Kurtz focuses only on walk-off homer -- then does it vs. Astros

WEST SACRAMENTO – There’s a reason Nick Kurtz earned the nickname “Nicky Nukes” in college. Launching majestic home runs was a trademark of his standout amateur career at Wake Forest.

Since reaching the big leagues in April, the Athletics have seen flashes of that power from Kurtz. Monday night, however, saw the official arrival of “Nicky Nukes” at the highest level.

In a game that was tightly contested until the end, Kurtz promptly delivered the decisive blow in the ninth inning, demolishing a slider from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu for a walk-off two-run blast to secure a 3-1 victory for the A’s.

It was the first walk-off home run of Kurtz’s Major League career, and one that was befitting of his college moniker as it disappeared into the trees well beyond right-center field at Sutter Health Park for a Statcast-projected 447-foot moonshot, marking the longest walk-off homer by an A’s player since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

Kurtz – rated the A’s No. 1 prospect and No. 14 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline – didn’t even have to watch it all the way to know he’d just delivered the A’s their fourth consecutive victory, which matches their longest winning streak of the season. As soon as he made contact, he observed the ball for a split-second before turning away to flip his bat several feet in the direction of the A’s dugout and yelling “Come on!” to his teammates before starting his trip around the bases.

“I knew I got it, pretty much right away,” Kurtz said. “That’s the scenario you dream about as a kid. Being able to do this at this level was really cool for me.”

In a twist from the typical baseball clichés when a player describes his mindset in such situations as just trying to put the ball in play, Kurtz admitted the complete opposite. He went up to the plate with no outs and a runner on in the ninth looking to do one thing – hit a home run.

“I went up to the plate knowing that’s what I wanted,” Kurtz said. “That’s what I was trying to do. … I wasn’t going up there to do anything other than that. It doesn’t happen much in baseball. Finally, it happened.”

When Kurtz returned from the injured list last Monday, A’s manager Mark Kotsay indicated that it may take some time for the 22-year-old first baseman to regain his timing at the plate.

Though he’s only 5-for-25 (.200) in his six games back, Kurtz has now delivered in the clutch for the A’s in back-to-back days. He also slugged a go-ahead solo homer in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

“We knew that Kurtz could have an impact and be a middle-of-the-order bat,” Kotsay said. “Everyone wants to put these guys that have success in Triple-A right in the middle of the order and test it out. I think the progression for him has been slowly moving up in the order. You saw tonight he was in the five-hole. I think he’s getting a lot more comfortable. The at-bats are looking better, and the results are showing up. Tonight was a big, big swing.”

Jacob Wilson has rightfully garnered the national spotlight as the top-performing rookie in MLB to this point, but Kurtz, the fourth overall selection of the 2024 MLB Draft, is another player the A’s are counting on to evolve into a franchise cornerstone of that same mold. Despite missing 14 games with a left hip flexor strain, Kurtz is now tied for the third-most homers among Major League rookies with seven.

“I feel great for him,” Kotsay said of Kurtz. “You can see there’s more confidence. You can see him kind of, in some form, starting to be a leader in the clubhouse.”

Now 7-4 over their last 11 games, the A’s are starting to show the encouraging signs of the success they enjoyed early in the season before encountering a brutal 1-20 stretch from May 14-June 4.

On Monday, it was the pitching that paced the A’s, with Mitch Spence, J.T. Ginn and Mason Miller combining to hold Houston to one run in nine innings before Kurtz's loud blast to end it.

“When he comes up to the plate, you know he’s going to do something really cool,” Spence said of Kurtz. “We pitched really well, bullpen locked it down, played great defense and hit a walk-off home run. It was a lot of fun to play today.”