Lawrence

Butler

Wilson gets a look atop the Athletics’ lineup with Nick Kurtz on the injured list against lefty opener Bryan Hudson after Lawrence Butler took at turn during Friday’s series opener. The 24-year-old contact-oriented shortstop should continue to get opportunities against lefties while Kurtz is on the shelf. He’s hit .286 (4-for-14) in four games since returning from the injured list earlier this week.

Butler was on the wrong side of what was the game’s biggest play through six; with the bases loaded and two outs, he came up a little short on a diving attempt at Jung Hoo Lee’s liner to right and had the ball get by him for a three-run triple. The Giants were up 6-2 at that point, but the A’s came back with two in the seventh. In the eighth, Butler doubled to the wall in center. It looked like Jonah Cox had it all of the way, but he missed it at the end. Butler then came around to score on a Jeff McNeil single. In the ninth, Butler had the third of four singles off Caleb Kilian, giving the A’s a 7-6 lead. Butler is batting .342 with two homers, four doubles and two steals in his last 13 games, raising his OPS from .489 to .585. He needs to stay hot to ensure that he keeps starting against righties after Brent Rooker returns, but things are finally looking up.

Butler’s day was a kind — if frustrating — reminder of why so many were so high on his fantasy potential not that long ago. Even with his fifth homer of the season and fifth steal of the campaign, he’s still slashing an ugly .193/.274/.305 on the season. It’s too early to just completely give up on Butler someday reaching his fantasy potential considering he’s still just 25, but obviously you cannot rely on seeing many more performances like this going forward.

Butler had started each of the team’s previous four games, but he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a tough loss against the Pirates on Wednesday. Carlos Cortes will cover right field in his place while Jonah Heim will get a rare start as the designated hitter and bat sixth for the A’s on Thursday evening.

Butler was 9-for-20 in his previous six games, so maybe this is just a little setback. Still, he’s at just .186/.266/.284 for the season, and with Henry Bolte and Carlos Cortes performing so much better to date, there’s going to have to be some thought given to sending down Butler when Brent Rooker returns.

Milwaukee scored single runs in the first, second and third innings and then never mustered another. The A’s came back with an Alika Williams homer in the sixth and homers from Carlos Cortes and Butler in the seventh to prevail. Butler’s homer was his fourth of the season. He was starting for just the fifth time in 22 games, as the A’s are mostly using Henry Bolte and Carlos Cortes over him in the outfield against righties. However, they had room for all three tonight with Brent Rooker hurting. Butler is batting .165/.251/.256 in 183 plate appearances. There’s still reason to think he’ll go back to being useful as a platoon guy against righties, but first he needs to show the A’s that he’s better than the alternatives. It’s not clear that he is.

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 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.

The A’s sat Henry Bolte today so that they could play both Butler and Carlos Cortes, but it’s Butler who seems like the team’s weakest link right now; he’s batting .171/.272/.264 with 41 strikeouts in 147 plate appearances. With Denzel Clarke nearly ready to return, one wonders if the A’s might try sending Butler down for a spell to regain some confidence.