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Nick Kurtz (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
They were the four swings heard round the baseball world. Yet for Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, that July night when he became the first rookie—and one of just 21 players ever—to slug four home runs in one game still feels like a blur.
To the Aâ€s organization, it was something else entirely. The long-awaited light at the end of a dark, winding tunnel. A moment that didnâ€t erase the pain of the firesales, the empty seats or the heartbreaking dislocation to Sacramento ahead of a planned relocation to Las Vegas.
For the Aâ€s fans who endured the chaos and stayed when others walked away, it offered something rare—hope. Hope to keep following, to keep caring, even when the times are tough.
As the Aâ€s embark on a new chapter, they do so with a new foundation. At its center is Kurtz, the Baseball America Rookie of the Year.
More than just a cornerstone of transition, he is rapidly becoming one of the gameâ€s most formidable young sluggers. For Aâ€s fans who have waited so long, Kurtz represents the promise of a future that finally feels possible.
“Heâ€s been a revelation,†said Aâ€s assistant GM Billy Owens. “He was No. 1 on our (draft) board. The numbers were overwhelming, and the picturesque swing was amazing. I made sure, right after the draft, that it was on record in multiple interviews: Nick Kurtz was No. 1 on our board going into that season.â€
Kurtz authored one of the most dominant rookie seasons the game has ever seen. He slashed .291/.384/.613 with 33 home runs in 111 games. He led all rookies in homers. He led with 81 RBIs and 83 runs. His .998 OPS rank seventh-highest in history for a rookie with at least 450 plate appearances. His 168 wRC+ ranks fourth.
Kurtzâ€s meteoric rise becomes even more remarkable when one considers where he was a year prior to his MLB debut, wearing a Wake Forest uniform on a quiet Tuesday night road game at Elon. Twelve months later, he was anchoring a big league lineup, carrying the hopes of a franchise and proving why the Athletics made him the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft.
Even “revelation†might undersell what the 22-year-old meant before he even debuted in West Sacramento. Kurtz started the season with Triple-A Las Vegas and quite literally swung his way to the big leagues. In 20 games with the Aviators, he went 27-for-84 (.321) with seven home runs before earning his callup on April 23.
Kurtz knew his bat was making a case for him, but an April callup still felt far-fetched. His focus wasnâ€t on the big leagues, but simply on playing the game
“I didnâ€t put too much pressure on myself,†Kurtz said. “There were a lot of people who were saying, ‘How early is he going to be up?†I was just present and enjoying time with the guys I played with in the Arizona Fall League or Double-A the year before.â€
It took some time for Kurtz to find his footing in the majors. The same dominance he showed at Triple-A didnâ€t immediately translate, and he didnâ€t hit his first home run until his 16th game. But once that ball left the yard, everything began to click.
And July? That was Kurtzâ€s coming-out party.
It wasnâ€t just a hot streak. It was a month in which raw potential became production. The rookie didnâ€t just announce his arrival—he demanded attention. The four-homer game was the exclamation point.
“Itâ€s crazy how all that happened,†Kurtz said. “A lot more people knew who I was after that game.â€
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For many, those four swings were the moment Kurtz truly arrived. For Owens, though, they brought him back to the very first time he saw Kurtz play. Owens had seen the same easy power, the same smooth stroke, the same feeling that this was a hitter destined to change a franchise.
While Owens scouted Wake Forest standouts Rhett Lowder and Brock Wilken for the 2023 draft, a then-sophomore Kurtz stepped to the plate in the teamâ€s second game against Pittsburgh and unleashed a swing that silenced the ballpark. The crack of the bat echoed. The ball seemed to carry forever.
For Owens—who has spent 27 years in the game—it was one of the furthest shots he had ever seen.
The Aâ€s didnâ€t draft Lowder or Wilken in 2023, but that trip still ended up shaping their future. Instead, with the sixth overall pick, they turned to Grand Canyon shortstop Jacob Wilson, a twitchy athlete with advanced bat-to-ball skills who quickly became the table-setter of their system.
And while Kurtz wouldnâ€t be theirs until the following summer, the Athletics†first glimpse of him planted a seed. By the time the club was back on the clock in 2024, the organization saw a chance to pair Wilsonâ€s contact-driven game with Kurtzâ€s thunderous power.
The Aâ€s already had Kurtz at the top of their board for 2024, but his junior season at Wake Forest erased any remaining doubt. He slashed .306/.531/.763 with 22 home runs, 57 RBIs and a 1.294 OPS, numbers that showcased both top-of-the-scale power and elite on-base ability.
His 61 career home runs ranked second only to Wilken in program history, but no Wake Forest batter had ever drawn more walks than Kurtz and his 189.
His makeup in pre-draft meetings only strengthened that conviction. Owens and the rest of the Aâ€s scouting staff came away impressed not just with Kurtzâ€s work ethic, but with the way he carried himself as a young man handling the spotlight.
For all the certainty inside the Athletics†draft room, Kurtz himself wasnâ€t sure just how much they wanted him.
“I really didnâ€t know until draft day that it was going to be them,†Kurtz said. “I knew they had a bunch of interest. We had really good pre-draft meetings with them. They liked the way I approached it, the way I felt about hitting and the preparation I put in every day. It shows they had a lot of trust in me.â€
There was one roadblock—or three—ahead of the Aâ€s in their pursuit of Kurtz. The Guardians held the first pick in the 2024 draft, followed by the Reds and then Rockies. All the Aâ€s could do was hope Kurtz was available with the fourth pick. And as the draft happened, members of the Aâ€s scouting department held their breath with every pick announcement.
The Guardians selected Oregon Stateâ€s Travis Bazzana at No. 1 overall. The Reds took Kurtzâ€s Wake Forest teammate Chase Burns with the second pick. When the Rockies chose Georgiaâ€s Charlie Condon at No. 3, a big sigh of relief could be heard in the Aâ€s war room.
“Rarely do things just line up like that,†Owens said. “Baseball is a sport where you’re going to have peaks and valleys. For Nick Kurtz to be there at four was fortunate.
“Yeah, we were holding our breath.â€
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Kurtz got the phone call he had been working toward his entire life, surrounded not only by his family but also by the friends and coaches who helped shape his journey. From his early days in Lancaster, Pa., to his development at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn., to his breakout at Wake Forest, each stop had built toward this moment.
A week later, the Aâ€s flew Kurtz and his family, consisting of his parents Jeff and Marie and his three siblings Logan, Brandon and Grace, to Oakland to sign his contract at the Oakland Coliseum.
The team treated the Kurtz family to lunch, at which a handful of Aâ€s front office staff were present, including GM David Forst, scouting director Eric Kubota and senior adviser Billy Beane. They reasserted the belief in their prize pick to create an impact as the club transitioned from Oakland to Las Vegas.
It was a gesture that went a long way
“That whole first-class treatment made us feel really special,†Jeff Kurtz said. “It was important to them to have us there, and they wanted Nick to know. The whole situation has been run really well . . . We couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.
“He was drafted by the right team.â€
That trust carried into the start of Kurtzâ€s professional career. When he reported to the Athletics†complex in Mesa, Ariz., he braced himself for a wave of adjustments, including mechanical tweaks, approach changes, the kind of tinkering many young hitters face
Instead, the message from player development was simple
“They wanted me to be me,†Kurtz said. “I like having the freedom to do what I think, and if they find something wrong, they would come to me after the fact. It just shows the trust they have in me as a hitter and what they think I can do.â€
If Kurtzâ€s rookie season was just a glimpse of whatâ€s to come, then baseball fans have plenty to look forward to. Kurtz knows the talent he brings, but heâ€s just as quick to acknowledge the importance of the teammates around him.
Whether itâ€s homegrown players such as Wilson, Lawrence Butler or Tyler Soderstrom or scouting finds such as Brent Rooker or Shea Langeliers, the group around him has pushed Kurtz to elevate his game.
Together, theyâ€ve done more than just compete. Theyâ€ve laid the foundation for what comes next, whether in West Sacramento or Las Vegas. The Aâ€s donâ€t just have players. They have a core.
And in Kurtz, they finally have a superstar to build around.
“You want to be excited to come into work every day,†Kurtz said. “It makes the tough times not as bad. You can come here, spend it with your guys, and (you) are grinding together and getting even closer as time goes on. I think we built a good, tight-knit group and that will pay dividends throughout the future.â€
Highest OPS By Rookie Batters (Min. 450 PA)
nameteamyearPAavgobpslgopsJoe JacksonCLE1911641.408.468.5901.058Aaron JudgeNYY2017678.284.422.6271.049Ted WilliamsBOS1939677.327.436.6091.045Albert PujolsSTL2001676.329.403.6101.013Bernie CarboCIN1970467.310.454.5511.004Ryan BraunMIL2007492.324.370.6341.004Nick KurtzATH2025464.291.384.613.998Wally BergerBSN1930625.310.375.614.990Mark McGwireOAK1987641.289.370.618.987Hal TroskyCLE1934685.330.388.598.987
When Kurtz hit four home runs in one game on July 25, three of those blasts were hit to the opposite field at Houstonâ€s Daikin Park. In fact, most of Kurtzâ€s 33 home runs this season were hit to left field. The rookieâ€s slugging percentage to the opposite field is the highest of the ball-tracking era, dating back to 2008.
Highest Slugging Percentage To Opposite Field (Since 2008)
playerteamyearABhrslgNick KurtzATH2025164261.061Chris DavisBAL2013202321.030Aaron JudgeNYY2025228361.026JD MartinezDET/ARI201720330.980Jim ThomeMIN201011317.973Ryan HowardPHI200821933.950Aaron JudgeNYY202313224.947Aaron JudgeNYY201914821.946Aaron JudgeNYY201720129.940Ryan HowardPHI200921728.940
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