WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Athletics returned from a day off looking to carry over their momentum as the hottest team in baseball over the past month, but the focus in Friday night’s 5-2 loss to the Rangers at Sutter Health Park quickly shifted to their top young star.
Attempting to score from second base on a double by Brent Rooker in the bottom of the third inning, rookie sensation Nick Kurtz, who drew a one-out walk earlier in the frame, appeared to slow up considerably after rounding third and gingerly jogged into home plate to score. To begin the top of the fourth, Kurtz was replaced on defense by Tyler Soderstrom at first base, exiting the game with what the A’s announced as right oblique soreness.
Asked when the injury might have occurred, Kurtz said the oblique issue was something that had been “bugging” him entering Friday’s game.
“It was more like a gradual thing,” Kurtz said. “It got to the point after the second [inning] where it was really bugging me and I didn’t want to make it any worse.”
After the game, manager Mark Kotsay was unable to provide much of an update, noting that the A’s would get a better idea as to the severity of Kurtz’s injury once he undergoes further testing and an MRI.
“We’re going to get it looked at tomorrow,” Kotsay said. “It’s a holiday weekend, so it might be difficult. Right oblique soreness is what I can give you right now. Until we really get him looked at, we won’t have any more details to give until then.”
Kurtz was also unsure as to the severity of his injury. At the very least, he is likely to miss the remainder of this weekend's series against Texas.
“It sucks to feel discomfort in that area,” Kurtz said. “You never really know what it is until you get the scans and can figure it out after. We’re just waiting for tomorrow.”
Losing Kurtz for any amount of time would be a difficult blow. With one month left in the regular season, he remains the overwhelming favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year honors. Entering Friday morning, Kurtz not only led all Major League rookies in home runs (27), RBIs (70), extra-base hits (52), runs (69) and walks (52), but he also led all Major League hitters in OPS (1.259), batting average (.394), on-base percentage (.503), slugging (.756) and runs scored (36) since the All-Star break.
Kurtz has played a starring role for an A’s club that entered Friday carrying the best record (21-10) in MLB since July 24. Over his last 43 games heading into Friday’s contest, Kurtz was slashing .390/.500/.792 since the start of play on July 5. Over the last 10 seasons, the only other players with a .500 OBP for that long of a span were Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, Joey Votto and Josh Donaldson.
“He’s a big part of this team and is having an unbelievable [season],” said A’s starter Jeffrey Springs, who took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. “I don’t know what it is, and I don’t want to speculate. Obviously, injuries suck. Fingers crossed it’s something minor. … Until he comes back, it’s kind of a next-man-up mentality.”
Suffice to say, there is no replacing that type of production by Kurtz. Should he require a stint on the injured list or miss time, the A’s would likely shift Soderstrom from left field back to first on a regular basis, where he began the season as their starting first baseman until Kurtz’s callup in late April. Left field, meanwhile, would likely see somewhat of a rotation of Carlos Cortes, JJ Bleday, Colby Thomas and Rooker when he is not the designated hitter.
On Friday night, Soderstrom began the game in left field, replaced Kurtz in the fourth and ended up back in left by the end of it, robbing Michael Helman of a home run with a leaping catch at the wall in the ninth.
“We’ve asked Tyler to do a lot this season,” Kotsay said. “Tonight, with Kurtz exiting the game, we wanted to get another left-handed bat in there. Tyler is an excellent first baseman as well, so, there’s no fear in putting him over there. We’ll look at that going forward as well.”