DETROIT -- Just when it looked like the Athletics were finally back to full strength on offense, they suffered another potential blow on Wednesday night.
On a day that began with slugger Tyler Soderstrom getting activated from the injured list, marking the third key player returning to the A’s from injury over the past week, Nick Kurtz was replaced on defense early in a 6-1 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Though Kurtz appeared to jam his right hand in the first inning as he collided with Dillon Dingler near first base while attempting to field an errant throw from third baseman Zack Gelof and was checked out by an A’s trainer, the club announced that his exit to begin the bottom of the second was due to illness.
Kurtz is the second A’s player lost to a stomach bug in as many days and third in the past four days. Starter J.T. Ginn was also removed from Tuesday night’s loss after just four innings due to feeling sick early in the game. On Sunday, Jeff McNeil was a late scratch from the lineup for the same reason.
“It’s definitely going around a little bit in the clubhouse right now,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “[Kurtz] tried to play, but there in the second, he was actually throwing up in the dugout. Credit to the kid for going out and trying to grind through it, but it’s a stomach flu illness right now.”
The A’s will wait to see how Kurtz is feeling on Thursday morning before deciding whether he’ll be available for the series finale against the Tigers later that night.
“It’s day to day,” Kotsay said. “I would say he’s got nothing in his stomach right now from what I witnessed.”
Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, was recently named an All-Star for the first time in his career and later announced as the starter for the AL side after Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. declared that he would not participate in this year’s Midsummer Classic.
Even as Kurtz has been mired in a slump, entering Wednesday just 8-for-50 (.160) over his previous 13 games, the slugging first baseman is, hands down, irreplaceable as the best player on this team and one of the biggest power threats in baseball.
Kurtz was replaced by McNeil, primarily a second baseman, at first base on Wednesday. Should he miss any extended time, the A’s would likely reach down to Triple-A Las Vegas, where veteran Joey Meneses and No. 8 prospect Tommy White are both true first-base options who are swinging well.
The good news for the A’s is that Kurtz is not dealing with a physical injury. The bad news, however, is that their freefall continues. Now having dropped nine of their last 10 and 13 of their last 16, the A’s (41-51) are a season-high 10 games under .500 with four games left before the All-Star break.
Wednesday saw more struggles from Jeffrey Springs, whose 2026 campaign has been a downward spiral for about three months. After going 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA over his first four starts, the left-hander is 0-9 and holds a 7.64 ERA (62 earned runs in 73 innings) over his last 15 starts.
Springs allowed six runs on six hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers, surrendering another two home runs to bring his MLB-leading total to 26 allowed on the season. After the game, Springs was candid about what has been the toughest stretch of his nine-year Major League career.
“A lot of the same mistakes,” Springs said. “I’m getting tired of talking about it. I know teammates are getting tired of watching it. I’m costing us games not keeping the ball in the ballpark, not making good pitches. I still don’t have a good answer for you. I’m trying to figure it out and trying to make adjustments. Ultimately, it’s not working.”
The one positive through this past week remains the hot start to the career of A’s No. 9 prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Notching his second consecutive three-hit game, Kuroda-Grauer is now just the second player in A’s history to record at least 15 hits through their first eight Major League games. He joins Mitchell Page, who had 16 in 1977.
“He’s taking good at-bats,” Kotsay said. “They’re competitive. He’s not an easy out. The start to his career has been exciting.”