Lawrence

Butler

It’s the eighth time in the last nine games that he’s had exactly one hit. Butler is the first A’s player to hit in 20 straight since Eric Byrnes made it 22 games in a row in 2003.

Butler is leading off against Hunter Brown and the Astros.

Butler is said to be dealing with a virus that’s been going around the Oakland clubhouse. Manager Mark Kotsay is hopeful Butler can bounce back for Wednesday’s game, according to Martin J Gallegos of MLB.com.

Unfortunately, Butler never touched home plate today, ending his streak of games with a run scored at 10. That was the case even though he was hitting leadoff in front of another guy with four hits in Brent Rooker. Between the two of them, they had eight hits, zero runs scored and one RBI (Rooker drove in Jacob Wilson once). Butler has raised his average from .237 to .265 since Aug. 20.

Butler was ice cold to start the month of August, but is now riding a 10-game hitting streak that has seen him go 16-for-41 (.390) with seven home runs, 13 RBI, and two steals. He is not going to come out of the A’s lineup unless he get injured, so he’s worth adding back in all leagues where he was dropped.

Butler now has 19 home runs on the season following his third career multi-homer performance. The 24-year-old rising star hit home runs off Reds rookie Julian Aguiar in the second and fourth innings before taking Reds closer Alexis Díaz deep in the ninth inning for a game-tying solo shot. It was his second three-homer game this season. He has five home runs over his last three games and is now hitting .255 with an .816 OPS and 51 RBI on the year. There’s a strong possibility he’s a top 30 fantasy outfielder heading into 2025.

Butler blasted a tone-setting leadoff homer off Reds opener Fernando Cruz — his 16th round-tripper of the season — as part of another multi-hit performance. He also picked up an additional RBI on a seventh-inning groundout. The 24-year-old outfielder has put together one of the more impressive second-half breakout performances with seven homers and six steals in 34 games since the All-Star break. He’s at 16 homers and 12 steals overall this season in just 99 games heading into the final month of the year.

After a torrid start when he was recalled at the end of June, Butler had gone cold for most of August; however, he now has a six-game hitting streak that has seen him go 8-for-24 with two home runs, five RBI, six runs scored, and one steal. Butler is going to stay in the lineup for the remainder of the season, which means it’s worth it for fantasy managers to ride the rollercoaster with him given his five-category upside.

Butler hit a leadoff homer off Aaron Civale to give the A’s a 1-0 lead and Butler his 14th homer of the year. He drove in another run in the fourth on a fielder’s choice. Butler has had a strong second half, and looks like a legitimate fantasy option going forward.

Butler singled and scored a run in the second inning before extending Oakland’s lead to three runs at the time with a run-scoring single in the third inning off Rays lefty starter Jeffrey Springs. He also picked up his 11th stolen base of the season later in the frame. The 24-year-old outfielder is batting .291 (32-for-110) with four homers and five steals in 30 games since last month’s All-Star break.