Lawrence Butler was not only named the American League Player of the Week, thanks to his second three home run game of the year and a .500 average, he also set an A’s franchise record with nine straight games with an extra base hit. The “Law Dawg” is becoming a superstar right before our eyes as he takes the top spot on Week 22 of our #HighFive list.
1. Lawrence Butler “Law Dawg”
Things seemed to click for Lawrence Butler right before the All-Star Break when he hit his first career three homer game on the final Sunday against the Phillies.
Ever since, Butler has been playing at a superstar level and this week he earned his second American League Player of the Month award this season, becoming one of six Athletics ever to win the award twice in a season.
Last Thursday Butler became the third player age 24 or younger with multiple three home run games in a season, joining Ralph Kiner and Mookie Betts.
In total, Butler had six home runs, drove in 10 runs, had three doubles, stole two bases and slashed .500/.517/1.767 to clinch the award.
His Athletics continue their final month as a franchise this weekend when they welcome the Tigers to Oakland for the final time.
2. Josh Naylor
After a lackluster July and August, Josh Naylor stepped his game up this week with multiple hits in four of six games including two three-hit games to take the two spot on our #HighFive List.
After homering on Labor Day for the 29th time this season, he is only one blast away from joining the 100 RBI-30 home run club for the first time in his career. This week Naylor along with fellow All-Star Jose Ramirez became the first pair of Major League teammates to each reach 100 RBI.
In his last seven games he is slashing .429/.467/.679 with eight RBI, a homer and a stolen base.
3. Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Through 26 games as a Yankee, Jazz Chisholm is showing to be one of their better trade deadline additions for New York in recent memory.
Over that stretch he has a .333 average, 1.007 OPS, scored 22 runs, stole 11 bases and nine home runs, almost more than the 13 he had in 101 games with the Marlins this year.
“He is a better player than I knew,” said Yankee manager Aaron Boone.
“Defensively his instincts have been good as well as on the base paths. He is a really good player that may just be scratching the surface.”
Chisholm had four straight games this week with multiple hits and over his last seven games he has a .462 average with a .500 OBP and six steals.
4. Mookie Betts
Monday August 19, 2024: (Photo: Kevin Reece MLBbro.com)
Mookie Betts made the Angels pay for the ultimate disrespect Tuesday with a three-run bomb in the 10th to put the game on ice.
It becomes pick your poison when facing the top three MVP hitters in the Dodger lineup and Tuesday, Ron Washington decided Ohtani was not going to be the one not to beat them.
With a runner on second they intentionally walked Ohtani to go at Betts. The rest, like they say, is history.
“They walked Sho for me and I was like alright if that is what you want,” Betts told reporters postgame.
Betts has hits in 10 of his last 11 games and has driven in 10 runs in his last seven games and posting a .360 average.
5. Jack Flaherty “Blackjack”
Jack Flaherty made a statement by shutting down the Diamondbacks in his first start as a Dodger against the National League West.
He got the win after throwing 5.2 innings and gave up only one run on five hits and seven strikeouts.
Since joining the Dodgers, the same team he grew up rooting for in his hometown of Los Angeles, Flaherty is 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 41strikouts in 34 innings.
His next start will be Sunday against one of Blackjack’s familiar foes, Josh Naylor and the Cleveland Guardians.
Aaron Judge put himself in rare company this week, joining Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez as the players in Major League history to have three 50 home runs seasons.
Judge is a standout among this group being one of the only to do so without having any steroid allegations. For that, he earns the top spot on Week 21 of our #HighFive list.
1. Aaron Judge
This week was full of accomplishments for Judge as not only did he become the first MLBbro to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, but he also reached 1,000 base hits. Judge has more homers today than he did at this same point of the season back in 2022 when he finished with an American League record 62 home runs in a season.
Sunday, he hit bro bombs 50 and 51, but the highlight of his week came on Monday in D.C. when he robbed a homer in center field and got the ball back to the infield in time to double off a speedy C.J. Abrams.
Judge was awarded the American League Player of the Week award for his efforts. He has a slashline of .318/.500/.909 with four homers, six RBI, seven walks and a stolen base over his last seven games.
2. Lawrence Butler “LawBoyz”
Lawrence Butler is on a heater, similar to the one he went on in July that saw him become one of the better hitters in baseball after making a slight adjustment to his stance.
He led off Wednesday’s game with a bro bomb and is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. Butler has three home runs in his last five games, giving him 16 on the season. Over the last seven games, Butler has a .303 average with a 1.095 OPS, seven RBI and two stolen bases.
His A’s will travel to Arlington, Texas this weekend for the final time representing Oakland to take on the Rangers in a three-game series.
