Butler’s contract and teammate injuries keeping him in the lineup
Lawrence Butler lost his job. Sort of.
He lost his old job. Henry Bolte took center field away from him in late May, the A’s shuffled the outfield, and Butler landed in right field instead of on the bench. He has started there in every game recently, batting sixth, and with Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson both landing on the IL in the last day, his playing time is more secure right now than it has been all season.
The bigger story is that Butler’s power is diminishing faster than your six-year-old iPhone. If Butler doesn’t dispense with unnecessary apps, It won’t be long until the A’s search for an upgraded model.
Three Years, Three Declines
The power problem is the actual story now that the job security panic has cleared out. Butler’s isolated power is .105 this season. That number was .228 in 2024, the year he hit 22 home runs and looked like a building block. It was .170 last year, still respectable for a guy who battled knee issues all season. Now it is .105, which is the kind of number you see from middle infielders who get drafted for their glove. Three years, three declines, and the 2026 version is the steepest.
The batting average has not bailed him out either. He is hitting .201 with a .289 on-base percentage and a .306 slugging percentage, a slash line that would get most hitters optioned if they did not have a $65 million contract sitting in a drawer somewhere reminding the front office to be patient. His wRC+ is 66, meaning he has been 34 percent worse than a league-average hitter, and his WAR sits at negative-1.0. Those are not small-sample noise numbers. That is 235 plate appearances of evidence.
The one thing keeping this from being a total disaster is the contact quality, and even that is only a partial defense. His expected weighted on-base average sits at .311, and his barrel rate is 7.1 percent, both modest improvements from where they were earlier this season. That tells you Butler is not completely fooled at the plate. He is making contact that projects to be better than what he has actually produced. But xwOBA does not isolate power the way barrel rate does, and a barrel rate in the 7 percent range does not generate twenty home runs no matter how stable the rest of the swing looks. He is a hitter whose underlying numbers say “competent,” not a hitter whose underlying numbers say “buy.”
The Verdict: Hold, Don’t Buy
James A. Pittman-Imagn Images
So here is the actual decision in front of you, now that you do not have to worry about him getting cut from the lineup. Hold him if you have the bench space, because the contact foundation has not collapsed and a 25-year-old former 20-homer guy with everyday playing time is not someone you cut loose on a bad two-month stretch. Do not trade for him, and do not pay anything that reflects the 2024 version of this player, because that version required a barrel rate roughly double what he is running now. The 21-homer season is not coming back at this contact profile. If it comes back at all, it shows up gradually as the barrel rate keeps climbing off its current low, not as a sudden return to form.
Keep an eye on two things for the rest of the season. First, watch whether the barrel rate keeps trending up from 7.1 percent the way it has been since the worst of his early-season stretch, because that is the leading indicator before the power numbers themselves move.
Second, watch what happens in right field once Soderstrom and Wilson come back healthy, because the playing time security that exists right now is a product of two injuries, not a permanent organizational decision. The job is his for as long as the outfield stays short-handed. After that, he has to earn it the old-fashioned way, by hitting the ball harder than he has all year.
Questions About Lawrence Butler, Answered
Is Lawrence Butler still the Athletics’ starting right fielder?
Yes. He has started in right field in every recent game, and his playing time is currently more secure with both Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson on the injured list.
Did Lawrence Butler lose his starting job to Henry Bolte?
He lost center field to Henry Bolte in late May, but the Athletics moved him to right field rather than benching him, and that is where he starts now.
How bad is Lawrence Butler’s power decline in 2026?
His isolated power has fallen from .228 in 2024 to .170 in 2025 to .105 this season, marking the steepest year-over-year decline of the three seasons.
Should I drop Lawrence Butler in fantasy baseball?
Hold him if you have bench space, since his .311 xwOBA and a barrel rate that has climbed off its early-season low suggest his contact quality is not completely broken.
Is Lawrence Butler worth trading for right now?
No. His current power profile does not support the price his name still commands from his 2024 breakout season.
