{"id":602678,"date":"2026-03-03T01:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/602678\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T01:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:24:23","slug":"athletics-believe-prospect-henry-bolte-has-ability-to-be-a-star-nbc-sports-bay-area-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/602678\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics believe prospect Henry Bolte has ability to be a \u2018star\u2019 \u2013 NBC Sports Bay Area & California"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if the Athletics\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0already loaded with young outfield depth, another prospect is making his presence\u00a0felt\u00a0in\u00a0spring\u00a0training.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Henry Bolte, 22,\u00a0is off to a smoldering start\u00a0with a .353 batting average through seven games played, including a 2-for-3 and one RBI performance\u00a0in Monday\u2019s game against the San Diego Padres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahead of their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, manager Mark Kotsay said he sees real promise in Bolte, along with the hype that comes with being a highly ranked prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of us in that coaches\u2019 room that think this kid has the ability to be a real star,\u201d Kotsay said to reporters (h\/t\u00a0MLB.com’s Mart\u00edn Gallegos<\/a>). \u201cHe continues to make progress each year, both on the\u00a0physicality\u00a0side and the baseball side of just being a better hitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tools, the talent and the ability all align with this kid having an impact in our organization, hopefully, sooner than later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bolte was selected by the\u00a0A\u2019s\u00a0in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Palo Alto High School.\u00a0His development has been rapid, playing\u00a080 games in Double-A and 34 games in Triple-A in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his Triple-A stint, he finished the season with a .300 batting average, along with 10 extra-base hits and 14 RBI.\u00a0His solid play in the minors earned him\u00a0the\u00a0No. 5\u00a0in\u00a0MLB\u00a0Pipeline\u2019s\u00a02025\u00a0ranking of the\u00a0organization\u2019s top 30 prospects<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, as always with prospects, there\u2019s room for improvement. In Bolte\u2019s case, the\u00a0A\u2019s\u00a0would like to see him lower his 28.9 percent strikeout rate\u00a0in his time in Double-A and Triple-A last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dealing with a wrist injury did not help him. But, undergoing a cleanup procedure on the wrist along with finetuning his mechanics, Bolte feels confident heading into 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting my swing and body to work together as one\u00a0movement\u00a0so I\u2019m not fighting myself in one way or another, which might lead to some barrel inaccuracy or some swing-and-miss,\u201d Bolte said. \u201cThere\u2019s\u00a0an approach aspect to it as well. But getting my body to move more cohesively as a swing has been a big focus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI made some good strides last year with it and continued that this offseason and into spring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a packed outfield, it might take some time for Bolte to make his MLB debut with the A\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outfielders Lawrence Butler and Tyler\u00a0Soderstrom\u00a0have\u00a0signed\u00a0long-term extensions\u00a0with the team.\u00a0Denzel Clarke, despite some offensive struggles, appears to be the go-to in center field because of his defensive prowess.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A couple of Bolte\u2019s teammates on the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, Colby Thomas and Carlos Cortes, both saw major league action in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, with Clarke and Cortes soon stepping away for the World Baseball Classic, as well as Butler and\u00a0Thomas\u00a0rehabbing injuries, Bolte should see plenty of\u00a0work in spring training for the Green and Gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As if the Athletics\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0already loaded with young outfield depth, another prospect is making his presence\u00a0felt\u00a0in\u00a0spring\u00a0training.\u00a0 Henry Bolte, 22,\u00a0is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2391],"tags":[537,5,71706,4215,4,3226],"class_list":{"0":"post-602678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athletics","8":"tag-athletics","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-henry-bolte","11":"tag-mark-kotsay","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-mlb-athletics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116162636372089483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}