Henry Bolte hits three-run homer in loss to Texas

Bolte was hitless through his first four at-bats before giving the A’s an insurance run with a solo blast in the ninth. His fifth home run of the season left the bat at 111.5 mph and traveled an impressive 439 feet. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .253/.332/.350 with 25 runs scored, 22 RBI, and 13 steals across 270 plate appearances.

Bolte went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts out of the leadoff spot against Red Sox southpaw Payton Tolle. In his defense, Tolle finished with 14 strikeouts in a dominant performance. He’ll continue to get opportunities against left-handers, which is the case in this one with Jake Bennett taking the ball for Boston, with Lawrence Butler handling the top spot against right-handers.

Bolte is 6-for-11 with a homer and a double in three games this month. Maybe he’ll start working his way back up the lineup at this rate.

Bolte’s homer was a three-run shot that cut the Tigers’ lead in half to 8-5. The 22-year-old also doubled and singled in one of his best games an MLB player thus far. The power production has been middle in his .350 slugging percentage, but a .257 average and .340 on-base percentage to pair with it is nothing to sneeze at.

Bolte has been a fixture in center field since his arrival in the big leagues, so he’ll get a hard-earned day off in this one. Lawrence Butler will slide over to take his place in center with Carlos Cortes starting in right field and batting eighth for the A’s against Sonny Gray and the Red Sox on Thursday evening in West Sacramento.

Bolte is down to .243/.320/.322 with his groundball-heavy ways. We’d just as soon see the A’s stick with him the rest of the way, but if they get Denzel Clarke back next month, Bolte might receive some more Triple-A time. Ideally, that would come with some instruction on how to lift the ball more than one-third of the time. He needs to cut back on the strikeouts some, too, but that’s not the primary problem.

The rookie has struggled of late, slashing .140/.189/.220 in his last 15 games with a 15/1 K/BB ratio. He’s been mostly solid in his first MLB season, but there remains a chance that the A’s could move Zack Gelof back to the outfield when he returns from his knee injury and keep Tommy White active in the infield. Bolte’s playing time does not seem as guaranteed as it was a few weeks ago.

Bolte came to the dish with runners at the corners and one out in the first inning and hit a slow bouncer to first base that the Tigers were unable to turn the double play on, plating Jacob Wilson in the process. The rookie outfielder also made a couple of terrific catches in center field in the contest. At the dish, he’s hitting .274/.354/.363 with three homers, 16 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 193 plate appearances.

Bolte’s homer was a 108-mph, 411-foot blast off Tarik Skubal, giving the A’s their lone run in five innings against the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Kind of surprisingly, Bolte was dropped to ninth in the order tonight. He entered with a .370 OBP and he’s led off several times recently, but the A’s had Zack Gelof in the top spot tonight. Bolte’s homer was his third in 186 plate appearances since being called up. He’s not taking advantage of his power while hitting the ball on the ground about two-thirds of the time, but it is there, waiting to come out.

Bolte finds himself in the leadoff spot for the sixth consecutive game during Monday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium. The 22-year-old rookie’s staggering 66 percent groundball rate is a real cause for concern, but he has a chance to be an extremely impactful fantasy contributor if he starts getting the ball in the air with greater regularity. He’s hitting .299/.385/.388 with two homers, 12 RBI and 10 steals in 157 plate appearances over 42 games since ascending to the big leagues.