a mechanical change to lower his arm slot ever so slightly, which could get him over the hump.

“He hadn’t quite felt right at times but he’s been feeling better lately. He’s given up some home runs but if you look at his last couple of outings, his velocity has ticked up a little bit,” Sprague said. “He’s starting to feel comfortable with it. I think he had some pinching going on when he was throwing in a certain arm slot. In his mind, he’s lowered it a little bit although I don’t think you can really tell from the naked eye.

“He feels better about that. I think he feels like he’s throwing it a little bit more lower and it does say that from his release point height but it’s very small. But his arm feels better and that’s good. I don’t know if he’ll ever get back to 99 but I think he can be very effective at 93-95 touching 96.”

While Puk is still finding his way in the Las Vegas bullpen, Domingo Acevedo has been impressive in the late innings for the Aviators all season. He’s converted 5-of-6 save opportunities and has a 2.93 ERA and a 25:3 K:BB in 15 1/3 innings. He’s allowed only two walks and no hits in 4 1/3 innings so far in June, with six strikeouts.

Notable transactions: Left-hander Reymin Guduan completed a rehab assignment with Las Vegas on June 8 and was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Vegas roster on June 11. He has allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings in three appearances with Las Vegas.

Right-hander Parker Dunshee landed on the seven-day injured list on June 7. He has a 6.15 ERA in 26 1/3 innings and has walked an uncharacteristic 14 batters this season. Infielder Edwin Díaz left a game on June 6 with an oblique strain and was placed on the 7-day injured list on Friday. He is expected to be out for a while. Infielder Mikey White was placed on the 7-day injured list on June 7.

Double-A Midland RockHounds

Record: 18-18

Going into their six-game series against San Antonio on Tuesday, the RockHounds had won 8 of 12 games and were just 1 1/2 games out of first place. They struggled against the Missions throughout the series, dropping five games, and now are back at .500 and three games out of first place.

Midland has played short-handed for much of the past few weeks, with Nick Allen away from the team to play for Team USA in the Olympic Qualifier (more on him below) and Jonah Bride away from the team for personal reasons, Ramirez’s retirement, injuries to Santos, J.J. Schwarz and Marty Bechina, as well as McDonald’s promotion to Las Vegas. Some of those players have now returned, but at one point last week, the RockHounds had more healthy catchers on the roster (4) than they did healthy outfielders (3).

Bride’s absence has definitely hurt the RockHounds’ offense, as he continues to be the team’s most consistent offensive performer. The corner infielder is batting .333/.444/.580 with five home runs in 23 games this season and has seven hits in 14 at-bats in June. Sprague says Bride came into instructional league last fall swinging a hot bat and that carried over into spring training and the regular season.

“He’s a low-key guy, doesn’t get too high or too low. Kind of lets the game come to him. Not super intense,” Sprague said. “He has had a lot of really great at-bats and plays good defense wherever you put him.”

Infielders Logan Davidson and Jeremy Eierman have picked up the slack for Midland while Bride has been away. Davidson, the A’s top pick in 2019, hit only .159 in May, but he’s batting .333/.411/.458 in 48 at-bats in June. Davidson skipped both the Low-A and High-A levels, but the A’s weren’t overly concerned about his slow start in Double A this season.

“I thought watching his games on MiLB that his at-bats were pretty good. He was just missing a little bit, was a little bit off,” Sprague said. “He played good defense the whole time, so it’s just a matter of getting comfortable. I think he’ll be fine.”

Eierman played at High A in 2019, but the 2018 competitive balance round pick still struggled in his first month in Double A, hitting .188 with 40 strikeouts in 85 at-bats. In June, he’s hitting .313/.393/.438 with 16 strikeouts in 48 at-bats. Catcher Kyle McCann is also starting to heat up. Like Davidson, he’s making the jump to Double A from short-season. He hit .200 with a .617 OPS in May but has a .235/.449/.441 slash line in 11 June games. He’s already homered twice in June after homering just once in May.

The Midland pitching staff ranks seventh out of 10 teams in ERA (4.52), but left-hander Jared Koenig leads the Double-A Central in ERA (1.62) among pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. Cohen is just short of qualifying but is second in the Midland rotation with a 1.93 mark. Right-hander Brady Feigl has also been solid out of the rotation, with a 3.41 ERA in 34 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 37 and walked only nine.

