Kurtz showing he's far more than just a slugger

WEST SACRAMENTO – From becoming the first rookie with a four-homer game to posting a July OPS (1.433) that has only been bested by legends of the game known on a one-name basis like Bonds, Ruth and Chipper, Nick Kurtz is truly having a debut season unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Given those numbers, it’s understandable that Kurtz is mostly praised for his elite bat. Offense, however, is only half of why the Athletics made him their top overall prospect entering the 2024 MLB Draft, where they ultimately selected him fourth overall.

• Box score: BOS 7, ATH 0

During his standout college career at Wake Forest, Kurtz was heralded for his defense. He earned the nickname “Spider-Man” from his college teammates, because every ball thrown his way seemingly stuck to his glove like a spider web. Shortly after drafting him, A’s scouting director Eric Kubota said Kurtz “reminds us of Matt Olson in a lot of ways.”

Olson, of course, was a homegrown A’s first baseman who rose to stardom as both a premier power hitter and stellar defender with two Gold Glove Awards to his name. By all accounts, Kurtz is on his way to establishing himself as one of the game’s top sluggers, and the A’s believe his defense is also on its way to being considered a plus tool.

“You can tell that he had the makings of being a good defender,” A’s third base/infield coach Eric Martins said of Kurtz. “He just needed to work on a few different things. A little bit of footwork and just different ways that he presented the glove. We put together a program out here that he loves to do. … Now he’s starting to put it together and having a lot more confidence in playing really good defense now. He has a chance to be one of the better defenders in the game.”

Kurtz’s defensive metrics won’t stand out much on Statcast, where he rates mostly as an adequate first baseman. Team-wide, however, the A’s have improved as a collective defensive unit from the start of the season.

According to Statcast, the A’s posted a team Fielding Run Value of -19 for March/April, which was the worst month of any team this season. Since then, that number has steadily improved.

• May: -2
• June: +1
• July: +7
• August: -3

There is no doubt that much of that defensive improvement was due to the arrival of Denzel Clarke, who dazzled with several highlight-reel plays in center field before landing on the injured list in late July. But if you ask his teammates, Kurtz, who was was first called up in late April, has been a key part of that defensive success.

During a victory over the Tigers on Aug. 27 at Sutter Health Park, A’s shortstop Darell Hernaiz produced a defensive gem for the last out of the game when he fielded a grounder to his right and executed a Derek Jeter-esque leaping throw across the diamond from the edge of the outfield grass over to first base. Most people will focus on the throw, but Hernaiz heaped praise on the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Kurtz, who stretched out his right leg from the bag and extended his right glove hand to corral the short throw.

“I honestly can’t say enough about him,” Hernaiz said. “I never played with a true first baseman coming up in the Minors. It was always guys who were just filling in over there. It makes a big difference. You just have to throw it somewhere in the vicinity, because he’s so big. You throw it high or low, it almost doesn’t matter, which is huge.

“For me, it helps a lot because I don’t really think about where I have to throw it. It makes everybody in the infield a lot better. A good first baseman creates so many good infielders. Usually, when you see a good team, their infielders are really good because their first basemen pick them up a lot.”

Martins, who coached Olson in the Minors and Majors, is not ready to label Kurtz’s defense as Olson-level just yet. But based on the diligent work that Kurtz puts in on mastering his craft at defense, which is on par with his work ethic inside the batting cage, it might just be only a matter of time before he contends for his own Gold Glove.

“He’s always working on his movement, and it’s showing,” Martins said. “His first step, his reaction time, the way he picks balls. … Those are what you want as a good infielder to give you a little bit of range. You’re starting to see him dive for those balls to his right and left that he’s able to get to. Before, he might have been a little bit late. … When you have that, the sky’s the limit for him.”