The Athletics decided to call up one of their top prospects, Nick Kurtz, in late April, and boy, was it a great decision. The young slugger did nothing but turn heads with what he did with his bat this year.
He played in 117 games this season, hitting .290/.383/.619 with 26 doubles, 36 home runs, and 86 runs batted in. This included a four-homer day back in late July against the Houston Astros.
He looked far from a rookie this year and is poised to continue this production as he continues to develop and get more comfortable at this level. The Wake Forest product could be a big name for years to come.
Athletics’ Nick Kurtz earns Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year Award
The Sporting News has been running peer-voted annual awards for the best in baseball since 1925, with this year marking 100 years. Here, Nick Kurtz was named the American League Rookie of the Year, via Dan Treacy.
“Kurtz hit .290 with 36 home runs and a 1.002 OPS over 117 games with the A’s, blowing away the rest of his Rookie of the Year competition on the AL side. At the heart of his success was an otherworldly 16-game stretch in July in which Kurtz hit .500 with 10 home runs and a 1.815 OPS.”
Kurtz was levels ahead of the rest of his competition in the AL, including Boston Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony. He is well on his way to winning MLB’s AL Rookie of the Year Award unless something surprising happens.
More Athletics news:
