Nick Kurtz SHATTERS Expectations as Athletics’ New Top Slugger | 2026 Fantasy Implications !

Nick Kurtz SHATTERS Expectations as Athletics’ New Top Slugger | 2026 Fantasy Implications !

I’m here to tell you why Nick Curts might actually be the number one first baseman in 2026 and who is Leo Dere. We’re going to talk about those names and more as we cover the athletics on today’s action-packed episode of Locked on Fantasy Baseball. You are Locked on Fantasy Baseball, your daily fantasy baseball podcast. part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello fantasy baseball fanatics and welcome to the Locked On Fantasy Baseball Podcast, brought to you by the Locked On Network, your team every day. As always, we’re your number one source of fantasy baseball knowledge and thank you for making us your first listen each and every day. I’m your host, Dominic Martino. today. Uh, I’m your host, Dominic Martino, as always, riding solo today. As you can see, if you’re watching on YouTube, and if you haven’t already, hit that little bell below. It’s going to subscribe you to the channel and give you notification every time we drop a new episode. Or if you’re listening on the audio side of things on a platform like Apple or Spotify, make sure you’re subscribed. And also, if you could leave us a fivestar rating and review if you like what you hear, we would truly appreciate that as well. And if you are a fantasy baseball fanatic like Matt and I, join us on the Insiders track where fantasy baseball season never ends. This time of year in the offseason, we’re talking about uh keepers, dynasty, uh, you know, league players. We’re doing prospects. I got my 2026 rankings in the works. So, if any of that sounds like fun to you, give us a chance on the insiders track. The link is in the bio if you’re listening, watching, and it’s available on any of our social media platforms. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. And all right guys, talking athletics, Nick Curts had a monster breakout season in 2025. What do we think about him in 2026? We were kind of predicting Lawrence Butler was going to break out this season. He really didn’t live up to the hype. Um, but you know what? His teammate Jacob Lopez had a really good breakout season. Uh, Shay Langalers as well. Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales were bright spots in the rotation. We’re going to talk about them. And then who is top three overall prospect in MLB? Leo Dere and the the athletics also have another top prospect in Jamie Arnold. We’ll discuss them at the end of the episode. So you know what? Let’s take it from the top. As I mentioned, we’re going to do the bats first, then we’re going to do arms, then prospects. So let’s start with Nick Curts. Dude, he was great. He had an awesome season, man. uh was really excited to, you know, see that Nick Herz kind of lived up to the billing, you know, and and then some. To be honest with you, he struggled a little bit, you know, he actually came up was really, really good. Hit a little bit of a skid and then just overall wound up being, you know, a great player for, you know, um, fantasy baseball purposes. Here, I’ll I’ll get you the numbers. I know he hit 290 off the top of the head. And it was 36 home runs. Okay, I got you. Yeah, 290 batting average. I was spot on with that. Over 117 games, 420 at bats, 90 runs, 26 doubles, two triples, 36 home runs, 86 RBI’s, and even two steals from Nick Herz. Uh he had 63 walks and 151 strikeouts this past season. And honestly, I’m believing in most of it, right? I truly think Herz um you know has the legitimate light tower power. He’s a big intimidating 65240. Um he he doesn’t chase a lot and he does like know how to take a walk. So I love that. But the big thing is is that stands out to me with Curts is the 290 batting average. Are we necessarily buying into it? I don’t know if Curts is a 290 guy next season um in 2026, but I think Curts can easily, you know, stay around the 260ish mark. Um, you know, but it really depends on what kind of guy he wants to be. Now, when he was down at Wake Forest in college, he was a perennial 300 hitter. Even in the minors, you know, Nick Curts just consistently hit 300. So, do I think it’s out of the tool house for him to be, you know, a a a 290 kind of bat? It it’s possible, but I don’t know if with the huge monster light tower power comes with it. You very few and far in between see guys that can hit 40, 50 home runs and stay at that 290, 300 mark unless, you know, you’re looking back at the steroid era, right? You don’t see that a lot in today’s modern day game. And it’s usually, hey, I’m selling out for power. I’m going to sacrifice a batting average. Allah like a Kyle Schwarber type. Um, just there’s not many there are guys that do it, right? There’s there’s rules. Um, you know, there’s exceptions to the rule, but it’s just not like a very common thing. And when I look at the underlying stats with Nick Curts, you see an X batting average of 255, and you’re just like, okay, um, I’m not 100% sure if I’m buying into Curts, you know, continuing to hit at this, uh, you know, 290. um clip that he hit at in his rookie year. So, what happens is the tape’s going to be out on