Oakland Athletics to Debut a Pair of Top Prospects on Friday

When the second half of the season begins on Friday, the Oakland Athletics will debut two of their top three prospects.

No. 1 overall prospect Tyler Soderstrom will be up as will No. 3 prospect Zack Gelof. No. 2 overall prospect Mason Miller debuted this year but is on the injured list currently.

The following on Soderstrom comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Soderstrom will be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas by the Athletics to make his major-league debut, Chris Correa of the Turlock Journal reports.

ANALYSIS
Soderstrom has put up a .254/.303/.536 slash with 20 home runs over 69 games with Las Vegas this season while splitting his time between catcher and first base. The top prospect figures to see most of his action with the A's at first base and perhaps designated hitter, although with Manny Pina aggravating his wrist issue Sunday, Soderstrom could see some action at catcher, as well. He's 21 and his numbers in the minors this year were only decent, given the hitter-friendly environment...

He was a first-round draft pick in 2020.

And on Gelof, who was a second-round draft pick in 2021...

ANALYSIS
Gelof, 23, has collected a .304/.401/.529 batting line with 12 home runs and 20 stolen bases at Vegas in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this season. He's been particularly hot over his last 10 games with a .413/.426/.870 line, five homers and three steals. Gelof has played second base exclusively this season and should take over as the everyday player at the keystone for the A's.

The Athletics are the worst team in baseball at 25-67, so there's certainly no harm in trying to see what the kids have. 

The A's will usher in the second half of the season against the Twins. First pitch on Friday is 9:40 p.m. ET.