The Athletics are going to advertise high prospect Nick Kurtz, reviews Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The A’s have already got a 40-man emptiness, so they are going to solely must make a corresponding energetic roster transfer to make this official. Alden González of ESPN reviews that Kurtz really gained’t be activated till Wednesday since he’s a left-handed hitter and the membership is dealing with a lefty starter Tuesday, after Monday’s off-day.
Kurtz, 22, is without doubt one of the high prospects in baseball. He put up a .333/.510/.725 line in three seasons for Wake Forest, which led the A’s to pick out him fourth total in final 12 months’s draft. Since going professional, Kurtz has continued to mash.
He has appeared in 32 minor league video games to this point, with appearances at Single-A and Double-A final 12 months, adopted by a bounce to Triple-A this 12 months. Mixed, he has 147 plate appearances. His 24.5% strikeout fee is a bit excessive however he’s additionally drawn walks at an enormous 15% clip and launched 11 house runs. He has a mixed .336/.432/.689 line throughout these ranges with a 171 wRC+, indicating he’s been 71% higher than league common.
Coming into this 12 months, earlier than he even began mashing at Triple-A, Kurtz was thought-about one of many high prospects within the league. Baseball America initially gave him the No. 34 spot, although he has since jumped as much as No. 32. FanGraphs put him at No. 31, MLB Pipeline has him at No. 35, ESPN at No. 52 and Keith Law of The Athletic at No. 35. All retailers typically heap reward on his mixture of energy and his work masking the plate. Whereas he’s solely able to taking part in first base, he’s thought-about more likely to be a robust defender at that spot.
It’s a fairly aggressive promotion, with Kurtz having simply been drafted lower than a 12 months in the past, however his numbers actually recommend he’s prepared for the present. The query is now could be how the A’s will line up defensively. Tyler Soderstrom has been the common at first base to this point this 12 months and he’s having an excellent marketing campaign. He and Cal Raleigh are tied atop the foremost league house run leaderboard with 9. That has helped him produce a .298/.362/.643 line and 191 wRC+ to this point this 12 months.
Utilizing the designated hitter spot could be a simple technique to get each Kurtz and Soderstrom into the lineup regularly, besides that Brent Rooker is the DH most days. Rooker has been an enormous energy bat for over two years now, launching 30 homers in 2023 and 39 final 12 months. He already has six to this point this 12 months. He does strike out loads however the total contributions are nonetheless big. The A’s clearly agree, as they signed him to a five-year, $60M extension in January.
Rooker does have 955 profession innings within the outfield corners however with poor numbers on the market. He has tallied -17 Defensive Runs Saved and -16 Outs Above Common in that point, which is why the A’s have used him because the DH so usually.
Soderstrom got here up as a catcher however there have been questions on whether or not he may stick again there defensively. The A’s haven’t proven a lot curiosity in shifting him again behind the plate, particularly with Shea Langeliers performing properly again there.
Gallegos recently suggested that the A’s have thought-about placing Soderstrom at third, although that might be a fairly daring in-season transfer since he’s by no means performed the place. The only resolution for now could be to dwell with Rooker’s protection in left discipline, slicing into the taking part in time of Seth Brown and Miguel Andujar on the market, with JJ Bleday in middle and Lawrence Butler in proper.
Time will inform how the A’s line it up. There aren’t any ensures that Kurtz will hit the bottom operating, as even the highest prospects typically battle when first promoted to the majors. For now, it appears to be the newest thrilling improvement in a step by step coalescing place participant core for the A’s. Current years have seen guys like Rooker, Butler and Langeliers cement themselves as strong core items. This 12 months, Soderstrom appears to be doing the identical, alongside Jacob Wilson. The group has been coming collectively properly, which made the A’s a considerably stylish underdog decide for a playoff spot coming into 2025. If Kurtz is ready to thrive shortly, that might clearly assist.
The pitching group is maybe a bit behind the hitters and the rebuild continues to be a little bit of a piece in progress, with the membership presently 10-12. That places them final within the American League West nevertheless it’s nonetheless early and so they’re solely three video games again of the lead. It’s been a dreary stretch within the membership’s historical past, with three straight shedding seasons from 2022-24 and the agonizing bolt from Oakland. However there at the moment are causes for optimism throughout their detour in West Sacramento, so issues appear to typically be trending properly because the membership will get able to make a brand new house in Las Vegas in just a few years.
At this stage of the season, Kurtz can’t earn a full 12 months of main league service time, not less than not the normal means. Meaning the A’s is not going to be in place to earn an additional draft decide by way of the prospect promotion incentive, no matter how Kurtz performs in awards voting. However as a high prospect, Kurtz may be retroactively awarded a full service 12 months if he’s in a position to end within the high two in American League Rookie of the 12 months voting this 12 months.
Assuming for now that he doesn’t pull that off, the A’s will be capable to management him for six seasons after this one, which means he gained’t be slated without cost company till after 2031. If he stays up any longer, he could be a lock for Tremendous Two standing after 2027, which means he would have 4 passes by arbitration as a substitute of three.
