Slow spring, so what? Kurtz getting hot just in time for Opening Day

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.

MESA, Ariz. -- Nick Kurtz is still young in the game, but the reigning American League Rookie of the Year already has a strong idea of what it feels like for him when he’s starting to lock in at the plate.

That feeling looks a lot like his production over the past week. As temperatures in the Arizona desert have been heating up to scorching levels, so has Kurtz’s bat. Entering Friday night’s Cactus League matchup against the Cubs at Hohokam Stadium, the 23-year-old first baseman was 6-for-21 (.286) with three home runs and two doubles over his previous seven games.

In some ways, the start of Kurtz’s spring has mirrored the beginning of his Major League career. Debuting last April, he went homerless until his 17th game with the A’s. From there, we all know the story. Kurtz bashed 36 homers and 25 doubles in his final 101 games and put together one of the most impressive rookie campaigns in quite some time.

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Earlier this spring, A’s manager Mark Kotsay threw out a theory that it takes larger players such as Kurtz -- listed at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds – to sync up at the plate.

"A lot of times, bigger players in size and frame, it takes a while for their mechanics and their timing at the plate to come together,” Kotsay said.

“We had a conversation about that.”

Kurtz had never thought about himself in that way before Kotsay and director of hitting Darren Bush brought it up to him this spring. But given the slow start both last season and now this spring, he’s bought more into that idea.

"The more they say it, the more I’m starting to feel pretty good now and it makes a bunch of sense,” Kurtz said. “Early on, the hits weren’t coming, but I was hitting the ball pretty hard and seeing good pitches. It just didn’t feel totally right. The last few days, it’s been feeling a lot better.

"The same kind of thing happened last year and kind of every year that I’ve played. It doesn’t happen usually right away. But they’ve got full confidence in me and I’m feeling pretty good and back to myself, so I’m pretty excited about it.”

All three of Kurtz’s homers over that seven-game stretch have gone the other way to left or left-center, a telltale sign that Kurtz is swinging it well. Last season, his 18 opposite-field homers led all Major League hitters.

“When I’m doing that, that’s kind of my cue,” Kurtz said. “I’ve hit a couple of homers now that way and had a single [to left] the other day. That’s when I know things are getting close. I never say ‘I’ve found it’ or ‘It’s here,’ because I think that’s just bad karma. But it means we’re closer, and that’s a good thing.”

The rise to stardom has come so quickly for Kurtz that it seems hard to believe this is his first full Spring Training with the A’s. Last year, he was invited to big league camp and got his feet wet for a couple of weeks before heading down to the Minor League side.

With a full spring to prepare for a season in which he knows not only that he will start out in the big leagues but also be counted on as the heart of this potent A’s offense, Kurtz set out to get his body right for the season and avoid the heavy legs he started to feel over the second half of 2025.

"I think I got through [Spring Training] pretty good,” Kurtz said. “Talking to Kots and Bushy in the offseason, they were like, ‘You don’t need to be ready for the first game of Spring Training.’ You take those 20 or 30 games to get ready. That’s what it’s for. … I think I can truly take care of my body and be ready for a season where I can, hopefully, play 162 [games].”

Kurtz will generate most of the attention for this young squad with playoff aspirations, but he’s just one of several sluggers in this lineup expected to form one of the top offenses in baseball. That has been on display this spring, as the A’s entered Friday leading all teams in homers (49) this spring, while their 172 runs scored were second most, trailing only the Dodgers' 181.

“We’re excited,” Kurtz said. “I don’t know how it’s been here in previous years, but the locker rooms I’ve been in for the preseason in college, there’s a similar feeling here of confidence and knowing we’re good. That’s what this locker room feels like.

“We know what we’re capable of. We’ve got higher expectations, but what else would you want? We’re ready to go.”