Curts. He was, you know, I think undeniably the best hitter in the lineup while he was out there. So, what it’s really going to come down to with Curts is where where are we where are we going to be able to draft them next season, right? I he finished in Yahoo Standard 5 by5 um you know, categories leagues. Curts finished the year as the number four first baseman in all fantasy baseball. And with that being said, he was the 48th overall player in the game. Um, uh, Bellinger, Naylor, and Alonzo finished ahead of Curts, and Curts finished right ahead of names like Devers, Vlatty, Olsen, and Freeman. I I personally going into 2026 um I have Curts as the third first baseman right now. The two guys I do have over him are Alonzo and Vlatty. Um I I I still I still personally believe that Vlatty has more power in the tank. and Alonszo, you know, in contract. Um, uh, sorry, with Alonzo, the the thing being, you know, 272 batting average, 38 home runs, 126 RBI’s, we kind of know who the guy is. Um, I think it’s going to be like a 260 plus batting average from Alonzo. You know, 35 plus bombs, easy, 100 plus RBI’s as long as he’s healthy. With Curts, like I said, question marks on the batting average. question marks if the athletics are going to be, you know, this run producing um, you know, team like they were this year. Do I do see them being really good, you know, we’re going to get to the top pro, one of the top prospects, no baseball later, you know, who he maybe makes his debut next year and comes and you know, helps the team as well. But it just depends because if Curts I feel like Curts is going to be going second round, may maybe early third round. I just don’t know if I’m buying in at that price. let me be the guy that says, “Hey, I’m I’m going to take the year off of Curts because I I don’t want to buy in at that price and I think there’s going to be more value at first base later because I think first B first base is actually going to be stacked in 2026. Give me a guy like Vinnie Pasantino arguably five rounds later, six rounds later who’s going to, you know, give you a 270 batting average with, you know, 30 plus homers, too, and you know, 100 RBI. um not crazy far off from, you know, what Nick Hurts is. I know Nick Herz is definitely better than Vinnie P. I’ve gotten hate for saying, you know, that they’re close before, but the thing is that I just think for the value, right? Like obviously, yeah, Curt Curts is going to be the better player. I think Curts is, you know, going to beat Vinnie P in a lot of statistics, but I don’t think I, you know, forgive me if you know, if you guys disagree, but I don’t think the home runs are going to be crazy far apart. I think Vinnie P could take him in batting uh could take him in um you know RBI’s the runs I’ll give to Curts. Um but you know what man I I just I don’t I don’t see the value being crazy worth it taking Curts in the second third round. That’s me personally. I want to see the the buy it year right? Like hey show me you could do this one more time. I have to 2027 right? I want him to make me eat my words. But with that being said I digress. Let’s move on to Lawrence Butler. I was a big big Lawrence Butler guy coming out of, you know, the the 2024 season. He But Butler really showed out um especially towards the end of the year. Uh so I I had a few shares of Butler coming into the 2025 season. Didn’t really work out too well, right? Uh Butler in 152 games played had a 569 at bats, 83 runs, 30 doubles, two triples, 21 bombs, 63 RBI’s, 22 steals, had 59 walks to 179 strikeouts, and he hit 234. Now, in 30 less games and 125ish less at bats in 2024, Butler hit one more home run, stole four less backs. So, and he hit for a way better batting average. So, when we see Butler take a 30 point uh loss in batting average, we see him, you know, hit one less home run in, you know, way more games and way more at bats and only four more steals. Definitely a disappointing year. The price that we paid on Butler, you know, wound up being a bit high. You know, I’m going through ADP right now. Uh he was the 23rd outfielder. Uh I was pick 67, so yikes. Um I definitely was in on him. So I I forgive you guys on that one. I could always, you know, admit when I’m wrong, you know, and like that’s why I like to hype up when I’m right. But with Butler, man, definitely was wrong. I still think that there’s better, you know, days ahead. Butler’s still fairly young and you know, like I said, this team’s getting better. There’s good coaching there. Um, you know, with athletics and they’re working on, you know, moving. So, with Butler being 25 years old, I think he’s going to be there for a while. Underlying stuff really wasn’t super sexy this year. But if you only look back at 2024, I think at minimum Butler could be like a 250ish guy, 25 to 28 homers. He’s not super fast. The sprint speed, you know, even in 2024 was 58th percentile, went all the way down to 36 percentile this year. So even 22 steals is more of just him wanting to do it than him actually being quick. So, with Butler, I don’t think the price is going to be high at all. I’m not afraid to buy back in if I’m getting him like as an outfielder five um a bench player in some spots. Not going to be mad at it. But Butler is definitely I don’t think he’s like the 3030 guy that we thought he could be um you know, coming out of 2024. But with that being said, we still got names like uh Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, Shay Langalers, his breakout season, and then we’re going to do pitchers and prospects. Uh that and more coming up next. And all right, guys, I need to talk to you about my friends over at Prize Picks. Uh, this episode is once again brought to you by Prize Pick. Every day we make decisions, but on Prize Picks, being right can actually get you paid. Don’t miss the excitement of this football season with Prize Picks, where it’s good to be right. Playing prize picks is such a fun, simple way to add more excitement to football. 