Back in July, Nick Kurtz was designated with the fourth selection by the Athletics during the 2024 MLB Draft.
This July, he achieved the milestone of being the 20th player, and also the first rookie, across MLB history to achieve a four-homer game, directing the A’s toward a 15-3 victory versus the Houston Astros on Friday. Below are all his four homers and the balance of his 6-for-6 night, exhibiting an increasingly joyous A’s broadcast:
Remarkably, that wasn’t the culmination of the 22-year-old Kurtz’s accomplishments, as he reached a tie with Shawn Green in terms of the most total bases obtained during a single game, securing 19.
He also tied Green (along with other individuals) regarding modern era records with six runs scored as well as five extra base hits. He produced eight RBI, exceeding Green’s esteemed game back in 2002 by just one. It’s certainly no exaggeration to characterize it as possibly baseball’s paramount offensive game ever, all attained by a player that was in college toward the start of the 2024 season.
The surprising aspect to all this involved Kurtz’s double during the fourth inning. Should it have gone perhaps just two feet further, we’d be discussing probably baseball’s very first five-homer game ever witnessed.
Kurtz accomplished all those things facing the Astros, who hold first-place standing, with each homer occurring against a distinct pitcher. While they weren’t specifically the staff aces, beginning pitcher Ryan Gusto (4.46 ERA heading into Friday), relief pitchers Nick Hernandez (9.00 throughout just one inning), Kaleb Ort (5.40) in addition to Cooper Hummel (position player) each experienced the damage.
It marked the season’s second four-homer game, subsequent to Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez’s outstanding night during April 26.
Who is Nick Kurtz?
That performance adds to what was already a notable promotion of Kurtz, who entered Friday as the AL Rookie of the Year favorite at BetMGM and most certainly exited it that way. For the past nine weeks approximately he has been the leading hitter across baseball – not just rookie, simply hitter – and is primed to dispatch some memorabilia into the Hall of Fame presently.
It’s merely been 368 days considering Kurtz formally signed his initial contract with the A’s, joining the club subsequent to consecutive All-American seasons held at Wake Forest. Similar to how he performed within the ACC, he then proceeded to dominate within the minor leagues, documenting a 1.283 OPS amongst Single-A along with Double-A throughout 2024, followed by a 1.040 OPS in Triple-A before his promotion during late April.
Kurtz actually started off relatively sluggishly in his major league career, slashing .208/.259/.299 while securing only one homer up to May 19, which was the concluding day of an 0-for-21 skid. Since then, he’s slashed .352/.427/.870 accompanied by 24 homers throughout 43 games. That results in a 90.4-homer speed whenever extended throughout 162 games.
You’d need to revisit Joe DiMaggio to discover a player exhibiting this quantity of extra-base hits throughout their inaugural 66 MLB games. He holds just one above Ted Williams.
Hitters entering the majors and exhibiting dominance at this quantity throughout also merely half a season remain breathtakingly uncommon. Kurtz was consistently regarded as one of the leading hitters throughout his draft group, with worries regarding injuries coupled with his defensive utility being a first-base player solely lowering his overall rating, although this goes well beyond also probably the most extravagant anticipations regarding him.
Considering overcoming that slump during May, he has executed greater at the plate compared to Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and possibly every single other MLB player that could come to mind. While unlikely to sustain this speed, there exist capable players – even extraordinary individuals – who advance throughout their complete careers without attaining a stretch such as this.
The A’s suddenly have a future
Therefore, all that translates into a victory intended for the A’s. They chose a guy with the fourth selection overall and after a single year possess a blossoming superstar. Good employment.
The A’s have generally evolved into baseball’s punching bag over recent years. Certain teams may have carried out inferior on the field, for example, the Chicago White Sox together with the Colorado Rockies, however, at minimum those particular teams tend to be performing throughout major league stadiums. The A’s are a team that has not reached seventy wins given that 2021, at this point performing inside a Triple-A ballpark positioned inside Sacramento, whereas awaiting a dubiously financed stadium within Las Vegas.
None of that suggests “well-run team,” although the intriguing point regarding the A’s entails that they possess a tremendously enjoyable assortment of youthful players, which may theoretically be a draw once the team gets to Nevada to commence performing.
Kurtz signifies the brand-new big name, although there’s additionally late-blooming All-Star specified hitter Brent Rooker at the center of the lineup. Kurtz is the Rookie of the Year favorite, even though he possesses company around the leaderboard by means of Jacob Wilson, the No. 6 selection in the 2023 MLB Draft who’s presently hitting .312, and Denzel Clarke, the standout defender that additionally hit probably the third-longest homer throughout MLB this time of year.
And after that, you will find guys similar to outfielders Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler, who’ve exhibited guarantee throughout their early on MLB seasons.
Pitching has not experienced similar good results for the A’s, even though each team would opt to possess a grouping of offering youthful hitters exhibiting oodles of team handle in comparison with pitchers. The franchise remains a substantial distance removed from contending for any World Series, even so, it is miles nearer compared to what it was during the past year.
