Kurtz in rarefied air through 162 career games

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- Athletics manager Mark Kotsay couldn’t help but chuckle upon hearing the latest historic feat accomplished by Nick Kurtz.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Kotsay said with a grin.

Kurtz entered Monday night’s series opener against the Angels at Angel Stadium now having played the equivalent of one full Major League season, with 162 career games under his belt. In that year’s worth of action, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year is in truly elite company.

First, let’s take a look at the stat line for Kurtz through 162 games: .284/.398/.581 with 34 doubles, three triples, 44 home runs, 107 walks, 115 RBIs and 119 runs scored.

Now, to the history: Since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, Kurtz is just the third left-handed hitter with at least 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks through 162 career games, joining Ted Williams and Juan Soto.

But wait, that’s just the appetizer.

Among all hitters -- left-handed or right-handed -- since RBIs became official, Kurtz is only the third player with 40-plus homers and 100-plus walks in their first 162 career games, along with Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Judge. Of course, Kurtz is the only lefty of that trio, putting him in a league of his own.

Asked which of the three numbers he was most impressed by, Kotsay did not hesitate to answer.

“The 100 walks stands out for me,” Kotsay said. “For a young player to have that type of plate discipline and also to have league-wide recognition of not wanting to make mistakes to him, they’re really pitching him in a way that you don’t see young players get pitched right away. That says a lot about the impact he’s made in a short amount of time here.”

Pitchers are certainly attacking Kurtz with extreme caution, and that along with his elite eye at the plate has led to a 41-game on-base streak through Monday, the longest active streak in the Majors. The franchise on-base record is 62, set by Mark McGwire from Sept. 16, 1995-June 18, 1996.

The longest on-base streak in MLB during the 2025 season was 41 games by Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber was in his 11th Major League season last year. Kurtz, 23, is barely in his second this year.

Finally, Kurtz remains among the stars since debuting on April 23, 2025. Since the start of the ’25 season, he entered Monday second among all qualified hitters in wRC+ (166) behind only Judge, second to Judge in on-base percentage (.398) and third in slugging percentage (.581) behind Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

This is really special stuff we’re seeing with Kurtz right now, the type of stuff you don’t typically see with a player this young, and he’s only getting better.

“He is very advanced,” A’s director of hitting Darren Bush said of Kurtz. “He’s able to have a game that he’s not happy about, then come out the next day and put together a really good game.”