{"id":499524,"date":"2026-02-23T20:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499524\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:40:09","slug":"nick-kurtz-looks-to-build-on-al-rookie-of-the-year-award-in-2nd-season-with-athletics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499524\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Kurtz looks to build on AL Rookie of the Year award in 2nd season with Athletics"},"content":{"rendered":"

(AP) – Aside from towering over most of his Athletics<\/a> teammates at 6-foot-5, Nick Kurtz blends in at his locker in the middle of the clubhouse \u2014 and that\u2019s just the way he prefers it.<\/p>\n

Even now with the extra fanfare and attention on him this spring as reigning AL Rookie of the Year<\/a> at just 22. Kurtz stuck with his usual offseason routine of returning home to North Carolina, where he likes to \u201cchill,\u201d play video games and watch movies when he\u2019s not busy training.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I\u2019m excited for Year 2. I kind of know what to expect and what it\u2019s like to play in the big leagues<\/a>\u201a\u201d Kurtz said Sunday before his first Cactus League game, against Cleveland. \u201cAm I embracing the spotlight? Not so much. I\u2019m a guy who likes to be out there, but obviously there\u2019s a lot more eyes, a lot more expectations, which I\u2019m all about. I use that as our team, we have higher expectations of ourselves and what we think that we can do, so it\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u2019s manager Mark Kotsay<\/a> will consider Kurtz for the leadoff spot \u2014 where he was hitting Sunday and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his team\u2019s 6-0 loss to the Guardians \u2014 to maximize the slugger\u2019s at-bats.<\/p>\n

After such a special 2025, Kurtz continues to come to work and praise all of his teammates who helped him achieve the spectacular year he had, Kotsay said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same way like he\u2019s 13 years old, he\u2019s never going to change,\u201d Kotsay said at Hohokam Stadium. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome to watch him in the clubhouse, on the back field, he comes in the same way, the same guy, just feels blessed to be here, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever going to change for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurtz batted .290 with 36 home runs, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games and became the eighth rookie since 1901 to finish with an OPS over 1.000 while making at least 400 plate appearances. In July, he became the first major league rookie to hit four homers<\/a> in a game, leading the A\u2019s to a 15-3 victory over the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s it like watching him day to day?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely annoying, not fun, because I know whatever I do I can never hit it opposite field that far, so I would say annoying,\u201d joked locker mate Zack Gelof, a second baseman rehabbing from surgery last September on his left shoulder. \u201cNot as fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Kurtz is counting on the A\u2019s carrying their momentum from late last year in a 76-86 finish and having a faster start this season to become a contender again in the AL West. He loves the young core of this group \u2014 many of whom have been locked up on long-term contracts \u2014 and hopes to be part of turning the club into a winner ahead of its scheduled move to Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy plan is to be here for as long as I can,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cI\u2019ll be here for the next six years, minimum, so it\u2019s really exciting to know that when we go to Vegas we have guys that we\u2019ll be super familiar with and some of my best friends I\u2019ve made for life, so it\u2019s really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of those very faces were all together on the island of Maui in Hawaii for left fielder Tyler Soderstrom\u2019s wedding in November when the AL Rookie of the Year award was announced, so they celebrated Kurtz\u2019s first shining moment of what is expected to just be the start of great things to come in his career.<\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t anything outrageous by any means. That wouldn\u2019t be Kurtz\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a whole lot, maybe a couple beers, just hanging out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The left-handed hitter then spent the winter focused on making sure he did everything necessary to keep his body strong and healthy for another full year in the major leagues \u2014 one he hopes ends with a playoff berth this time. He started swinging a little later, in December, and increased his workload in the weight room, but noted, \u201cI\u2019m not a big changing guy. If it worked last year let\u2019s do it again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center fielder Denzel Clarke appreciates how the understated Kurtz handles his business. The first baseman offered a quick greeting to Guardians catcher David Fry when he stepped into the batter\u2019s box in the first inning and grounded out to third on four pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how under the radar you can be at 6-5, but he\u2019s just a very calm, very chill guy who\u2019s going to go about his day-to-day life,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cNothing too crazy, nothing too flashy, he\u2019s just going to be him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selected No. 4 in the first round of the 2024 amateur draft out of Wake Forest, Kurtz impressed the A\u2019s with his maturity from the moment he arrived and made his debut last April. He will turn 23 on March 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he learned it really quickly when he got to us, and he mentioned that,\u201d Kotsay said. \u201cHe did go through a little bit of failure but he found his routines and his processes pretty quickly and recognized you can\u2019t get caught in the results, you just get caught in your process, and I think for a young player to realize that as quickly as he did, it showed in the success that he had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(AP) – Aside from towering over most of his Athletics teammates at 6-foot-5, Nick Kurtz blends in at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,245026,591,167959,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-499524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cactus-league","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-spring-training","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}