The Oakland Athletics signed slugger Billy Butler to a three year contract this past offseason in the hopes that he would bring a powerful bat to the lineup. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. He has struggle immensely this season offensively. Overall, he has been a disappointment.
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Additionally, the Athletics have never really had a permanent designated hitter on their roster until they signed Butler. So, on the downside, he is not the best fielder. He can play first base, but he is not quick or agile. This is why it is so important that he have a strong bat.
Many believed that Butler was on a natural decline. He has eight seasons of MLB ball under his belt and his batting average has slowly decreased each and every season since 2010. However, Butler may be making a comeback.
Each month of this season, Butler’s offense has gotten worse and worse until September. Even though Butler batted .192 in July and .219 in August, his bat has started to heat up and he now has a .377 batting average for September so far. He has eight RBI in the past three games and 11 total for this month. Finally, he is slugging .604 and has an 1.035 OPS.
It is unfortunate that it took Butler the whole season to finally show what he can do at the plate. If he had not showed any offensive production this entire season, the A’s may have tried to move him in the offseason even though that would have been tough. Thankfully, he is finally demonstrating some power.
Hopefully this is a good sign for the future. The Oakland Athletics do have some strong bats in the lineup after claiming a couple of players off of waivers and with the rookies finally stepping up, but to have a hot Butler in the cleanup spot would be more ideal. If he can bring this mojo to the 2016 season, the team will benefit from it greatly.