The Athletics are going to promote top prospect Nick Kurtz, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The A’s already have a 40-man vacancy, so they will only have to make a corresponding active roster move to make this official. Alden González of ESPN reports that Kurtz actually won’t be activated until Wednesday since he’s a left-handed hitter and the club is facing a lefty starter tomorrow, after today’s off-day.
Kurtz, 22, is one of the top prospects in baseball. He put up a .333/.510/.725 line in three seasons for Wake Forest, which led the A’s to select him fourth overall in last year’s draft. Since going pro, Kurtz has continued to mash.
He has appeared in 32 minor league games thus far, with appearances at Single-A and Double-A last year, followed by a jump to Triple-A this year. Combined, he has 147 plate appearances. His 24.5% strikeout rate is a bit high but he’s also drawn walks at a huge 15% clip and launched 11 home runs. He has a combined .336/.432/.689 line across those levels with a 171 wRC+, indicating he’s been 71% better than league average.
Coming into this year, before he even started mashing at Triple-A, Kurtz was considered one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America initially gave him the #34 spot, though he has since jumped up to #32. FanGraphs put him at #31, MLB Pipeline has him at #35, ESPN at #52 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #35. All outlets generally heap praise on his combination of power and his work covering the plate. While he’s only capable of playing first base, he is considered likely to be a strong defender at that spot.
It’s a pretty aggressive promotion, with Kurtz having just been drafted less than a year ago, but his numbers certainly suggest he’s ready for the show. The question is now is how the A’s will line up defensively. Tyler Soderstrom has been the regular at first base so far this year and he’s having a great campaign. He and Cal Raleigh are tied atop the major league home run leaderboard with nine. That has helped him produce a .298/.362/.643 line and 191 wRC+ so far this year.
Using the designated hitter spot would be an easy way to get both Kurtz and Soderstrom into the lineup on a regular basis, except that Brent Rooker is the DH most days. Rooker has been a huge power bat for over two years now, launching 30 homers in 2023 and 39 last year. He already has six so far this year. He does strike out a lot but the overall contributions are still huge. The A’s clearly agree, as they signed him to a five-year, $60MM extension in January.
Rooker does have 955 career innings in the outfield corners but with poor numbers out there. He has tallied -17 Defensive Runs Saved and -16 Outs Above Average in that time, which is why the A’s have used him as the DH so often.
Soderstrom came up as a catcher but there were questions about whether he could stick back there defensively. The A’s haven’t shown much interest in moving him back behind the plate, especially with Shea Langeliers performing well back there.
Gallegos recently suggested that the A’s have considered putting Soderstrom at third, though that would be a pretty bold in-season move since he’s never played the position. The simplest solution for now would be to live with Rooker’s defense in left field, cutting into the playing time of Seth Brown and Miguel Andujar out there, with JJ Bleday in center and Lawrence Butler in right.
Time will tell how the A’s line it up. There are no guarantees that Kurtz will hit the ground running, as even the top prospects sometimes struggle when first promoted to the majors. For now, it seems to be the latest exciting development in a gradually coalescing position player core for the A’s. Recent years have seen guys like Rooker, Butler and Langeliers cement themselves as solid core pieces. This year, Soderstrom seems to be doing the same, alongside Jacob Wilson. The group has been coming together nicely, which made the A’s a somewhat trendy underdog pick for a playoff spot coming into 2025. If Kurtz is able to thrive quickly, that would obviously help.
The pitching group is perhaps a bit behind the hitters and the rebuild is still a bit of a work in progress, with the club currently 10-12. That puts them last in the American League West but it’s still early and they’re only three games back of the lead. It’s been a dreary stretch in the club’s history, with three straight losing seasons from 2022-24 and the agonizing bolt from Oakland. But there are now reasons for optimism during their detour in West Sacramento, so things seem to generally be trending well as the club gets ready to make a new home in Las Vegas in a few years.
At this stage of the season, Kurtz can’t earn a full year of major league service time, at least not the traditional way. That means the A’s will not be in position to earn an extra draft pick via the prospect promotion incentive, regardless of how Kurtz performs in awards voting. But as a top prospect, Kurtz can be retroactively awarded a full service year if he’s able to finish in the top two in American League Rookie of the Year voting this year.
Assuming for now that he doesn’t pull that off, the A’s will be able to control him for six seasons after this one, meaning he won’t be slated for free agency until after 2031. If he stays up from now on, he would be a lock for Super Two status after 2027, meaning he would have four passes through arbitration instead of three.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Where are they going to play him?
Probably mostly DH with some 1B and Rooker moving to LF. They’ve been playing him occasionally there recently
Sacramento, unless they’re on the road Screamer.
