The Oakland Athletics — wherever they may be playing in a couple years – likely will be featuring two talented outfielders currently playing in Lansing, Michigan.
Henry Bolte and Bryan Buelvas both have speed to burn, developing power, and enough enthusiasm for the game to light up the Las Vegas Strip. In a few years, they very well could be playing in Vegas, where the A’s intend to move after a supposed stop in Sacramento while a new stadium is being built among the bright-light casinos.
Buelvas and Bolte need some building, too. They each must improve their pitch recognition at the plate to go along with their already advanced defense and baserunning. There have been signs this year that is starting to happen.
Through 19 games, each guy has exactly 17 hits, 3 homers and is 8-for-8 in stolen-base attempts. Buelvas’ homers came in three straight games. Bolte is batting .239 with 15 runs and 13 RBI; Buelvas is at .243 with 18 runs and 12 RBI.
“Watching these guys every day can be very enjoyable and sometimes frustrating,” said long-time Lansing radio announcer Jesse Goldberg-Strasser. “You marvel at their talent. They are young and inconsistent, but you see little glimpses of good things, sometimes brilliant things. That’s fun.”
Bolte was born in San Francisco and got a $2 million signing bonus as a second-round choice in 2012 out of Palo Alto High School, where hit 13 homers as a senior.
Last year at Stockton, he hit .257 with 14 homers and 32 steals. He turns singles into doubles and doubles into triples with exceptional speed – while using his swiftness to take away extra-base hits from opponents. He projects as a multi-tool center-fielder.
His first homer this season was an opposite-field shot. So was his second. His third went well past 400 feet to center.
At 6-3 and 195 pounds at age 20, the Athletics figure Bolte will develop even more muscle and power at the plate. More importantly, he must make consistent contact.
Colombia Has More Than Coffee
Coffee drinkers love the smooth Colombian blend flavor of their favorite beverage. Oakland scouts liked the smooth Colombian blend of talent displayed by Buelvas and so the A’s gave him $100,000 to sign at age 16 in 2018.
Now 22, there have been many flashes of brilliance along the way, especially on defense as this play earlier this month shows.
Offensively, it has been hit and miss. Too many misses to hits, though when he maintains balance at the plate, the result can be impressive as in this homer in 2023 for Stockton. He began putting it together there, batting .290 with 9 homers and 23 steals in 54 games last summer.
Other Prospects Getting Straight A’s
Oakland’s farm system is not overflowing with talent, but infielders Jacob Wilson, Max Muncy, Myles Naylor and Brett Harris along with outfielder Denzel Clarke and catcher Daniel Susac are projected to provide help in the next few years. All are listed among the top 10 prospects in the organization by MLB Pipeline.
Right-handers Luis Morales, Joe Boyle, Joey Estes and Steven Echevarria are highly ranked, too. Mitch Spence was listed at No. 25 in the system to start the season. A Rule 5 draft pick from the New York Yankees in December, he has a 2-1 record and 3.38 ERA in seven sharp-looking relief outings for Oakland as a 25-year-old rookie.
Historic Oakland Outfielders
While still playing in Kansas City in the mid-1960s, the Athletics drafted two outfielders burgeoning with talent. By the time the team moved to Oakland in 1968, each were established stars.
Before 1965, all players were signed as free agents, with the very best prospects invariably going to the clubs who handed out the most money. The MLB Draft started that year and the Athletics, on the basis of their 57-105 record in 1964, held the historic first pick. They chose outfielder Rick Monday out of Arizona State.
A year later, coming off a 59-103 mark, they held the second pick and got a stroke of luck. The New York Mets chose high school catcher Steven Chilcott. So, the A’s went back to Arizona State and chose the finest collegiate player in the land, Reggie Jackson. Chilcott never made the majors; Jackson made the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In their first year in Oakland, the A’s had an 82-80 record. Monday made the All-Star team and hit .274 with 14 steals while playing great defense in center. Jackson belted 29 homers, also stole 14 and drove in 74 runs as a rifle-armed right-fielder.
The A’s kept improving. Jackson had 47 homers with 118 RBI and 13 steals in 1969; Monday hit .271 with 12 homers and 12 steals.
By 1972, Monday had been traded to the Chicago Cubs for ace pitcher Ken Holtzman. Jackson was slugging homers all over America. And the A’s were on their way to winning three consecutive World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974.