The Athletics are going to advertise prime 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 going through a lefty starter Tuesday, after Monday’s off-day.
Kurtz, 22, is without doubt one of the prime prospects in baseball. He put up a .333/.510/.725 line in three seasons for Wake Forest, which led the A’s to pick 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 date, 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 residence 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 prime 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 prone to be a powerful 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 date this 12 months and he’s having an ideal marketing campaign. He and Cal Raleigh are tied atop the foremost league residence run leaderboard with 9. That has helped him produce a .298/.362/.643 line and 191 wRC+ to date this 12 months.
Utilizing the designated hitter spot can be a simple option 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 date this 12 months. He does strike out rather a lot 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 transferring him again behind the plate, particularly with Shea Langeliers performing nicely 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 best resolution for now can be to reside with Rooker’s protection in left discipline, chopping 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 are not any ensures that Kurtz will hit the bottom operating, as even the highest prospects generally battle when first promoted to the majors. For now, it appears to be the newest thrilling growth in a steadily coalescing place participant core for the A’s. Latest years have seen guys like Rooker, Butler and Langeliers cement themselves as stable 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 fashionable underdog decide for a playoff spot coming into 2025. If Kurtz is ready to thrive rapidly, 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 at the moment 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 dropping 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 nicely because the membership will get able to make a brand new residence 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, a minimum of not the standard means. Which means the A’s won’t be in place to earn an additional draft decide through the prospect promotion incentive, no matter how Kurtz performs in awards voting. However as a prime prospect, Kurtz may be retroactively awarded a full service 12 months if he’s capable of end within the prime 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 have the ability to management him for six seasons after this one, that means he gained’t be slated without cost company till after 2031. If he stays up any longer, he can be a lock for Tremendous Two standing after 2027, that means he would have 4 passes by arbitration as a substitute of three.
