Athletics rookie outfielder Henry Bolte became the first Athletic to have a homer and three stolen bases in a game since Rickey Henderson, who accomplished the feat in 1991. Bolte turned in a key performance in the A's' win over the Blue Jays on Monday, coming across to score three times in five trips to the plate. He drew three walks in the game, and his homer off of Cy Young hopeful Dylan Cease gave the A's a four-run lead.
The Northern California native stole his first base of the night in the first inning, taking second after leading off the inning with a walk, then stole second and third in the bottom of the third before coming home on a fielders choice. His homer came in the bottom of the fifth inning, crushing a fastball up in the zone down the right field line to make the score 5-1. The A's gave away their four-run lead later in the game, but managed to start a rally in the bottom of the ninth against Louis Varland—one of the best relievers in MLB.
Bolte walked to load the bases, albeit on a questionable call, to set up a Jeff McNeil walk-off single. Bolte came up to the team in May, and has 102 appearances over the course of the season so far. Bolte has nine homers and 32 RBIs so far this year, stealing 19 bases as well.
He has a slash line of .275/.358/.395 this year for a .753 OPS. The 23-year-old has been the A's' best player with the bat since the beginning of August, by which time most of their key players had already moved to the injured list. He's making up the difference, though, positng a 149 wRC+ since Aug. 1, posting a .902 OPS with six homers and 14 RBIs.
He reached base nearly 40% of the time during that stretch, and his speed — which statcast measures as the highest sprint speed in MLB — makes him a real problem for opposing teams. The A's don't have much to play for at the moment with all of their injuries, but adding Bolte to their star-studded young core is sure to make them even more exciting to watch for years to come.
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