What to expect from A's Kurtz in the big leagues

It's rare to say a hitter has nothing left to prove in the Minor Leagues after 32 games, but it certainly seemed like there wasn't much need to keep Nick Kurtz down on the farm any longer.

The A's clearly agreed, with the news breaking Monday that they are planning to call up their top prospect to join the club in West Sacramento for the homestand that begins on Tuesday against the Rangers.

It's not like this was any kind of huge surprise. The A's took Kurtz No. 4 overall in last year's Draft with the belief he could move quickly and impact the big league lineup sooner rather than later. Running him all the way up to Triple-A to start his first full season after just 12 Minor League games and 13 more in the Arizona Fall League was another pretty big tell of the A's plans for the game's No. 35 prospect.

It might seem hard to believe, but Wake Forest initially recruited Kurtz as a left-handed pitcher, although it was clear as he progressed in the latter stages of his Tennessee high school career, helping his Baylor School win back-to-back Division II 2-A state titles, that his future clearly would come in the batter's box.

He's done nothing but hit for both average and power since, and there's no reason to think that's going to change anytime soon. The left-handed-swinging slugger left Wake with a career .333/.510/.725 line and 61 homers. Far from an all-or-nothing swing-out-of-his-shoes type, Kurtz finished his college career with a 17.7 percent strikeout rate. His walk rate? Well, that was over 24 percent, and he led all Division I hitters with 78 free passes in his Draft season of 2024.

Nothing he's done since signing should provide anyone with too much concern about his ability to swing the bat, and do plenty of damage, at the highest level. He hasn't been at any stop for all that long, with seven games at Single-A Stockton out of the gate, five with Double-A Midland and the 20 he's recorded for Triple-A Las Vegas this season. In that span, he's posted a familiar-looking .336/.432/.689 line with 11 homers in just 147 plate appearances. Fun with extrapolation: In a season with 600 plate appearances, that translates to about 45 homers. That doesn't seem too far-fetched in terms of what he'll be able to do in the big leagues once he gets settled in.

One of the big reasons for the confidence is his feel for hitting. Yes, the strikeout rate has climbed in the early going this year (26.8 percent), but he's still drawing walks (10.3 percent over his 97 plate appearances). He picked up 11 of his 26 K's in six games last week, but even with the down six-day stretch, he still joins the A's leading all Minor League hitters in home runs (seven) and RBIs (24). Five of those homers have been 400 feet or more, according to Statcast.

Kurtz has always been able to hit the ball with authority to all fields, with easy over-the-fence pop the other way. It's bat speed and strength, which enabled him to register 26 balls with an exit velocity of 100 mph or higher so far this year. He takes what he's given, can recognize spin and handles lefties. All of this points to him finding his way in the American League West, even if there's a little adjustment period.

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The only concerns at all with the 22-year-old are about his health and how/where the at-bats are going to come. He suffered a broken rib in 2023 that forced him out of the Men's College World Series, a shoulder issue that slowed him early in 2024 in college and a hamstring injury that forced him to the sidelines after just those dozen games during his pro debut. The good news is none of these things are related to each other, and they don't point to any kind of chronic ailment that should concern A's manager Mark Kotsay when filling out the lineup card.

Kotsay might have to be a little creative about where Kurtz goes on that card, at least defensively. He's an outstanding defender at first and could be of Gold Glove-caliber, but Tyler Soderstrom is currently there and is leading the American League with nine homers of his own. There's some talk about a rotation for Soderstrom, mixing in some left field and DH with Brent Rooker while sharing first with Kurtz. Soderstrom has never played the outfield. Kurtz has a whopping two games on his r¨¦sum¨¦, in case you were wondering: One as a freshman at Wake Forest in 2022 and one with Mesa in the Arizona Fall League last fall.

It's a good problem for the A's to have. They are currently second in the American League in OPS, and that should only improve with the addition of a middle-of-the-order bat.