Athletics' Lawrence Butler: Making more contact for Vegas

Butler owns a .250/.348/.420 slash line with nine extra-base hits (five doubles, four home runs), nine RBI and seven stolen bases in the 24 games he's played with Triple-A Las Vegas since being optioned May 14.

Butler also boasts a 13.0 percent walk rate and modest 20.9 percent strikeout rate in that span, the latter figure representing a welcome reduction from the 29.8 percent number he sported during his time with the big-league club earlier this season. Seth Brown remains mired in a season-long slump, so Butler showing signs of life with the Aviators could mean a potential return to the majors for the 23-year-old.