Nick Kurtz

Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz blew past expectations by bashing 36 home runs with a .290 average and 1.002 OPS over his first 117 MLB games. He'd cracked eight homers while hitting .333 over 21 minor-league games to earn the promotion, and solved major league pitching after a short adjustment period. Sutter Health Park, a top-five Park Factor venue for left-read more...

Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz blew past expectations by bashing 36 home runs with a .290 average and 1.002 OPS over his first 117 MLB games. He'd cracked eight homers while hitting .333 over 21 minor-league games to earn the promotion, and solved major league pitching after a short adjustment period. Sutter Health Park, a top-five Park Factor venue for left-handed HRs, aided the cause. He hit 22 round-trippers there (14 on the road, despite an even distribution of action), though he wound up with an equal number of extra-base hits (32) at home and on the road. He was a superstar against right-handed pitching (1.153 OPS, 211 wRC+, 29% strikeout rate), but struggled against southpaws (.685 OPS, 83 wRC+, 35% K rate). It's easy to forget he waited until his 17th MLB tilt to go yard as well! From May 13 on, Kurtz's 1.052 OPS was No. 2 in the game, sandwiched between Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Standing on that podium as a rookie with the AL and NL MVP winners is decent company, no? We're seeing major projection systems like ATC and THE BAT project nearly 40 HRs in only 140 or so games, with an average around .260. His January NFBC ADP sits around the 18th pick, with our RotoBaller rank sitting slightly higher. It'll be a polarizing pick throughout the preseason, that much is sure.less...