Morning A’s fans!
The moment has finally arrived. If reporting is to be believed, the Athletics are set to promote top outfield prospect Henry Bolte to the major leagues for the very first time:
It’s a well-deserved promotion for the Athletics’
2nd-round pick from the 2022 Draft. The 22-year-old has steadily climbed the minor league ladder after forgoing college to begin his pro career right out of high school. A toolsey outfielder with an interesting speed/power combination, Bolte (pronounced Bolt-AY) ranks as the organization’s #5 ranked prospect but took his game to another level this year. In 37 games playing for the Aviators Bolte has slashed an incredible .348/.418/.658 with 12 home runs and 17 stolen bases. He’s been especially hot at the plate recently as he’s gotten his in each of his past 12 at bats. There’s not much left for him to prove in the minors and now he’ll get his first taste of the big leagues.
How he fits into the lineup will be interesting to see. The most obvious path to playing time is in center field, where Opening Day starter Denzel Clarke is injured. Zack Gelof has been getting some playing time there in recent days and has held is own. He’s cut his strikeout rate while upping his walk percentage. It seems the club is planning on shifting him back to the infield now though with third base likely going to Gelof on a more regular basis until Max Muncy is ready to return from his hand fracture. That means there’s certainly an opportunity for Bolte in center field, where he’s played the majority of his games this year. He’ll provide a different aspect to the offense as well thanks to his great speed on the base paths. First baseman Nick Kurtz currently leads the team with five swipes so it shouldn’t be long before Bolte is leading the team in that category.
Bolte, a right-handed hitter, could also find himself in a corner outfield spot from time to time. Incumbents Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler are both left-handed hitters so Mark Kotsay could certainly platoon Bolte with one or the other on any given day. Neither player has gotten out to a great start, with Butler especially struggling in the batter’s box right now. It could be the perfect time to get those two some days off and see if that can jumpstart their seasons. Both are tied to long-term contracts too so the team is invested in seeing the long-term success for these two players the team considers building blocks.
We’ll also be waiting for word on a corresponding roster move with the fear being that shortstop Jacob Wilson may land on the IL due to his shoulder injury. That wouldn’t be the most ideal outcome as the team doesn’t have much in the way of depth behind Wilson. If the runner up in last year’s AL ROTY voting does end up missing time the most obvious guy to handle the position would be Darell Hernaiz as he’s already on the actice roster. If the team wanted to be extra bold they could get aggressive with top prospect Leo De Vries, but he’s yet to play in Triple-A so that would definitely be classified as an aggressive promotion. Fingers crossed the A’s don’t have to make that decision.
The A’s are back home tonight to start their homestand against the St. Louis Cardinals. It’ll be Jeffrey Springs on the bump for the Green & Gold while the Cards plan to send righty Andrew Pallante to the mound. First pitch is at 6:40 PDT. Should be a good one! Enjoy your week guys.
A’s Coverage:
- A’s promoting Henry Bolte
- A’s demolish Phillies behind big bats and Ginn’s arm, 12-1!
- Kurtz had pets named after Phillies stars
- May Roster Shuffle Could Help The A’s — But They’d Have To Want It
- A’s roster moves: Langeliers reinstated, Wynns DFA’d
- Cubs Acquire Tyler Ferguson
- Phillies Claim Grant Holman
- A’s Blow Late Lead, Fall To Phillies 6-3
- A’s drop one to Phillies 9-1
- A’s trade for Jonah Heim to fortify catching depth
- Langeliers HRs twice on wife’s b-day, then welcomes 1st child; taking time off
- Civale and Soderstrom lead Athletics to a Sunday Victory
- He once struck out Giancarlo Stanton. Now he engineers cars for Ford
- A Walk In The Park Is Nice…To A Point
- Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In May
- A Moment To Appreciate The Awesomeness That Is Carlos Cortes
- Kurtz ‘starting to get back to himself’ — and that’s a scary prospect
- What the Athletics’ Hot Start Means for Their 2026 Trade Deadline Strategy
- When he Reached the New World, Cortes Burned Opposing Pitchers
MLB News and Interest:
- Mets promote top outfield prospect Ewing
- Dodgers activate Mookie Betts
- 1st Rookie of the Year poll of ’26 shows clear favorites, but plenty of competition
- Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi scratched due to left side tightness
- Blue Jays’ Addison Barger returns to IL with elbow inflammation
- Astros Notes: Imai, Pearson, Peña, Meyers
- Braves activate Ha-Seong Kim, put Eli White on concussion list
- The Giants’ Long-Term Contracts Are Becoming A Big Problem
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Not great, fingers crossed it’s nothing major:
ICYMI:
He’ll be getting plenty of MVP votes after the year he’s had:
Morii moving up the minor league ladder:
