It is rare for rookies in the Major Leagues to come up with a winning stride and a promising push in their games, especially when the season is still young and they haven’t had a lot of impressive games to begin with. That isn’t the case for Nick Kurtz as he came up with his first MLB hit to set his league debut at a high note.

Selected fourth overall by the Athletics, Kurtz’s journey to the big leagues hasn’t been that easy. Just a year ago, he was just taking classes at Wake Forest as a junior, and now he’s one of the big pros at the Sutter Health Park bringing in his talents for Oakland this season. He just began his professional career nine months ago – and to be able to reach the Majors on such quick pace is a huge feat.

The Athletics called him up earlier this Monday, and Triple-A Las Vegas manager Fran Riordan relayed the message – to which Kurtz did not initially believe until he saw it to be true at this point. Now he’s swinging the bat in Oakland and is expected to come up with more explosive performances moving forward.

A Dream to Reality

If you told fans that a rookie would be swinging big for the A’s today, no one would probably believe you. Kurtz wore no. 16 for the first time in the Majors, and while no one expected him to suit up, he did come up with instant impact for the team, clubbing his first RBI single coming off Rangers starter Kumar Rocker in the first inning – claiming his first Major League hit at his FIRST at-bat as well.

In the Classes A and AA, Kurtz was batting .368 with four homers and 13 RBI in 12 games. He also made his appearance in the 2024 Arizona Fall League, batting .353 with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBI in 13 games for Mesa. Kurtz’s Triple-A run was also impressive – where he hit seven home runs with 24 RBI and a 1.040 OPS in just 20 games.

A’s GM David Forst claims that he is definitely comfortable in playing Kurtz almost every day in the rotation. This means that the rookie will be taking over as the first baseman, while Tyler Soderstom will likely take a tour of various positions such as the left field and the designated hitter spot.

Solving Hiccups

The only problem in bringing Kurtz is the fact that he doesn't really improve the defense, especially if the team is going to move players out of position, such as the case for Soderstom. However, there are still expectations that Kurtz will acclimate to the squad right away and find a way to fit in while also coming up with contributions ont he defensive end.

Many experts believe that Kurtz has a very advanced approach when it comes to the plate, and they are not wrong – at least based on his offensive metrics in the Minors, where he had big numbers off the charts.

That was also seen yesterday in the A’s win over the Rangers, where he tagged a 1-2 96 mph fastball from Rocker – blowing past a diving Marcus Semien and bringing it to the right field at an exit velocity of 112.2 mph.

To make his debut even sweeter, his run earned him a standing ovation from the Sutter Health Park crowd as he high-fived his first-base coach Bobby Crosby.