Bolte's adjustments evident in near-cycle as hot streak continues

WEST SACRAMENTO – It didn’t take long into Saturday night’s game against the Rangers for Henry Bolte to start thinking about his opportunity to make some history.

After singling in the first inning, launching a three-run homer that just scraped the left-field foul pole in the second and doubling two innings later, Bolte already had three legs of the cycle completed against Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore by the fourth, leaving him just a triple shy with plenty of time to complete the 18th cycle in A’s history and first since Mark Ellis in 2007.

Bolte went hitless in his final two at-bats as the A’s fell to Texas, 5-3, at Sutter Health Park, but it was nonetheless the exact type of performance from the 23-year-old rookie that the A’s would like to see from many of their young players on the roster during this final stretch of the season.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s defeat:

1. Bolte surging

Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas in May and ranked as the A’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline at the time, Bolte got off to a fast start in the big leagues by hitting .317 with an .814 OPS through his first 40 games.

Of course, such hot starts are often followed by cold spells once the league makes adjustments on a young hitter. That was the case with Bolte, who fell into a slump after that 40-game stretch by proceeding to hit just .118 with two extra-base hits and 25 strikeouts in 23 games from June 27-July 27.

As of late, however, Bolte has countered those adjustments from opposing pitchers with some adjustments of his own. The result has been a return to that form he showed earlier in the season. Over his last 17 games, Bolte is now hitting .322 (19-for-59) with three homers, three doubles and eight RBIs.

“It definitely feels like I’ve turned the corner a little bit,” Bolte said. “Regardless of the level, baseball is a marathon. You’re going to go through ups and downs. You’ll have a great stretch and some bad stretches. It’s been that way in my career in the past, so it’s not a new thing. … It’ll be a never-ending cycle, but it gives you some confidence knowing you can come out on the other side of it.”

Bolte is still developing, both as a hitter and defensively as a center fielder. When things are going well for him, nights like this make it fun to dream about what his future with the A’s might look like once he puts it all together.

“This is a kid that’s exciting,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We’re really excited about him and his future. The adjustments he’s been able to make showed up tonight again. … When he’s at the top, leading off against lefties, you feel good about the opportunity to get some runs with him going.”

2. Ginn’s odd night

For the majority of the night, J.T. Ginn put together another impressive outing in what has been a breakout year for him. His downfall essentially came down to two pitches in the sixth. A 3-0 sinker up in the zone to Corey Seager was lined to center for an RBI single. One pitch later, Wyatt Langford turned on a first-pitch cutter for a go-ahead two-run homer. In less than one minute, a 3-1 A’s lead flipped to a 4-3 deficit.

The final line was marred by that late sequence, as Ginn racked up seven strikeouts and did not issue a walk across six innings, yet allowed four runs in a loss.

3. Basso making his case

So much of this final quarter of the season is about identifying which relief pitchers in the current A’s bullpen can help them beyond this year. So far, Brady Basso is looking like he might be a piece for 2027.

Taking over for Ginn, Basso fired 1 2/3 scoreless frames with two strikeouts to keep the A’s within one run. It has been an up and down year for Basso, but since getting recalled from Triple-A on July 15, the 28-year-old lefty has put up scoreless outings in nine of his 11 appearances, posting a 2.20 ERA (four earned runs in 16 1/3 innings) with two walks and 16 strikeouts in that span.

“Basso has done a tremendous job since he’s been back,” Kotsay said. “You can see the confidence now in him executing pitches. He’s locating the baseball well.”