Closer Zach Jackson finally allowed his first earned run of the season on June 9. He has a 0.55 ERA and a 34:7 K:BB in 16 1/3 innings this season. He’s also converted all five save opportunities.

Notable transactions: After two weeks away from the team while competing for Team USA, Nick Allen returned on June 9. He’s 10-for-24 in five games since his return and is batting .312 with a .377 OBP this season. Allen, one of the A’s top position player prospects and a potential starting shortstop at the big-league level in 2022, will be away from Midland again in July as part of the Olympic team that will compete in the Tokyo games.

Sprague isn’t concerned about the potential missed repetitions with Midland for Allen, even with the lost 2020 season.

“Just the experience of playing with Team USA and for (Mike) Scioscia and at that level and next to Todd Frazier and some older guys, you just can’t replace that experience,” Sprague said.

Allen hit a grand slam and a double in a game that was called before the fifth inning because of rain. Power isn’t a big part of Allen’s overall offensive game, but Sprague says he envisions Allen someday developing into a hitter who can reach double-digits in home runs in a season.

“We’re trying to make sure that isn’t a big part of his game (right now),” he said. “Hopefully he profiles like a (David) Fletcher-type offensive threat. That doesn’t mean he can’t pop a ball out of the ballpark from time to time.”

Grand slam for @Athletics No. 3 prospect Nick Allen and Team USA in @WBSC Olympic qualfiers!

pic.twitter.com/lRAlzNHW1p

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 3, 2021

High-A Lansing Lugnuts

Record: 17-19

The Lugnuts had an opportunity to make a move on West Michigan in the High-A Central (East Division) standings last week. After winning the first two games of the series, they were blown out in the next three before salvaging a series split with a win on Sunday. Lansing is in fifth place (among six teams) in the division but is just three games behind first-place Dayton and 2 1/2 behind second-place West Michigan.

Although 2020 top pick Spencer Torkleson and company had some fun against the Lansing pitching staff in those three straight losses, the Lugnuts staff overall continues to pace the High-A Central with a league-leading 3.45 ERA. They are fourth in the 12-team league in strikeouts but have issued the second-fewest walks and the third-fewest home runs.

In addition to Guasch and Basso, starter Seth Shuman continues to anchor the rotation. In 19 innings, he has a 1.42 ERA and a 25:4 K:BB with only one home run allowed. Right-hander Rafael Kelly has also been good, with a 2.82 ERA and a 19:7 K:BB in 22 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Colin Peluse has struggled at times this season, including on Saturday when he allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. That bad start came on the heels of two good ones, when he allowed just two runs in 10 2/3 combined innings. Sprague says Peluse isn’t reaching the high 90s like he did in instructional league, but his velocity has still been solid (sitting 93-95, touching 96). Sprague chalked up Peluse’s occasional struggles this season to his inability to command his secondary stuff as consistently as he has in past years, but expects that will improve as the season goes on.

The Lugnuts were without third baseman Jordan Díaz for a roughly 10-day stretch while he competed for Team Colombia in the Olympic qualifier. Díaz homered in that tournament and has hit safely in six of seven games since he returned on June 6. His OBP has dropped to .287 as his walks have fallen off, but he’s still batting .253 with a .485 SLG as one of the youngest position players at the High-A level.

Catcher Drew Millas is known more for his defense than his bat, but he’s shaken off a slow start and has his OPS up to .815 for the season. In nine June games, he has 14 hits in 34 at-bats and has also walked eight times. He’s connected on his first two home runs as a professional this month, as well.

First pro HR for @drewmillas22!!! pic.twitter.com/aR7QhanhXZ

— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) June 10, 2021

Notable transactions: After a red-hot May, outfielder Lazaro Armenteros earned a promotion to High A — the level he played at in 2019, when he hit .222/.336/.403 with 17 home runs and a California League record 227 strikeouts. Armenteros wasn’t happy to be assigned to now Low-A Stockton to begin the 2021 season, but Sprague said they told him that if he performed, he would move up, and they were true to their word after he hit .431/.471/.615 in 15 games for the Ports.

“We want him to continue to gain confidence and put up numbers,” Sprague said.

Strikeouts remain an issue for Armenteros, who has 44 on the season and 18 since moving up to Lansing, where he is currently batting .167/.231/.250. Still, Sprague sees progress in Armenteros’ approach and how he’s delivering the bat through the hitting zone.

