Lawrence

Butler

Butler is in the final stages of rehab after an offseason surgery to repair a partial tendon tear and debridement of chronic scar tissue. He’ll go cheaper in drafts this year and still maintains plenty of power/speed upside entering his age-26 season, but we’d sure like to see him in spring training games before giving him a full endorsement as a post-hype sleeper. Zack Gelof will also miss the start of Cactus League action as he builds up his swing progression.

Butler underwent surgery earlier this month on his right knee to repair a partial tendon tear and debridement of chronic scar tissue. He also received a PRP injection into his left patellar tendon to address chronic tendonitis. The 25-year-old power/speed combo threat played through a patellar tendon strain in his right knee over the final two weeks of the regular season. It’s an encouraging update that the club anticipates he won’t have any restrictions at the outset of next spring.

A tear suffered last month was repaired, and the surgeon also cleaned up some scar tissue. Butler also received a PRP injection for his left patellar tendon to address chronic tendinitis, the A’s said. The release didn’t share a timetable for his recovery, instead stating that “Butler will rehab throughout the offseason in preparation for spring training 2026.”

Butler manged to played through a patellar tendon strain in his right knee during the final few weeks of the regular season. The 25-year-old power/speed fantasy source will undergo further evaluation to determine whether surgery will be required to address the issue. An update on his status and return timeline should come at some point in the next few weeks.

The A’s got their runs on a solo shot from Nick Kurtz in the fourth and Butler’s blast an inning later. It’s Butler’s 21st homer to go along with 21 steals. Kind of odd is that five of those homers have come with two men on. He has just one with one man on, even though he has more than twice as many at-bats in that situation.

Butler was also caught stealing once, but the three steals put him at 20 for the year, giving him a 20/20 season in his second full year in the majors. His .240/.313/.416 line is discouraging, especially in tandem with his strikeout rate jumping from 24% last year to 29% this season, but it’d seem to be a mistake to write him off next year, especially with the A’s having committed to him with a long-term deal.

With left-hander Payton Tolle on the bump, Soderstrom will get a rare day off for the finale against Boston. The 23-year-old will be joined on the bench by Lawrence Butler, so JJ Bleday and Colby Thomas will take their place in the outfield to begin Wednesday’s bout.

Butler punctuated the blowout with a solo homer in the ninth to give the A’s a 10-4 lead. The 25-year-old has not matched his success of 2025, as he’s now hitting .238/.310/.415 with 19 homers. It’d be nice to see Butler finish 2025 hot to give fantasy managers a little more confidence in the outfielder heading into the next campaign.

Butler took Drew Rasmussen deep for the only earned run that was allowed by Rasmussen in the contest. Butler has homered 16 times and stolen 17 bases, but the overall numbers have paled in comparison to his breakout 2024 campaign.

Butler has had a rough few months and lost a bit of playing time in the process, specifically against left-handed pitching. He put together some great at-bats against Orioles’ starter Tomoyuki Sugano here though. First, he got ahead 2-0 before smacking a double and eventually coming home to score the Athletics’ first run of the game. Then, he fought for a tough eight-pitch walk to lead-off the seventh inning, but was stranded on base. Then, he was lifted in the ninth for Colby Thomas as a pinch hitter when Baltimore brought left Keegan Akin in for the save. Thomas struck out on three pitches.