Henry

Bolte

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day of rest for the 22-year-old outfielder. Lawrence Butler will start in his place in center field and will bat sixth for the A’s against Astros’ right-hander Mike Burrows.

Bolte was hardly a sure thing as a 22-year-old callup last month, but he’s hit .328/.397/.391 through 73 plate appearances. His .457 BABIP is surely something of a fluke, and his contact numbers are worse than his 26 percent strikeout rate might suggest. However, he’s hitting the ball plenty hard — he had an 111-mph single and a 112-mph double tonight — and his defense should help keep him in the lineup. He really just needs to start getting the ball into the air more often in order to ensure that he sticks around.

Bolte has begun ceding playing time to Lawrence Butler on a more regular basis 286/.369/.321 with zero homers, four RBI and four steals in 18 games since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas last month. He’s sat in three of the club’s last seven games. Fantasy managers were probably expecting more production from an over-the-fence power standpoint based on his minor league breakthrough earlier this season. It hasn’t happened so far.

Bolte has started 11 of 15 games since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this month. The 22-year-old rookie has held his own at the plate, hitting .282/.370/.333 with three runs scored, zero homers, four RBI and three steals in 46 plate appearances over 12 games. It’ll be Lawrence Butler getting a turn in center field on Tuesday night.

Bolte worked Walker Buehler for a one-out walk in the second inning but wound up getting stranded at second base. He then delivered an RBI single in the fourth inning that gave the A’s a 3-2 lead before getting caught trying to steal second base. He also reached on an infield single in the sixth inning. The 22-year-old outfielder has impressed in his limited action with the A’s so far, slashing .310/.382/.345 with three RBI and three stolen bases (in five attempts) through his first 34 plate appearances.

It’s a tough break for the 26-year-old defensive wizard who was nearing a return from a bone bruise that had him shelved since April 22. He won’t be re-evaluated until after the All-Star break which means he’s going to be out for a while. If there were any concerns about the playing time for Henry Bolte once Clark returned, the runway has now been cleared.

Cortes has cooled off of late, but he’s still hitting .343/.400/.556 overall with just 10 strikeouts and fine EV numbers in 110 plate appearances. He has about 300 points of OPS on Tyler Soderstrom and 400 points on Lawrence Butler, the two guys flanking Bolte in center tonight. What he doesn’t have, however, is a long-term contract guaranteed through 2031 or ’32.

Bolte has started three straight games and gone 5-for-10 with two RBI and a walk. He’s not assured of playing against righties, but the A’s used him over Lawrence Butler on Thursday and Carlos Cortes tonight. The A’s face three more right-handers before their next game against a lefty, and it will be interesting to see if the A’s keep rotating out Butler and Cortes in order to keep Bolte in the lineup. Everything so far is pretty encouraging.

Both of his singles came on grounders, one hard and one soft. That was probably to be expected from a guy with a 58 percent groundball rate in Triple-A. Being tied for the highest batting average of all-time (although not the highest OBP of all-time) should earn Bolte another start Thursday against righty Michael McGreevy. He’s only guaranteed to play against lefties after getting the call Tuesday, but the A’s definitely need to see if they can catch lightning in a bottle here.

Bolte receives his first opportunity after being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week where he was slashing an other-worldly .348/.418/.658 with 12 homers and 17 steals across 37 games in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The 22-year-old offers an interesting power/speed combo skillset and made some significant strides in the contact department this season, slashing his strikeout rate from 33 percent last year to just 22 percent. There are some playing time concerns that could chip away at his immediate fantasy upside, but he’s at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.