The Athletics are calling up Nick Kurtz, the No. 4 pick in last year’s MLB draft, to play against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Monday.
The first baseman will be the third player from last year’s draft to debut in the major leagues, following Houston Astros outfielder Cam Smith and Los Angeles Angels reliever Ryan Johnson earlier this season.
Like Smith, 22-year-old Kurtz will make his major-league debut with only 32 career minor-league games played. Despite a pro debut season that was cut short last summer by a hamstring strain, Kurtz was assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas to start this season, having played in just five Double-A games before sustaining a hamstring strain in late August. He recovered from that injury in time to play 13 games in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .353 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, nine walks and 16 strikeouts.
In 20 games so far this year for Las Vegas, Kurtz has batted .321/.385/.655 with seven doubles, 10 walks and 26 strikeouts. He leads all minor leaguers with seven home runs and 24 RBIs.
The legend of Nick Kurtz grows—
A’s No. 1 prospect just sent his 7th bomb into orbit.
Towering shot. Center field. MVP energy#AviatorsUp pic.twitter.com/lU53nMOj8h— Las Vegas Aviators (@AviatorsLV) April 13, 2025
With Tyler Soderstrom red-hot at first base right now, tied for the MLB lead in home runs (nine), it isn’t immediately clear where Kurtz will get his regular at-bats, although Brent Rooker has seen time in the outfield lately, leaving open the possibility that Kurtz and Soderstrom will split time at first and designated hitter.
MLB.com was first to report the news of Kurtz’s promotion.
Kurtz, the A’s top prospect, was one of three players from Wake Forest taken among the top 10 picks of last year’s draft. Chase Burns was selected at No. 2 by the Cincinnati Reds and Seaver King at No. 10 by the Washington Nationals. Only Burns (No. 40) was ranked among the top 100 prospects entering this season by The Athletic’s Keith Law. Kurtz, ranked 35th, is a selective hitter who Law said “makes extremely hard contact; his 90th percentile exit velocity at Wake Forest was over 111 mph, and he continued to hit the ball hard in his brief time in the minors. There’s a good chance for 30-homer power with 70-80 walks or more per season, and that’s going to make him a star and possibly the best player in the Sacra … er, the Athletics lineup.”
Recently, Kurtz has posted a chase rate of 23.4 percent and has taken 7.4 percent of pitches thrown to him with two strikes, aligning with his reputation for being selective. It could be something to watch in the big leagues given rookies don’t often get the benefit of the doubt on close pitches.
(Photo: Candice Ward / Getty Images)