I heard from the manager that they expect him to play CF and SS. That should be fun to watch.
-17 defensive runs saved. So, chuckles the clown in the field
Great question.
Maybe move Andujar to 3B and put Kurtz or Rooker in LF?
Soderstrom could probably handle 3B but I wouldn’t mess with his hot bat right now.
Move Andujar to the bench.
He’ll play mostly at recess, but sometimes he’ll go on play dates with some of the other kids in the neighborhood.
Any relation to Colonel Kurtz?
I’m old, Apocalypse Now, is a favorite of mine. I’ll see myself out now!
I don’t know about you, Acoss… but I love the smell of napalm in the morning!
Morning, afternoon, evening.
Absolutely epic film. Also one of my favorites.
I think there’s a legit argument the 70s were the greatest de add in American cinema.
A call-up into to the Heart of Darkness? Or just central California?
He’s just an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.
You’re nothing but a grocery clerk. Sent to collect a bill.
Kurtz and Soderstrom are going to be a great duo. McGwire and Canseco part two. Rooker is sort of like Dave Henderson. Butler is Ricky.
Case had the line right.
“You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.”
that’s a terrific scene. The Captain was the star of that film though, great part for Martin Sheen.
“Do you know who’s in charge?”
“Ain’t you??”
Lancaster’s finest
Let’s goooo
I wonder if this will let them try Soderstrom at Catcher on occasion
If his power translates to MLB he should light up Sutter Health Park.
I’m surprised they might just use him against righties. From what I’ve heard he’s good from both sides of the plate.
A’s lineup is going to be a beast.
Offensively at least.
Rooker
Butler
Bleday
Soderstrom
Kurtz
Langeliers
That could be scary if they all start clicking at the same time.
Pitching though…
Hence the comment being “A’s *lineup*…”
Gelof, Wilson and Andujar arent that bad either.
JT Ginn has pitched well, Sears gets them innings. Springs and Severino have been dissappointing but early yet. Bullpen has been great.
Really liked him heading on to last draft. Interested to see how this goes.
The A’s are scary. They will outslug many teams and have enough prospects to pull off a few deals when needed.
They are looking like a team with a bright future. Plus, when they get the money from Vegas, (and if the owner uses it on the team), they could be contenders.
Langliers, Soderstrom, Bleday, Rooker, Butler, and now Kurtz all have the potential to be 2o+ home run hitters annually. Jacob Wilson is off to a good start, and while he may not be a power hitter on the same level as those other guys, is still going to get on-base at a high rate and help set the table for those power hitters. Very promising offensive core they got.
It’s to bad the White Sox didn’t draft him. They need hitter’s now.
The last thing they need is a RH 1B.
Correction LH 1B.
This is classic A’s early call up because Vegas Aviators PCL isn’t suitable as a finishing school. We can consider how Butler and Soderstrom didn’t click right away and required time to figure things out. I do believe Kurtz will be faster than those two, however, he has his own things to work out at the plate. I will be curious to where his struggle with arise and what he does to adjust over the next few months! It’ll be fun to follow his rise!
I never understood the PCL carousel that happened a few years ago. Oakland having their AAA park in Sacramento made so much sense.
Same altitude, guys could be called up and be there in hours, and it made a fan connection with a pretty nice sized market.
Previous Rivercats ownership decided to swap affiliations and chase the ‘every other year threepeat’ of the giants for attendance boost … right as they stopped winning.
The A’s should sell high on Soderstrom after this hot start to get some pitching. A team desperate for offense like the Pirates could be a logical trade partner
Soderstrom is a stud who is finally making good on his former top prospect status. He’s not going anywhere, I’d imagine.
I get the desire to want to hold onto Soderstrom but he’s not good defensively and the A’s have a logjam in the lineup. What they don’t have is quality pitching
It doesn’t really matter if 1B isn’t good defensively, it is about offense. The A’s lineup isn’t good enough to trade away offensive talent. Plus, there is no reason to make decisions solely on believing on Kurtz. There’s little reason to expect him to breakout and usurp enough to make Soderstrom redundant.
At most, I could see a prospect-for-prospect sort of trade. But I highly doubt the A’s would entertain trading Soderstrom unless the Pirates were willing to trade like Bubba Chandler+Hunter Barco. Even then, they might not consider trading Soderstrom.
They’re more likely to trade Rooker than Soderstrom.
As much as I’d love that, I don’t think the A’s would be willing to trade Soderstrom right now unless the Pirates offer up something like Bubba Chandler plus more. I also doubt they’d be willing to trade Rooker after they just extended him before spring training.