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[Music] And I said it earlier and I will say it again one more time. If you are a fantasy baseball fanatic like Matt and I, that means you always want some fantasy baseball talk in your life. So Matt and I are giving you that on the insiders track where we’re talking fantasy baseball 247. Uh with this time of year we’re talking keepers dynasty. Uh we’re doing uh you know giveaways. I got my 2026 rankings in the works. So if you want to see the early cut of that, join us on the inside track. I’ll give you that. The link is in the bio if you’re listening, watching, and it’s available on any of our social media platforms. But guys, I digress. I want to keep things pushing here for you. I want to get you that uh fantasy baseball knowledge going. Brent Rooker actually, you know, pretty solid year from Brent Rooker. Not somebody that I winded up with too many shares of because I actually want to check myself here. I know him and Butler were drafted actually somewhat close if I’m not mistaken here as I fact check myself. Yeah, Rooker was taken as the 18th outfielder. Uh Butler was taken 23rd. So, it wasn’t crazy far apart, but if you stuck with Rooker, honestly, it was a lot better of a time than if you rode um you know, the season with uh Lawrence Butler. So, Brent Rooker played in all 162 games for the Athletics this year. Had 626 at bats, 92 runs, uh 40 doubles, which was nice. Three triples, 30 bombs, 89 RBI, six deals, uh 65 walks to 155 strikeouts. Rooker hit .262. Um, I feel like I kind of, you know, Rooker’s gonna be 31 next season. I feel like I kind of just expect more of the same. You know, Rooker’s got the power. Um, I think he’s going to keep his good spot in the lineup this year. Um, as far as the batting average, the underlying stuff believes in it. Rooker is a career 259 guy, but over the last two seasons, we’ve seen improvement of him going to a 293 batting average in 2024. and the 262 batting average kind of makes me believe in the underlying number that says 274. So if Rooker could be a 270 guy, 30 home runs plus, he’s giving you 90 and 90 in the RBI’s and runs. He even chipped in six deals uh this season and he gave you 11 last year and he’s in the 50th percentile of sprint speed, which makes him pretty much just as fast as a Lawrence Butler type who stole 22 bags this past year. Uh I like me rooker. I think he’s a top 20ish outfielder. I’m not mad if I’m taking Rooker as my like a low-end outfielder number two. Let me check my rankings and see if I actually I’ll give you guys a little bit of an inside cut because you know I appreciate this if you’re listening this year, but as I get those pulled up, the thing with Rooker in general is we’ve seen very similar seasons the last three years. Um, you know, starting back with 2023 when Rooker was an all-star for the first time, the only thing that we didn’t see was the batting average. Um, but we saw the 30 home runs. We saw the counting stats. Like, okay, they’re not great, but if this team gets a little better, they could be there and this team has gotten a little bit better. Um, let’s see where I threw Rooker in. I threw Rooker in at 24. And I’m not I’m not mad at that. I’m not mad at that. I know he was going a little bit higher last year. I feel outfield outfield isn’t deeper than it was last year, but you know, I feel like maybe not so much not so many injuries and it does like thin out really quick. I feel like Rooker is one of those last um outfielders that I believe in. So, I would take him as my low-end outfielder number two and walk away very happy with that. If you like Rooker and you want to pay up for him a little bit more, I’m not going to be manager for that, you know, because like I said, outfield does thin out. I want to say after like 30 you’re really struggling to like say me to be like I could you know plant my flag in that guy and really back him. So I wouldn’t be mad at Brent Rooker going into 2026. I think there’s going to be some value there and I think there’s some safety in a Brett Rooker pick as well. Like I said, you know, we’re getting the power. We’re going to get the good um you know uh runs and RBI’s in this team. I think and I don’t think the batting average is going to kill you. think worst case scenario maybe it’s like a 250 batting average but I think that’s really on the lower end side of an outcome for Brent Rooker. Let’s talk about Shay Langalers. Dude, I