After some early hiccups, the Lawrence Butler era is firing on all cylinders in Oakland.
The Athletics outfielder continued his red-hot July by falling a single shy of hitting for the cycle in the A’s 8-2 thumping of the AL West-leading Houston Astros on Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Butler would have been the 18th player in A’s history to achieve the feat.
Butler, commanding Oakland’s leadoff spot, first hooked a triple off of Houston starter Jake Bloss in the bottom of the first inning.
In the third, Butler, who currently is on a six-game multi-hit streak, took Bloss deep for a 411-foot solo home run before doubling in the sixth.
But despite the 24-year-old’s July home run count currently sitting at eight, Butler entered the month with only two home runs on the 2024 MLB season.
And having been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in May, this version of Butler – the one that best represents the recent heartbeat of the A’s offense – couldn’t have been done without unwavering team support.
“I just feel like myself,” Butler told reporters after the win. “I’ve been able to hit my whole life.
“I mean, a couple of struggles at the beginning of the year. Shoutout to [Darren Bush] and Cash and a lot of my teammates, they always kept me in a lot of the games when I was struggling [by giving me] a lot of confidence.
“It just helps me to get me feeling like myself, and I’m feeling good right now.”
For A’s manager Mark Kotsay, Butler’s recent stretch gives him the idea that the second-year right fielder can add to his recent AL Player of the Week honor.
“I think it’s one of the best stretches in baseball right now,” Kotsay told reporters. “I mean, he did win AL Player of the Week, so he has been recognized.
“He’s maybe on his way to have a type of July that he can be recognized as well.”
The remarkable turnaround also is telling of the personal growth Butler has undergone.
“For him to really grasp from that meeting in Arizona with [Darren Bush] and I [on] what he really needed to do and to buy in, it shows some maturity on his part.
“We’re thankful that this is happening for him and for us.”
Despite his offensive display, as Butler mentioned to reporters following the game, it was his jaw-dropping assist at the plate from deep right field that was his favorite play of the night.
Ironically, it was the sequence that gave the A’s the needed momentum for another offense-heavy win.
“I give it to the play that I made in the first inning,” Butler said. “That kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.
“If I don’t make that play, they go up 1-0, and who knows how the rest of the game goes …”
The A’s might sit 15.5 games behind a AL wild-card spot, but the rate at which Butler – and the offense – are currently playing is nothing short of what entertaining and winning baseball looks like.