UA is an outside player Lawrence Butler will make his first appearance of Spring Training tomorrow, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He will serve as the designated hitter against the White Sox. The A’s are off on Wednesday but Butler could get his first outing in Thursday’s game against the Mariners.
Butler played through a right knee injury late in the 2025 season. He had postseason patellar tendon surgery but remains confident he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Butler was able to take batting practice throughout camp. He has been in custody until this week to avoid speeding.
The A’s have six contests left in Spring Training. Butler could take the show for 15-20 at-bats if they feel comfortable playing him on back-to-back days. It looks like he will be ready to go when the A’s head to Rogers Center to face the defending American League champions to start the season.
Butler is hitting .234/.306/.404 in 630 plate appearances. He had a 20-20 campaign and hit 30 doubles, but his batting metrics were among the league average. While it wasn’t a bad season, it was a step back from the second half of 2024 that set it up as a core episode. Playing through injury may have had something to do with that. Butler took a .251/.326/.433 line into the All-Star Break but hit .203/.268/.351 in the second half.
You will be a close person Tyler Soderstrom again Denzel Clarke at Mark Kotsay’s place. Butler is a good fit at corner but has a penchant for playing in the middle if Clarke wants to be applauded for his defensive prowess.
Butler hasn’t been great against left-handed pitching, hitting .228/.261/.397 while hitting a third of the time in 234 career plate appearances against southpaws. The A’s remain committed to him as an everyday player. They say a utility player who hits righty Andy Ibanez from the Dodgers last month. He is an infielder but could be an option in right field if the A’s want to protect Butler in lefties to give him some rest early in the season.
In other news, the team held a few camps over the weekend. Hopes are high Leo De Vries again Gage Jump were among those reassigned to minor league camp. Neither player is on the 40-man roster, and he wasn’t expected to get serious consideration for the Opening Day draft.
A mid-season promotion could be on the table for any player. De Vries will play a full season at age 19, so that would be a pretty aggressive call, but he’s coming off a .255/.355/.451 showing between High-A and Double-A. De Vries was six years younger than the average player at the Double-A level and more than held his own. He also had a remarkable first MLB camp, hitting .409 with three homers and a double each in 17 games.
Jump, a left fielder who turns 23 in April, took the ball four times this spring. He threw 9 2/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven and walking three. Jump spent most of last year in Double-A, where he turned in a 3.64 ERA while striking out a quarter of the batters he faced in 20 strikeouts. The A’s backfield is open enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jump came to West Sacramento by the All-Star Break.