They extended him but I hardly believe the A’s are the sentimental type. They had money to spend to get those grievances off their back. It doesn’t mean they will continue to hold onto it if they get an opportunity good enough.
Correction: they had money to spend to meet the salary floor for a team in its ___ year of collecting revenue sharing. It’s sad that it’s the players who we even think have something to feel aggrieved about; in reality, it should be the owners who are screaming at clubs like the A’s.
I like Soderstrom, A’s have a lot of prospect depth in the SP department, they need Springs and Severino to get hot, and they will roll through summer — if they stay healthy.
A’s and the Rays going to run some teams in the AAA ballparks, going to be fun.
Trade Rooker as hes already over 30 and go get some P
Soderstrom athletic enough to move into corner OF spot
Soderstrom could slide in the DH role, Kurtz at 1B and Brown/Andujar/Etc in LF. I agree that Rooker is probably the best option to trade out of the 3.
Seth Brown will be DFA on Wednesday.
They will probably let his contract play out for publicity.
The promotion of KURTZ
Will take place
SHORTLY !!
Why cant they use soderstrom at catcher? DFA Pereda
The A’s should trade Bleday for a glove-first CF if Rooker is going to play LF full-time. They could hide him a bit there with someone up the middle who covers more ground than Bleday.
Log jam. Pleasant problem.
Saw Kurtz play yesterday in Vegas. Would be cool if it was his last minor league game. Big kid
This guy is going to be a stud, perhaps right away. I imagine that they’ll roll with him at 1B and DH Soderstrom, as Kurtz seems to be the superior defender, and then live with Rooker’s subpar defense in LF. Getting both Kurtz and Soderstrom into the lineup is worth dealing with Rooker’s defense, at least for this season.
Have to get them all in the lineup, Rooker, Bleday, Soderstrom, Kurtz and Langeliers — Thats going to be a real bomb squad.
THE A’s ARE LOADED
Who do the A’s remove from the roster? Can’t be a pitcher because the way Kotsay manages the staff they will always need an extra bullpen arm. I would guess Seth Brown.
Yep…
Just picked him up on my fantasy team hehe
Caglione is looking like Nick Pratto. Another terrible first round pick by the Royals.
@Titus
way too early to evaluate that.
Las Vegas Aviators season ticket holder here. Kurtz has been a monster. I’ve been telling people to come out and see him now because he wouldn’t be here long before he got called up. After his super hot start, he’s cooled off. But that may be because he’s seeing far fewer good pitches to hit. On Friday, he got an unintentional-intentional walk with the bases loaded. Before yesterday, I wouldn’t have called him a good defender at first. He changed my mind with a superb play. On a ground ball to short, the throw to first was way off line, toward home plate. Kurtz made a super leap to grab it, and then tagged the runner in one motion while still airborne. I look forward to watching him with the Athletics now.
Yep, the top prospects don’t hang around in the minors for very long.
You’d think trading Shea would make the most sense? Kotsay could use catcher, first and DH for Soderstrom.
If it doesn’t work out then you got Susac waiting in the wings.
I think he is going to be really good, good eye and great Power.
Question is a little bit the hit tool.
At the lower minors he has had above average contact rates with swinging strike rates around 8% but this year in AAA it is up to 12% which points to a mid 20s k rate.
I think he is going to walk in the 11-13% range and hit for power but what will his contact be?
Worst case he is a pre injury Rhys hosksins who walks a lot, hits for power but strikes out in the mid 20s and hits like 245.
However if his contact rate is more like it was in the low minors he could be that all-round great hitter who hits 280+ with Great obp and lots of homers.
Either way he is an above average player but the latter would be more exciting
Rooker is much more than a “huge power bat”.
Most fans going will be fans of the opposing team anyway, so that won’t really matter
gimme two!
Kurtz – forever a Wake Forest Demon Deacon!
Best of luck with the Athletics
Exciting but home games are ruined by incel males feel the need to yell lets go Oakland even though the the franchise is trying to rid themselves of that. So is the MLB. I see Kurtz just starting out at DH to gett his footing.
He also read twenty books over the summer, so he’s getting a $25 gift card to Dave and Buster’s along with an autographed photo of the Philly Phanatic!
Jac Caglianone has an unimpressive OPS of .733 so far as a professional. Nikc Kurtz has an OPS of 1.121. Caglianone may be able to hit a ball farther and throw a ball harder but that doesn’t mean a damn thing. Kurtz is so far proving he is a better hitter at the professional level.
A’s building a budget friendly murderers row.
Watched last nights game…the kid looks relaxed and natural at the plate. Needs to work on recognizing big league breaking pitches, but that will come. Singled in a run his 1st AB.