With Henry Bolte now in the mix, the outfield battle between Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes has a new urgency — and Monday's lineup suggests Cortes is winning.
The A's cornerstone players haven't been hitting, and on Monday manager Mark Kotsay is making a change to the lineup. For most of the season, Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers have been sharing the leadoff spot, with the exception of Jacob Wilson's handful of opportunities.
Tonight in Anaheim, the A's will be using Carlos Cortes atop the order while he plays right field.
This signals a couple of things.
First, with a right-hander on the mound in Walbert Ureña, the A's currently look to feel more comfortable with Cortes not only getting the start in right, but leading off. Lawrence Butler has been struggling all season, but for the most part he has been getting starts against righties.
Then Henry Bolte came up to the roster, and that has put a playing time squeeze on every outfielder, with the biggest battle happening between Butler and Cortes. Butler is the player the A's signed to an extension, while Cortes has been the much hotter hitter all year.
There has been room for both of them in the lineup for much of the year, given Brent Rooker's stint on the injured list that opened up a DH opportunity for Cortes, and then Denzel Clarke's IL stint that led to Butler patrolling centerfield more often.
Bolte is a top prospect and needs consistent playing time. Plus he's a terrific athlete in center himself. That puts the pressure on Butler to produce, and thus far he just hasn't.
Cortes is not only being used in the lineup, but atop the lineup, which signifies that he's well ahead of Butler in this battle.
Butler has hit just .171 with a .272 OBP and a .536 OPS, but he has also been picked off first base multiple times, made an error on Sunday on a routine transfer, and his at-bats haven't looked the best recently. He simply has to play better and be more engaged than he's been, because tonight's lineup makes it look like the A's could be circling around a larger roster move.
Cortes on the other hand is batting .346 with a .400 OBP and a .958 OPS in 115 plate appearances. He's obviously the outfielder that's performing, and the A's may be ready to give him a look at more regular playing time instead of pinch-hit spots.
This is a big series for the A's (23-23), with the Angels (16-31) on a six-game losing streak entering play. The Athletics play in San Diego (28-18) this weekend against a tough Padres team, and then return home for series against the Seattle Mariners (22-26) and New York Yankees (28-19).
While it's too early to call a series must-win in May — especially for the division leaders — these four games in Anaheim could provide some cushion for those tougher series ahead.
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