“A lot of his hits (historically) have come hook on the pull side or flair on the right field side,” Sprague said. “Just trying to get him to deliver that bat head through the middle of the field consistently I think is going to really help him a lot. Both hits (Tuesday) were up the middle. Anytime you’re using the off field, the middle of the field, typically your strikeouts are going to go down because you’re allowing the ball to travel and you’re getting a little bit longer look at it.”

His first Lansing home run went out to straight-away center field.

Center field in West Michigan is Death Valley for fly balls… but not for Lazarito! pic.twitter.com/7N0vLVTquL

— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) June 11, 2021

Armenteros wasn’t the only outfield reinforcement the A’s sent to Lansing. Enrry Pantoja, who signed with the A’s out of Cuba in February 2017, joined the team on June 11. Injuries limited Pantoja to 21 games in 2018-19. He has a walk in five plate appearances since joining the Lugnuts.

Low-A Stockton Ports

Record: 13-23

The Ports are the youngest team in the Low-A West and they’ve shown their age thus far this season, especially lately. They lost a three-run lead in the ninth to San Jose on Sunday, leaving them with only one win in the six-game series. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games.

Although the Ports have a losing record, Sprague has been pleased with how they have competed overall, especially given the inexperience on the roster.

“They haven’t won a ton of games but that group is so young we weren’t expecting them to win a ton of games,” he said. “They’ve been close. They make some mistakes, obviously, but they’re in most games, which is good.”

Soderstrom has led the way offensively all season, but fellow 19-year-old Brayan Buelvas has also been impressive at the plate. He had three hits on Sunday — including a home run and a triple — to raise his slash line to .241/.364/.482. Like Nick Allen and Jordan Díaz, Buelvas has hit well since returning from Olympic qualifying play, where he competed for Team Colombia.

Buelvas was part of the A’s alternate site group last summer and participated in fall instructional league, but his time playing winter ball in Colombia may have been the key to his good start to the 2021 regular season.

“He simplified his game a little bit and had a good spring,” Sprague said. “I wasn’t surprised he got off to the start that he did. He’s starting to play the way he did in 2019 in the AZL.”

First baseman/outfielder Lawrence Butler is tied for the team lead in walks with 19, but is also second on the team in strikeouts with 53. He’s flashed an impressive power/speed combination and has 15 extra-base hits and 10 stolen bases in 31 games. Butler’s .775 OPS is third on the team behind Soderstrom and Buelvas.

Outfielder Kevin Richards is batting .361/.500/.444 with nine walks in 11 games so far in June. The 21-year-old has a .284/.383/.358 line in 23 games overall this season.

Shortstop Robert Puason’s overall numbers continue to be poor (.200/.269/.232 in 95 at-bats), but he did have his average up to .240 on June 4 before a tough stretch against San Jose dropped it back to .200. Puason is the youngest player in the league and had never played a professional game before this season. Sprague says that if infielders Yerdel Vargas and Marcos Brito hadn’t gotten hurt in spring training, Puason probably would have started the season in extended spring training and debuted at the rookie ball level.

Sprague has been pleased with how Puason played defensively despite his offensive struggles and noted that the team has been working with him on some mechanical changes offensively in-season, which is never an easy task for a player.

The pitching staff had a rough week against San Jose. Even staff ace Jack Cushing had a bad outing, allowing five runs (on four home runs) in five innings on June 10. Even with that outing, Cushing has a 2.67 ERA and a 37:9 K:BB in 30 1/3 innings this season.

Right-hander Osvaldo Berríos did find success against San Jose last week, allowing just two unearned runs in five innings. He has allowed more than two earned runs just once this season, and that came on June 2, when he allowed three runs in his longest outing of the season (5 2/3).

Notable transactions: When Armenteros was promoted to Lansing, the Ports added two relievers, right-handers Oscar Tovar and Trayson Kubo. Tovar was once a top-30 A’s prospect, but injuries and a suspension for PEDs slowed his progress. The 23-year-old is pitching at a full-season level for the first time in his career. He’s allowed two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings thus far for Stockton. Kubo, a 24th-round pick in 2019, has allowed four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Ports.

(Photo of Tyler Soderstrom: Grace Mikuriya / Stockton Ports)