Butler’s near-cycle performance reveals skill and personal growth originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
After some early setbacks, the Lawrence Butler era is firing on all cylinders in Oakland.
The Athletics outfielder continued his sizzling July by going down just short of hitting for the cycle in the A’s 8-2 defeat 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 starting position, first hit a triple off Houston starter Jake Bloss in the bottom of the first inning.
In the third, Butler, who is currently on a six-game multiple hitting streak, drove Bloss for a 411-foot solo home run before doubling down in the sixth.
But despite the 24-year-old’s July home run count currently sitting at eight, Butler entered the month with just two home runs in 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 pulse of the A’s offense — couldn’t have been made without the team’s unwavering support.
“I feel like myself,” Butler told reporters after the win. “I’ve been able to get it right all my life.
“I mean, a couple of fights at the beginning of the year. Shout out to [Darren Bush] and Cash and a lot of my teammates, they always kept me in a lot of games when I was struggling [by giving me] a lot of confidence.
“It just helps me feel like myself, and I feel 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 won AL Player of the Week, so he was recognized.
“He’s maybe on his way to having the kind of July where he can be recognized as well.”
The remarkable turnaround also reveals the personal growth Butler has undergone.
“For him to really understand that meeting in Arizona with [Darren Bush] and me [on] what he really needed to do and accept, this shows some maturity on his part.
“We’re grateful this is happening for him and for us.”
Despite his offensive display, as Butler mentioned to reporters after the game, it was his jaw-dropping assist to the right field that was his favorite play of the night.
Ironically, it was the sequence that gave the A’s the momentum they needed for another offensive victory.
“I believe in the play I made in the first round,” Butler said. “That set the tone for the rest of the game.
“If I don’t make that play, they’ll go up 1-0, and who knows what the rest of the game will be like…”
The A’s may sit 15.5 games out of an AL wild card spot, but the rate at which Butler – and the offense – are currently playing is nothing short of fun, winning baseball.
