One of the Athletics' budding young stars is confident the days of his team being the object of ridicule are soon coming to an end.
Lawrence Butler spoke to reporters about the A's promising future following Oakland's 6-5 extra-innings loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
“The A’s have a really bright future”, Butler said. “People might think of us as a laughingstock of the league this year, but next year is going to be a whole different story.”
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He then doubled down on his quote several hours later on social media.
Butler registered his first career multi-homer game Monday, as he was responsible for two of the four homers hit by A's rookies against Toronto.
While Oakland currently has the worst record in baseball, there appear to be brighter days ahead after promising early returns from their youngsters, headlined by Butler and reigning AL Rookie of the Month Zack Gelof.
Oakland Athletics
A key ingredient to changing the culture of a struggling franchise is identifying a player who can be a lightning rod that can galvanize the entire group.
Butler and his innate confidence quickly have proven to be that sparkplug a young A's team needs as they look to carve out their identity moving forward.