Bolte's hot month continues, but so do A's bullpen woes

WEST SACRAMENTO – After overcoming a six-run deficit to steal a series from the Astros in Houston the previous day, the Athletics had plenty of reason to believe they could pull off another similar feat on Monday.

Trailing by seven runs entering the bottom of the ninth against the Twins at Sutter Health Park, the A’s mounted a furious comeback with a trio of two-out RBI doubles by Jeff McNeil, Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler to bring them within three runs.

The momentum was building, but it ultimately was zapped by Tommy White’s lineout to seal a 9-6 loss to Minnesota.

Here are three takeaways from Monday’s defeat:

1. Bolte’s hot month

There’s still a week left in August, but at this point, American League Rookie of the Month is looking like it’s Henry Bolte’s award to lose.

Notching three more hits and reaching base four times Monday, Bolte is now slashing .345/.406/.494 for the month. Among all qualified Major League rookies in August, the A’s center fielder ranks first in hits (30), second in batting average (.345), second in on-base percentage (.406) and third in both OPS (.900) and slugging (.494).

Bolte’s 30 hits are the most by an A’s rookie in the month of August since Zack Gelof, who had exactly 30 in August 2023 and went on to win AL Rookie of the Month.

It’s more than just a hot month, though. Bolte is starting to find himself as a big leaguer. Now having played in 89 career Major League games, Bolte is slashing .276/.352/.374 with 17 extra-base hits and 14 stolen bases.

In a final stretch of the regular season that is all about development for several inexperienced players on this A’s roster, Bolte is perhaps making the loudest statement that he deserves to be viewed as a key part of this team’s young core beyond 2026.

“He’s put together a great month,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Bolte. “This is a 23-year-old outfielder that probably got here a little bit sooner than we anticipated. If you look at his Minor League numbers, what he’s doing in the big leagues right now is pretty solid. If you just double the production based on the amount of at-bats, I’d say those numbers would more than suffice to contribute to this club this year.

“He’s still got a full month left to continue to gain this experience and continue to make improvements on his overall game, which is exciting.”

2. Bullpen growing pains

The A’s late comeback attempt may have been enough Monday, had it not been for the bullpen’s inability to keep the game close.

After Jeffrey Springs departed with two outs in the fifth and the A’s trailing by three, Hayden Juenger finished the frame by stranding runners at the corners. In the sixth, however, Juenger allowed three runs. Later, in the eighth, Kade Morris allowed another two runs.

“[The bullpen] is an area of the game where we’re trying to find guys that can hold the game where it’s at,” Kotsay said. “That’s the progress we need to make to give our offense the chance to get back in the game. I like the fight we showed in the ninth inning. We just fell short.”

Morris, rated the A’s No. 14 prospect by MLB Pipeline, had some promising flashes in his 2 2/3 innings of relief, mainly a changeup that generated four of his seven total whiffs, per Statcast. His overall outing, however, came with a lack of execution.

“He’s figuring it out right now with the sinker and the changeup against lefties,” Kotsay said of Morris. “He has to execute those pitches and find something he can get those guys out with. … He’s got weapons. He has to execute those weapons to the bottom of the zone. … There’s definitely a learning curve for all of these guys that come up here, especially when they haven’t had a ton of experience in the Minor Leagues.”

3. Elusive winning streak

Stringing together wins remains hard to come by for the A’s, who are 11-39 since June 26. With Monday’s loss, the A’s still have not won more than two straight games since a four-game winning streak from June 9-13.