Lawrence Butler is Becoming a Superstar for the Oakland A's

Jason Burke | Sep 2, 2024

Aug 28, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler (4) reacts after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Lawrence Butler is at it again, folks. The Oakland A's 24-year-old right fielder was one of the best hitters in baseball back in July, batting .363 with a .408 OBP, ten home runs, and a 238 wRC+, and over the course of the team's recent road trip, he's playing like that version of himself yet again.

Playing in Cincinnati and Texas, Butler went 14-for-28, struck out once, launched six home runs, and drove in ten RBI. Not a bad week. He's also in the midst of an 11-game hit streak.

The road trip included a three-home run game, his second of the season, making him just the third player in MLB history 24 or younger to have two three-homer games in a season, joining Mookie Betts and Ralph Kiner. He capped off the trip with a 4-for-5 performance against the Rangers on Sunday.

While the stats are great, baseball is always in need of more guys with some personality, and Butler has plenty. Ahead of the 2023 season, Butler told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that him and some of the younger guys had been referring to themselves as "The New Oakland." Obviously, this was before the team announced their plans to relocate to Las Vegas, but giving themselves a nickname before they'd debuted takes some swagger.

The most recent example of that swagger was shown after Butler launched a game-tying home run, his third homer of the game, against the Reds on Thursday.

Lawrence Butler is a STAR! pic.twitter.com/0UtVsimbHW

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 29, 2024

The clip that was used by Talkin' Baseball above shows Butler crushing the ball, then screaming and throwing his bat back towards the A's dugout at a big moment in the game. He's having fun out there, and he's playing some excellent ball in the process. When MLB started the "let the kids play" campaign, this is what they meant.

Since the break, Butler's 178 wRC+ ranks eighth in all of baseball behind Aaron Judge (266), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (251), Bobby Witt Jr. (223), Yordan Alvarez (201), Juan Soto (194), Jarren Duran (182), and Gavin Lux (179).

Over the course of the full season, which is also his first full season in the big leagues, Butler has produced a 133 wRC+, which would tie him with the season that Francisco Lindor has had with the New York Mets at 18th overall.

Butler has only played in 103 games, so he isn't a qualified hitter just yet. As of right now, he would need 424 plate appearances to be featured on the leaderboard and he has racked up 356. That number goes up by 3.1 for every game the team plays, and even if he were to get five plate appearances each game the rest of the way, he'd still fall about 25 short.

All that means is that Lawrence Butler can continue to sneak up on people in 2025 while already making a case for being one of the most exciting young players in baseball.