OAKLAND -- Going through his first big league Spring Training back in March, Lawrence Butler dubbed the next wave of young talent developing in the A’s farm system as “The New Oakland.”

Butler vowed to the club’s fans that the product on the field upon their arrival to the Majors would be worth the price of admission on a nightly basis. Five months later, Butler, ranked as Oakland’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, received his first chance to make good on that promise.

Following an impressive start to his Major League career that began on the road last week, Butler made his first Coliseum appearance on Friday night, signing autographs and taking pictures with the fan base that has been anticipating his callup since watching and hearing about his electrifying performance during the Cactus League.

“The fans were very welcoming,” Butler said. “A lot of them were talking to me in the outfield and just glad that I was here. It felt like home a lot.”

Manning center field and batting leadoff, Butler carried over his strong start into his home debut by producing his first career multi-hit performance in a 9-4 loss to the Orioles by collecting a pair of singles, including one in the fifth inning that was smashed with an exit velocity of 102 mph.

After going hitless in his Major League debut on Aug. 11, Butler has quickly settled in by hitting safely in each of his past six games. Over that stretch, the 23-year-old outfielder is 7-for-21 (.333) with a homer and two doubles.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Butler said. “These pitchers are good in the big leagues. I’m still trying to learn and figure out the ins and outs of it, but I feel like I’m doing pretty well for myself for the first week.”

The overall approach at the plate has stood out from Butler, including his ability to adjust with two strikes. His ninth-inning strikeout against Orioles All-Star reliever Yennier Cano was only his fourth punchout in 25 appearances. But even that at-bat was a battle, as Butler worked back from an 0-2 count to make it 2-2 before swinging through a nasty 92 mph changeup.

“He has a two-strike approach, which you don’t see a ton of [young] guys do,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Butler. “He spreads out a little bit more with two strikes and really makes a conscious effort to battle to put the ball in play.”

That advanced two-strike approach by Butler is something he said he picked up in his return from the 2020 pandemic, which coincides with the timeframe in which the A’s front office really began to see him flourish into one of the club’s top hitting prospects.

“I kind of just started doing it in 2021,” Butler said. “I’ve just been refining it and getting better at it each year. Just trying to put the ball in play with two strikes and fight it off.”

With Butler now joining No. 1 prospect Tyler Soderstrom and No. 3 prospect Zack Gelof -- who entered the series opener against the Orioles as just one of four players in the past 85 years with at least 20 extra-base hits in his first 28 career games -- in the Majors, the rebuilding A’s are going to get a good glimpse over this final month and a half at the players they believe will headline their next era of winning baseball.

“It’s exciting to have all three of them in the lineup,” Kotsay said. “We got a good evaluation of all three of them in Spring Training. … They’ve done a great job getting here and now their opportunity lies in front of them to prove that they belong here. 

“Hopefully, they become those players that lead this franchise forward.”