Grading Athletics Outfielders From First Half of Season

Before the team throws its first pitch after the break, let's take a look at how each of the A's outfielders performed in the first half of the season.

Henry Bolte: B+

The A's called up Henry Bolte a few weeks into the season, which was partly due to the injury of Denzel Clarke.

We've discussed how Bolte's success stems from his ability to keep the ball on the ground. His 100th percentile speed gets to be in use, and it's turned into a bunch of infield hits and hard grounders that get into gaps in the infield.

Bolte finished with a .261 batting average and a .690 OPS with 11 stolen bases in 176 at-bats. While his average has dropped quite a bit, and he's racked up some strikeouts, he's still been a really productive player for the team.

Lawrence Butler: C

It's been a disappointing start to 2026 for Butler, who the team handed a contract extension before the 2025 season, and he hasn't been playing as expected.

However, things are looking up for Butler before the second half. He's starting to hit the ball a lot harder, and the results are slowly coming back for him.

He posted a .196 batting average with a .592 OPS in 240 at-bats. Since he's heating up, expect a better second half from Butler, as he's been known to be a better second-half player over the last few seasons.

Carlos Cortes: A-

Cortes quickly became one of the hottest hitters in the lineup early this season, which led him to switch from a bench bat to an everyday player and eventually even a leadoff hitter for a while.

After his scorching-hot start, he would cool down for a little while and have a huge slump. After his slump was broken, it seems as if he's returning to the Cortes we saw earlier in the season.

His first half ended with a .279 batting average and a .788 OPS in 204 at-bats. Considering he was only expected to be a bench bat, the production we've seen has been awesome.

Tyler Soderstrom: A

For a while in the first half, Tyler Soderstrom was one of the coldest hitters on the team. It was really difficult to watch Soderstrom and Rooker both struggle in the three and four spots in the lineup.

Unfortunately, the A's would lose Rooker for the remainder of the season, but since then, Soderstrom has really gotten hot, and his numbers flipped from being a completely unproductive bat to an extremely productive hitter with a high OPS.

His first half stats finished at a .241 batting average and an .808 OPS with 14 home runs in 299 at-bats. Since he's been in a groove, there's a good chance he will stay hot for the second half of the season.