3. Jazz Chisholm Jr. “Bahamian Blur”
Jazz Chisholm returned to the Yankees lineup and immediately hopped on the bandwagon being carried by Aaron Judge; but he is doing his part to keep the Yankees going forward in their push for the American League East title.
Chisholm was the biggest name to move at the deadline and since arriving in New York, he has been a perfect fit to their puzzle. After being sent to the Injured List to deal with an elbow injury, he has come back without missing a beat at the plate. He is hitting .273 with two home runs and a .940 OPS over the last seven days. His 22 home runs and career-high 28 steals give Chisholm Jr. the first 20/20 season of his career.
It may be a longshot to reach the 30/30 mark, but the 2023 MLB The Show cover boy could use the short porch in Yankee Stadium to make it become a reality.
4. Will Benson
Will Benson takes the fourth spot on our #HighFive list after hitting a go-ahead three-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh against the Athletics. For Benson, it was his first home run in a month and the 13th of his season.
He went through a tough stretch for most of August that saw him only going 2-for-20 until August 21st, but he has improved since then, hitting .333 over the last seven days.
5. Bo Naylor
Bo Naylor is becoming one of the better defensive catchers in the Majors, but he showed out with his bat this week to help the Guardians salvage a game in what was a crucial series for the American League Central pennant. His 11th home run of the year ignited a late inning comeback for Cleveland, who is currently holding onto their A.L. Central lead by a thread.
“It has been a long stretch from the beginning of the season until now and there is still a long way to go,” said Naylor. “We are not stopping or letting any adversity get to our head. Just keep competing and hope we end up on the right side of things.”
Most fans might ignore the Oakland A’s, but don’t ignore outfielder Lawrence Butler.
Since debuting in Aug. 2023, Butler has put his power on display with 20 career homers in 429 at-bats. Furthermore, “the Butler” has served up a hot one lately, homering on Wednesday and Tuesday over the Reds — his third bro bomb in the last seven days.
He’s one of the rising MLBbros who are taking over the league.
Adding seven RBIs to the mix, Butler stands out as a potential power-hitting star in the future. Playing in Oakland and being young, Butler might be an underdog, but it’s nothing he isn’t used to. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of high school, the odds were stacked against Butler. That didn’t stop Butler from filling up the stat sheet with 24 hits and 15 RBIs in 46 games.
The very next year: Things didn’t look so great.
In 2019, Butler stuck out 90 times and saw his batting average dip from a .226 average to .177. That was a chance for him to go to work not just in the batting cage but on the basepath, as he came back with a .273 batting average in single-A ball accompanied by 29 stolen bases.
Even in 2024, he spent 27 games in the minors, despite making the Opening Day roster, but it’s all seeming to come together as the season reaches its tail-end.
“You know, it’s kind of crazy seeing myself progress from my first big league game to (almost) a full year in the big leagues,” Butler previously told NBC Sports.
Last month was his best month yet, as Butler knocked 10 balls over the wall and batted .363 — including a three-homer game against the Phillies. This month his average has dipped to .235, but he is on a seven-game hitting streak and looks to continue to drive the average up.
If not for anyone, baseball fans might start turning on A’s games to see the Burlington, New Jersey, kid go to work.
Even outside of his power, he’s 6-foot-3, can get out and run with 12 stolen bases, and is an above average fielder as he’s notched a .984 fielding percentage this season. What more do you want — turn on the Butler show.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is off to a historic start in his first week as a Yankee, becoming the first player in their franchise history to homer four times in their first three games with the team.
That was just the opening act for the “Bahamian Blur,” who has a chance to become the next great superstar in New York.
He claims the top spot on Week 17 of our #HighFive.
1. Jazz Chisholm “Bahamian Blur”
The electricity, passion and energy Jazz Chisholm Jr. plays with makes him the perfect fit to shine under the bright lights of one of the toughest cities for anyone to play in.
He was traded to the Yankees last weekend and made his debut on Sunday Night Baseball, where he finished with a hit and stolen base to help clinch the series in Fenway Park over the Red Sox.
During the series against the Phillies earlier this week, Chisholm announced his presence with back-to-back multi-homer games for the first time in his career, one of those Bro Bombs was sent into the Philadelphia night sky using Aaron Judge’s bat.
Not only does he take a little weight off of the shoulders of he and Juan Soto but he also adds an energy to the ballpark that no other player has brought to the Bronx recently outside of those two.
3. Hunter Greene “Machine”
Hunter Greene’s seven innings of two-hit shutout baseball against the Rays last Sunday solidified his case for National League Pitcher of the Month for July.
