A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler will make his first Spring Training appearance tomorrow, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’ll serve as a designated hitter against the White Sox. The A’s are off on Wednesday but Butler could get his first outfield work during Thursday’s game against the Mariners.
Butler played through a right knee injury late in the 2025 season. He underwent postseason patellar tendon surgery but has maintained confidence he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Butler has been able to take hitting drills throughout camp. He’d been held out of game action until this week to avoid running at full speed.
The A’s have six remaining Spring Training contests. Butler could take 15-20 exhibition at-bats if they feel comfortable playing him on consecutive days. It appears he’ll be ready to go when the A’s head to Rogers Centre to take on the defending American League champions to begin the season.
Butler is coming off a .234/.306/.404 showing across 630 plate appearances. He had a 20-20 campaign and hit 30 doubles, but his rate metrics were around league average. Although it wasn’t a bad season, it was a step back from the huge 2024 second half that established him as a core piece. Playing through the injury probably 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.
He’ll man right alongside Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke in Mark Kotsay’s outfield. Butler fits best in a corner but has the athleticism to play center if Clarke’s strikeout concerns outweigh his defensive excellence.
Butler hasn’t been good against left-handed pitching, batting .228/.261/.397 while striking out a third of time in 234 career plate appearances versus southpaws. The A’s have remained committed to him as an everyday player. They claimed righty-hitting utility player Andy Ibáñez from the Dodgers last month. He’s primarily an infielder but could be an option in right field if the A’s wanted to shield Butler from lefties to give him some rest early in the season.
In other news, the team made a few camp cuts over the weekend. Top prospects Leo De Vries and Gage Jump were among those reassigned to minor league camp. Neither player is on the 40-man roster, nor were they expected to garner serious consideration for the Opening Day roster.
A midseason promotion could be on the table for either player. De Vries will play the entire season at 19, so that’d be an extremely 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, batting .409 with three homers and doubles apiece in 17 games.
Jump, a left-handed pitcher who turns 23 in April, took the ball four times this spring. He tossed 9 2/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven against three walks. Jump spent most of last year in Double-A, where he turned in a 3.64 ERA while fanning a quarter of batters faced across 20 outings. The back of the A’s rotation is open enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jump pitches his way to West Sacramento by the All-Star Break.
