Athletics’ Henry Bolte Focuses On Making Better Swing Decisions
It was not quite the way Henry Bolte planned to start his first full season as a professional.
Rather than be assigned to Low-A Stockton on Opening Day, the 20-year-old outfielder stayed behind in extended spring training for three weeks.
When the assignment came, Bolte took off. He was named California League player of the week in early May and has continued to make his debut impressive.
“He’s made a ton of strides this year,” Athletics farm director Ed Sprague said. “He came in with a lot of swing-and-miss out of high school. We sent him to extended spring to work on that. Now his strikeout rate is down, and his walk rate is up.”
Sprague said there was no special plan, and Bolte figured things out mostly on his own, working with a high-speed pitching machine.
“We told him to get in there and put the barrel on the ball, then go from there,” Sprague said.
Bolte responded by hitting .251/.352/.428 with nine home runs and 17 stolen bases through 76 games for Stockton. He had drawn 43 walks against 119 strikeouts.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Bolte has elite tools. The A’s believe that he has plus-plus power potential. He has above-average speed, arm and defensive potential in center field.
The hurdle will be to develop his hit tool and consistently get the barrel on the ball.
“He’s a competitive kid,” Sprague said. “I think he’s making better swing decisions. His contact rate is up. He’s swinging out of the zone at a lower rate than earlier in the year.”
Bolte grew up an A’s fan at Palo Alto (Calif.) High before Oakland made him its second-round pick in 2022. The A’s paid an above-slot $2 million to bring the righthanded hitter into the system.
A’s ACORNS
— Outfielder Denzel Clark tweaked his shoulder and is expected to miss some time after a solid season for Double-A Midland. Clark leads the Double-A team with 12 homers.
— Righthander Tyler Baum was promoted to Double-A Midland after a strong performance at High-A Lansing. Baum put up a 1.72 ERA in 24 relief appearances totaling 31.1 innings. He was Oakland’s second-round pick in 2019 out of North Carolina.
