It started with a single.

A little jam shot, in fact -- just 77.9 mph off the bat. But for Lawrence Butler, it might as well have been a walk-off grand slam.

When the young A¡¯s outfielder lined an inside fastball from D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt back up the middle on June 30 at Chase Field, he could hardly predict it would be the start of a scorching summer. But for a hitter who came into the game with a .174 batting average in 2024, it was just what Butler needed after making key mechanical adjustments the day before.

¡°That felt amazing,¡± Butler told MLB.com. ¡°When you put the work in and then you see the results come to fruition in a game, it means a lot.¡±

The changes Butler made (and that one fateful hit) seem to have unlocked his natural talent -- and what a talent it is.

Entering play Wednesday against the Rangers, Butler has batted .312 with a .627 slugging percentage since July 1. Since that date, he has 20 homers and 13 stolen bases, and his .984 OPS is the seventh highest in the Majors. (The A¡¯s, meanwhile, have a 38-33 record since July 1 -- tied with the Yankees for the third best in the American League.)

¡°I feel good right now,¡± Butler said. ¡°The team¡¯s been playing well, and that¡¯s really all you can ever ask for in a season like this: just win games in the second half, finish strong and look forward to next year.¡±

Here¡¯s how Butler got to this point -- and what stands out about his breakout season.

¡®I¡¯ve come a long way¡¯

Five years ago, Butler -- barely 19 years old -- wrapped up his first full Minor League season. It didn¡¯t go well.

A sixth-round Draft pick out of high school in Atlanta in 2018, Butler spent all of 2019 with Low-A Vermont. He played exclusively first base until getting reps in left field in the season¡¯s final month, and he hit just .177/.276/.286 with a strikeout rate above 40%. Off-the-field concerns also factored in, Butler said.

¡°To be honest, it was terrible,¡± he recalled. ¡°I¡¯d never been up there, up north like that before. The host situation wasn¡¯t the best. Old field. First year in the Minors, too. It was rough.¡±

Just look at Butler now -- a rising star at 24 years old and the table-setter for a promising offense. It¡¯s been quite the journey.

¡°I¡¯ve come a long way,¡± Butler said. ¡°I¡¯ve grinded through the Minors to be able to come to the big leagues and make a difference with this beautiful organization."

In fact, he¡¯s come a long way in five months, let alone five years.

Butler picked things up with the bat in the Minors, earning his first callup to the Major Leagues midway through 2023. After getting his feet wet in the bigs with a .211/.240/.342 line in 42 games, Butler made the A¡¯s out of Spring Training in 2024.

But after hitting .179 with just two homers and a .555 OPS in 41 contests, he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on May 14.

¡°I¡¯m sure he was pretty pissed off when that happened, as every player should be,¡± A¡¯s center fielder JJ Bleday said. ¡°No one wants to get sent down.¡±

Butler was disappointed, thinking he¡¯d made solid contact in his time in the Majors but the hits just weren¡¯t falling.

¡°I felt like I was swinging it good,¡± he said. ¡°Things just didn¡¯t happen to work out how I wanted them to.¡±

Finding his swing

Of course, Butler¡¯s poor fortune didn¡¯t last forever.

On June 18, he was called back up to the A¡¯s and doubled that night in a win over the Royals. Butler picked up hits in three of his next six games, too.

But it wasn¡¯t until June 29 in Arizona when A¡¯s director of hitting Darren Bush helped Butler make several mechanical tweaks, including keeping the youngster¡¯s head movement under control and ensuring he stayed back more on the baseball.

The changes Bush suggested were hardly new to the young hitter, but they came at a good time.

¡°You¡¯re in the big leagues, you kind of get blinded by a lot of the things that the big leagues have to offer,¡± Butler said. ¡°It was really more of just a reassurance thing.¡±

He went 1-for-2 the following day with the line-drive single off Pfaadt, then went 2-for-4 with a homer in his next game. In 11 more contests before the All-Star break, Butler went 11-for-37 (.297) with six home runs and a 1.144 OPS.

¡°He¡¯s really found his swing, I think, since right before the All-Star break, right when he got called back up this year,¡± Bleday said. ¡°He¡¯s really trusted himself and cut down on some movements. He¡¯s always been a hitter, but he¡¯s really become more experienced and more mature with what he needs to do on a daily basis.¡±

Butler¡¯s final game before the break was special: He launched three home runs against the Phillies on July 14 and nearly had a fourth. Butler added a SECOND three-homer game on Aug. 29 in Cincinnati, making him one of just 26 players in MLB history with multiple such games in the same season.

Butler admitted he'd ¡°never even thought¡± of hitting three homers in a game before 2024 -- it was something he¡¯d never done before at any level.

¡°Two homers in a game, I thought that was probably the pinnacle,¡± Butler said. ¡°If I hit two homers, I¡¯m cool with that.¡±

Part of a bright future

It hasn¡¯t just been the homers: Butler has found a way on base consistently from the leadoff spot, setting the tone well for Brent Rooker behind him amid Rooker¡¯s own outstanding year.

Butler reeled off a 22-game hit streak from Aug. 21-Sept. 14, tied with Eric Byrnes (2003) for the fourth-longest streak in Oakland A¡¯s history, and reached base in 27 consecutive contests.

He¡¯s come a ways from the hitter who struck out more than 30% of the time in the Minors from 2018 to 2023, owning a 24.6% K rate as a Major Leaguer and changing his approach for his role with the A¡¯s.

¡°Really just staying within my zone, homing in on swinging at strikes and taking the balls and not trying to hit every pitch that they throw,¡± Butler said.

Statcast quality-of-contact metrics back up Butler¡¯s performance at the dish -- he ranks in the 90th percentile of MLB in expected slugging percentage (.496) and in the 88th percentile in hard-hit rate (48.6%). Essentially, the left-handed hitter swings hard and impacts the ball at a well-above-average rate.

¡°He¡¯s just a guy that¡¯s got easy juice,¡± Bleday said. ¡°He¡¯s a power guy.¡±

After playing almost exclusively in center field as a rookie in 2023, Butler has served as the everyday right fielder for the A¡¯s since he was called back up. The new position presents new challenges like different angles and tougher reads, but Butler has taken it in stride.

¡°Law¡¯s handled it well,¡± said Bleday, who has taken over center for the A¡¯s in 2024. ¡°Law¡¯s just a really good athlete. He can play anywhere in the outfield, and he¡¯s taken right field and made it his own for sure.¡±

Butler has been a roughly average defender in right field this year, but his big bat (and his 17 steals in 17 tries on the basepaths) has provided major value to the A¡¯s. Entering Tuesday, his 2.8 bWAR tied him for second on the club, behind only Rooker (5.5).

Ranked as the A¡¯s No. 11 prospect at the start of 2023, Butler is part of a young position-player crop that includes second baseman Zack Gelof, first baseman Tyler Soderstrom and shortstop Jacob Wilson.

Thanks to Butler¡¯s emergence over the past three months, his team's offensive future is considerably brighter -- and Butler knows it.

¡°I¡¯m excited,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve got a very good team with a lot of young guys, a lot of guys I¡¯ve played with. I¡¯ve seen them grow, they¡¯ve seen me grow, so I think we¡¯re going to have a good year next year."