In four starts he finished with a 0.33 ERA, .103 batting average against, a 29:8 strikeout to walk ratio and only gave up a total of nine hits.
Over last seven starts, Greene has only given up more than one run once while going scoreless four times.
His next start will be Saturday in Cincinnati as his Reds take on the Giants in a series that will have huge implications in the National League Wild Card race.
4. Cedric “The Entertainer” Mullins
Cedric Mullins has been quiet at the plate for a majority of 2024, but if his bat stays as loud as it has over the last seven days, the depth that brings to the Orioles lineup will be trouble for the rest of the American League.
Mullins, who over the last seven days has a .426 average and a 1.486 OPS had hits in each of his final five games in July, ending the month with a slash line of .262/.357/.443 with two doubles, five doubles, two home runs and three stolen bases.
Baltimore will take on the American League Central-leading Guardians this weekend. They entered Thursday just a half game back of the Yankees for first place in the A.L. East.
If you had not heard of Lawernce Butler, last month told you all you need to know in terms of the potential he has.
He is in the running to take home the American League Player of the Month award after launching 10 home runs and finishing with a slash line of .363/.402/.802.
Butler also drove in 27 runs and was 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.
“This was my top month ever in life,” Butler told reporters. “This is the most fun I have had playing baseball. My team is playing great behind me. We are playing great defense, the pitching has been great. Everyone is clicking and it is a lot of fun.”
Lawrence Butler announced his presence to the baseball world with a three-homer game against the best team in the Majors to close out the first half of the season and has continued his heater into Week 16, posting an average over .570 in his last seven games and earning the top spot on the #HighFive for the first time in his career.
1. Lawrence Butler
A subtle change to his batting stance has Lawrence Butler swinging one of the hottest bats in the Majors as July comes to a close.
Butler, who was named the American League Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week entered July with his season average below .180 but has since raised it .075 points thanks to a meeting with the A’s Director of Hitting where they focused on keeping his head movement to a minimum in order to see the ball longer.
Over his last seven games he has a slash line of .571/.636/1.286 with 13 RBI, four home runs and five walks.
On Tuesday night Butler finished a single shy of the cycle in Oakland’s matchup against Houston. He was up in the 8th with a chance to be the first Athletic to accomplish the feat since 2007, but he was walked much to the dismay of the hometown crowd.
2. Taj Bradley
Taj Bradley’s one-hit, seven inning shutout on the road in New York earned him the two spot on this weeks #HighFive list.
In my eyes last Saturday’s outing was the best of his career so far, but the same could be said for almost any start he has had since June 8th.
Bradley is 4-0 with an 0.82 ERA and a 51:16 strikeout to walk ratio over his last seven starts. He entered Thursday only giving up one run in his three July starts.
Bradley is the current front runner for the 2024 Bob Gibson MLBbro.com pitcher of the year award, the inaugural trophy was given to Brewers closer Devin Willams last year.
Bradley is scheduled to start Thursday afternoon in Toronto against George Springer and the Blue Jays.
3. Hunter Greene “Machine”
In his first start since playing in his first career All-Star Game, Hunter Greene delivered a masterful performance in the venue that will host MLB All-Star in 2025.
He threw seven shutout innings and gave up just two hits while striking out seven against the Braves.
That adds another strong start to the best month of his career. He has a 0.45 ERA, 24 strikeouts and only seven hits allowed in 20 innings pitched.
Greene’s final start of July will be Sunday against Tampa Bay.
4. “Black” Jack Flaherty
If Jack Flaherty’s start on Tuesday was his last in a Tiger uniform, he went out with a bang.
Black Jack’s name has been going around the MLB trade rumor mill since he signed a one-year deal with Detroit this off-season.
Now contenders such as the Dodgers, Astros, Braves, Yankees and even his former team the Cardinals are all trying for Flaherty’s services to help boost their rotations for the stretch run.
He threw six shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out six against the American League Central leading Guardians.
Those six strikeouts bring his season total to 133 which is the fourth most in the American League and his 2.95 ERA also ranks him in the top 10 for A.L. pitchers.
5. Justyn-Henry Malloy “JHM”
Justyn-Henry Malloy is getting more comfortable with each passing day in the Majors as he takes the final spot on our #HighFive list this week thanks to his current 17-game on-base streak.
He has hits in eight of his last nine games and hit homers on back-to-back days this week including a go-ahead grand slam (the first of his career) on Sunday.
“I knew the situation. I knew we were down by a few runs and I wanted to pass the baton,” Malloy told reporters in his postgame press conference.
“I know with the bases loaded there is no place to put me so I just wanted to find a good pitch. It was a really cool moment and I am glad to get the first out of the way.”
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