Nicholas Jeffrey Kurtz…graduated from the Baylor School…attended Wake Forest University where he earned First Team All-ACC honors in 2023 and 2024…batted .333 with 61 home runs, 182 RBI and a 1.235 OPS in 164 games over three seasons with the Demon Deacons…holds school records for most walks in a career (189) and season (78)…was rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 7 prospect entering the draft.
2025
Was the A’s first round selection in the 2024 draft, made his Major League debut less than a year later and was named American League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA...Batted .290 with 36 home runs, 86 RBI and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games...Led Major League rookies in home runs, RBI, extra base hits (64), total bases (260), runs (90) and walks (63)…struck out 151 times, which was the most in the Majors among rookies...His 36 home runs were second most in Athletics history by a rookie to the record of 49 set by Mark McGwire in 1987...ranked third in extra base hits and seventh in RBI but also had the third most strikeouts…had the most runs scored since Terrence Long had 104 in 2000…based on a minimum of 400 plate appearances, he had the highest slugging percentage (.619) and OPS by a rookie in Athletics history...Is the first ML rookie with 30 or more home runs and a .290 or better batting average since Jose Abreu hit .317 with 36 home runs for the White Sox in 2014...Had the most home runs in Athletics history by a player in his first season (previously: Yoenis Céspedes, 23 in 2012), the second most extra base hits and the third most RBI...Had the second most home runs in Athletics history by a player 22 years old or younger (Jimmie Foxx, 37 in 1930), the fourth most extra base hits, eighth most runs and 10th most RBI...Received all 30 first place votes in BBWAA Rookie of the Year balloting to become the 14th unanimous AL selection, the second Athletic (Mark McGwire, 1987)…is the ninth Athletic to win the award…teammate Jacob Wilson finished second making the A’s the first team with the first and second place finishers in AL Rookie of the Year balloting since the 1984 Mariners (Alvin Davis, Mark Langston). Was also named The Sporting News and Baseball America AL Rookie of the Year and Player’s Choice AL Outstanding Rookie…was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team at first base...Received the AL Silver Slugger Award for first basemen, was a Baseball America First Team MLB All-Star, and was named Second Team All-MLB at first base…finished 12th in AL MVP voting and was named on 11 ballots, including a fourth and fifth place vote...His 36 home runs tied for 10th in the Majors overall…had 489 plate appearances and fell 13 short of qualifying for the league leaders…based on a minimum of 400 plate appearances, he ranked third in the majors in OPS and slugging, ninth in on-base percentage (.383) and 18th in batting average…using the 400 plate appearance minimum, he had the best OPS and slugging percentage by an Athletic since Jason Giambi in 2001 (1.137 OPS, .660 SLG)...Led the A’s in home runs...Was hitting .257 with 17 home runs, 44 RBI and an .892 OPS in 58 games at the All-Star break…then batted .322 with 19 home runs, 42 RBI and a 1.107 OPS in 59 games after the break…led the Majors in slugging (.678) and runs scored (57) after the break, ranked second in OPS, third in on-base percentage (.429), tied for third in extra base hits (37), eighth in batting, tied for eighth in home runs and tied for 10th in doubles (17)…based on a minimum of 200 plate appearances, he had the third best slugging percentage in Athletics history after the break and the fifth best OPS...Batted .336 (95-for-283) with a 1.153 OPS against right-handed pitchers, .197 (27-for-137) with a .685 OPS against left-handers…based on a minimum of 250 plate appearances, his average against right-handers was the best in the Majors and fourth best by an Athletic in the expansion era (1961-present)…Hit .290 with 22 home runs, 52 RBI and a 1.039 OPS in 59 home games, .291 with 14 home runs, 34 RBI and a .967 OPS in 58 games on the road…tied for sixth in the Majors in home runs at home and had the most home runs in one season at Sutter Health Park by a Major or Minor Leaguer since at least 2005...Batted .315 with 16 home runs, 34 RBI and a 1.279 OPS in the eighth inning or later...the home runs and RBI were the most in the Majors and the most by an Athletic in the expansion era (1961-present)…based on a minimum of 100 plate appearances, he had the best OPS and slugging percentage (.913) in the Majors after the seventh inning...Had a .298 batting average with runners in scoring position…connected for 19 of his home runs with runners on base, which tied for fifth in the Majors…also tied for fifth with two grand slams...Belted 31 of his 36 home runs as a first baseman, which ranked third in the Majors…among first basemen with at least 400 plate appearances, he ranked first in slugging (.593) and OPS (.974), second in on-base percentage (.381) and fourth in batting average (.286)...Hit 16 home runs against AL West teams and tied for second in the Majors in intra-division home runs…batted .356 in 24 games against AL Central teams...Went 21-for-42 (.500) with 17 runs, six doubles, nine home runs and 18 RBI in 10 games against Houston…the home runs were the most ever by an Athletic against the Astros and tied for third most against any team in the expansion era (1961-present)...Made a team-leading 111 start at first base and committed 10 errors for a .988 fielding percentage…ranked last in the Majors in fielding percentage among first basemen and tied for the most errors…his fielding percentage rounded to five digits (.98768) was the lowest by an A’s first baseman since 1978 (Dave Revering, .98766) and the errors were the most since 2010 (Daric Barton, 10)...Also went 7-for-21 (.333) with four home runs and eight RBI in five games as the designated hitter and hit a two-run home run in his only at-bat as a pinch hitter...Started games at every spot in the batting order, including 31 hitting third and 18 in the leadoff spot...Also hit .321 with seven home runs, 24 RBI and a 1.040 OPS in 20 games with Triple-A Las Vegas and went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI on a one-game rehab assignment with Single-A Stockton…hit .333 with a 1.090 OPS in 21 games overall...Batted .333 (19-for-58) with a 1.152 OPS against right-handed pitchers, .333 (10-for-30) with a .971 OPS against left-handers...Six of his eight home runs came with runners on base…four gave his team the lead...Started 17 games at first base and four at designated hitter...Made 10 starts batting second and 10 hitting third with the Aviators…batted leadoff in his one game with the Ports.
2024
Was the A’s first round selection and fourth overall pick in the 2024 First-Year Player draft…hit a combined .368 with four home runs, 13 RBI and a 1.283 OPS in 12 games with Single-A Stockton and Double-A Midland before a hamstring injury ended his season in late August...Added 12 walks for a .520 on-base percentage…struck out just 10 times...Seven of his 14 hits (three doubles, four home runs) were for extra bases and he slugged .763...Hit .375 (12-for-32) with all four of his home runs, 12 of his 13 RBI and a 1.368 OPS against right-handed pitchers…was 2-for-6 (.333) with a .833 OPS against lefties...Had a .429 batting average with runners in scoring position...Made all 12 of his appearances at first base, including 11 starts…committed two errors for a .976 fielding percentage...Batted .368 in six games in the three spot in the order and .368 in five games hitting cleanup.
