Athletics outfielder Butler believes he’s a ‘slept on’ star originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler believes he’s one of the more slept-on names in MLB.
“I mean, I feel like I’ve been slept on,” Butler told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser in an exclusive interview before the Athletics beat the Giants, 7-5, on Tuesday at Hohokam Stadium. “I feel like I’m a star.”
The 24-year-old makes a good argument.
After spending four seasons in the minors, Butler – who the Athletics selected No. 173 overall in the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft – struggled to find his footing in the majors.
It wasn’t until Butler was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas last season that everything changed for the Georgia native. Butler tweaked his swing and leaned on his support system and undoubtedly emerged into a star once he was summoned back to the big-league club on June 18.
Butler slashed .291/.330/.565 with 89 hits, 50 RBI and 20 home runs over the Athletics’ final 84 games of the 2024 MLB season and helped the Green and Gold finish a contextually strong 35-35 after a turbulent 34-58 start.
“It’s all about trusting the process,” Butler told NBC Sports California on July 26 in Anaheim, nearly a month into his ascent. “Baseball is full of ups and downs. Just because you’re struggling, you can’t dwell on it [or] let that eat you up. You just got to take it day by day and think of every day as ‘This might be the start of a crazy run,’ like I’m on right now.
“Everybody — staff, family, friends — everybody just talked to me always and had great things to say about me. [They] kept my head up, trying to keep me confident. I really appreciate all of them. Everybody has come over, talked to me, said some things about me, even when I was going bad. So, I appreciate all of them for that.”
Butler’s second-half prowess seemingly earned him a nice payday. While the time hasn’t yet come, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported on Feb. 19 that the Athletics and Butler have been engaged in long-term contract negotiations.
Butler’s teammates remember the stretch vividly.
“He had a few weeks last season where it was just like, ‘Man, if his bat touches the ball, it’s either a homer or a double,’” Athletics outfielder Seth Brown told Slusser. “He gets in those zones where everything he swings at, it’s a barrel. It’s going to be fun to see a bigger sample size from him and watch him doing his thing all season.”
And one of Butler’s closer friends from inside and outside the locker room, Brent Rooker – who received a massive payday of his own this offseason after another a second consecutive All-Star-caliber campaign – offered more resounding support for Butler’s case to be acknowledged as one of baseball’s brightest stars.
“He has every skill, every tool necessary to be a top-tier player,” Rooker told Slusser. “I think he’s shown that ability already, and he’s only going to get better, keep refining his already pretty advanced approach, use his athleticism. It’s exciting.”
Exciting indeed.
Butler appears to only have scratched the surface in the latter half of the 2024 season. The right-handed slugger has speed to match his pop and is expected by his peers, or anyone truly paying attention, to continue climbing up the ranks.
Keeping Butler on his A-game is Athletics manager Mark Kotsay’s job. And that is a gig the recently extended skipper gladly will take up.
“He’s maturing in the right direction, he understands what it means to put the work in and to want to be great,” Kotsay told Slusser. “We had a great conversation the other day about his defensive play, and I brought to his attention where he ranks in outs above average last season (zero, according to Statcast) and he wasn’t real happy about it and neither am I.
“His route efficiency is pretty good, but the jumps and the sprint speed can be at a higher level, which he recognizes. I think he’s taken ownership of that, and we’ll see a player who makes plays look routine that aren’t.”
Whether Butler is considered a star or not doesn’t really matter, well, because he is one. But with that said, it’s clear the up-and-coming big-leaguer wants some respect on his name entering what should be first ever-day campaign during the 2025 MLB season.
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