Butler’s blast comes with a message
OAKLAND — For a guy who hit the game-winning home run and averted the anguish of a ruined Jesse Hahn pitching performance, Billy Butler didn’t sound like a very happy man after Sunday’s 3-2 A’s victory over Tampa Bay.
Butler is laboring through his worst major league season by far. He’s been so unproductive — two home runs and 22 RBIs as he entered Game No. 99 — the A’s have ignored the fact he is their third-highestpaid player and made him a part-time employee who is only generally in the lineup against left-handed pitching.
The veteran designated hitter wants to see that change, and
hitting an eighth-inning blast to center field off right-handed reliever Erasmo Ramirez to preserve Oakland’s seventh win in 10 games since the All-Star break finally gave him the platform to say so.
“I haven’t been playing much against righties, so it’s big, it’s big for me,” Butler said. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world no matter if it’s a righty or a lefty up there (on the mound). I’ve shown in my career I can come through in those situations day in and day out. When you get the opportunity, you just have to do it. So it’s big for me.”
It remains to be seen whether Butler’s first home run since June 7 will change Oakland’s thinking. The A’s signed the former Royals slugger to a threeyear, $30 million contract before last season, but were less than pleased with a season in which he hit .251 with 15 homers and just 65 RBIs.
Butler grounded into 26 double plays, something the A’s should have expected, considering his history of doing that. The strange thing is he hit .269 against right-handers and just .200 against lefties, a stark anomaly for a player who still holds a .302 career average against lefthanded pitching.
Butler has played in just 65 of the 99 games so far this season and has started a mere 44, with most designated hitter starts against right-handed pitching going to Khris Davis. It’s the kind of off-again, on-again situation the 30-year-old Butler hasn’t faced much in his nine-year career. Is he frustrated? “It’s one of those things where I really haven’t had any opportunities to be frustrated,” he said. “Being an everyday player my whole career, it’s one of those things.
“I just want to go out there and play. I just haven’t had my number called a lot. Coming through in those situations, maybe I’ll get my number called more.”
That might be tough as the A’s continue to move toward a more youthful approach, something manager Bob Melvin is convinced is the reason his team has performed so well coming out of the break. Oakland (45-54) now hits the road for nine games with the momentum of a three-game winning streak.
“We’re getting a little more enthusiasm like we talked about with some of these younger guys,” Melvin said. “I think it’s rubbing off.”
As for what that may mean for Butler, the manager was more nebulous.
“It’s tough for a guy that plays every day to try to get himself into a rhythm if he’s not, but that’s a big hit today,” he said. “He’s staying positive. He’s working the best he can on the days he doesn’t play. But this has been a tough year for him, based on the fact he’s being asked to do something he’s not used to doing.”
Butler, however, clearly thinks he could be doing more.
“That’s what I battle every day, just going up there trying to be me,” he said. “Missing pitches because you might be a little overamped or excited. When you play 15 games in a row like I’ve done in the past, you get tired, and you don’t try to do too much. I’ve always done better in those situations. The more pitches I see, the better I become. I have every reason to believe that’s the reason why I did good today, because I played yesterday and saw some pitches.”
In addition to the tiebreaking home run, Butler also had an RBI single in the first, one of two runs the A’s provided starter Hahn, who made it stand up into the eighth. In his first start since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville, the heretofore inconsistent Hahn allowed just four hits before departing with two out and a runner on first in the eighth.
Alas, generally reliable reliever Ryan Dull served up a two-run home run to Tampa Bay’s Logan Forsythe immediately after being called for Hahn. It looked like it might be a dispiriting finish before a crowd of 17,642 until Butler saved it, just as Jake Smolinski and Ryon Healy did on Saturday night for Kendall Graveman.
Hahn threw 90 pitches, walked one and struck out five, getting no decision. He looked like the righthander who was so effective for the A’s in the first half of 2015 before an arm injury sidelined him for the second half.