am I’m a fan. I finally have boughten in to Shay Langalers. Uh I wound up acquiring him in one of my leagues last year and honestly was thrilled down the stretch with the production that I got from Langaliers. Overall it was 123 games for Shay. He had 481 at bats, 73 runs, 32 doubles, uh 31 home runs, 72 RBI’s. He stole seven bags, 36 walks to 103 strikeouts, and he hit 277. Here’s the thing. I think we’re going to have to pay up for Langalers. I think he’s going to be like a top five catcher. Um I’m probably not going to have any shares. And the reason just being is I I don’t personally like to buy in in early on catcher and you know top five catchers probably top 100ish pick. I like to you know dig at the bottom of the barrel and you know kind of see what I end up with. But I don’t think you’re going to wind up with a bad time if you take Langaliers. I still think, you know, I I definitely believe in the power the 30 plus home run power is there. 73 runs and 72 RBI’s in 123 games. We talked about how the Athletics uh you know scored a bunch of runs this year and you know we’re definitely pretty good at that. So I think that you know the county stat should still be decent for him. The 277 batting average though. Don’t know if I’m buying it being that high but could you know Langaliers be a 250 260 hitter you know with some improved play discipline that we saw this season? He didn’t strike out as much didn’t walk like a significant amount more than he had in the past. But I just love to see that, hey, you know, he’s not, you know, striking out as much. So that shows a little bit of improvement with the play discipline. So Langeliers, I mean, if if he was going as like a top 150 pick, I’m in. But I don’t think we’re unfortunately going to be able to get that kind of value on the Langaliers, but I do believe in the production. So if if you guys were questioning the production for you know the 27 year old Langaliers definitely something I think he it’s a repeatable season except for the batting average which I think does take a step down but Langelier is definitely one of the best rising uh stars as far as catcher goes in the game. Um and before I finish up uh the bats with Jacob Wilson and then we’ll do um the arms in Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales. And guys, I am so excited to talk to you about Leo Deere. So, you’re going to want to stick around for that and more coming up next. [Music] And guys, I promise I got this one lined up. We’re going to talk about my friends over at FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I personally love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays, tried player props, and even follow the live lines during the games. It makes watching football even more exciting. You know, when you’ve got a little something riding on the action, you know, it just makes it really does make the game that much better, right? Whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience uh the best you’ve ever, you know, uh gone through. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fando.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Uh do that ASAP. [Music] All right, guys. Uh let’s just keep going. Jacob Wilson. Uh, the funny thing is is Matt and I were Jacob Wilson guys. We didn’t really get to talk about him, you know, maybe as necessarily as much as we liked to building up uh, you know, to the 2025 season, but we definitely talked about him at the a lot at the end of, you know, 2024 because he had his moments, right? Um, it wasn’t like an overwhelmingly great time for him in 2024, but we definitely saw the flashes. So Matt and I did buy in in 2025. We had him in our listener league. If you were part of that, you know, we actually had him all year long in that league. Uh we didn’t have a great show in the listener league, but honestly, I blame Matt. Matt, uh my brother, but uh you know, we had a tough go of it. Uh last year I had my own team. Well, two years ago, 244, I had my own team. I finished in second that year. Uh maybe we’ll go back to having our own teams in uh 2026, but we will see. Uh, but Jacob Olsen himself, 125 games played this year, dealt with a little bit of injury, 486 at bats, had 62 runs, 26 doubles, 13 homers, 63 RBI’s, five steals. He had 27 walks to 39 strikeouts. He loved his stat. He was a points league monster and he hit 311. I believe in Jacob Wilson. I don’t think he’s like blowing you away in any one specific fantasy stat, but he’s not killing you anywhere either. Um, I think he’s I want to say he’s like where put my money where my mouth is. Um, where do I have Wilson at shoretop? So, so actually I do have him in there at shoretop 16. So, I know that sounds a little bit low, but listen, like I said, he’s not going to give you a crazy amount of power. I don’t think he’s going to go out there and even steal 20 bags or anything like that either. But if it’s like a 15 home run, five steel profile where, you know, if he plays 150 games, you’re talking maybe 80 and 80 in the runs and RBI’s. And I think the 311 batting average is somewhat sustainable. I don’t think he hits 300, but can he hit 285, 290? I definitely think that’s in the realm of possibility for a Jacob Wilson. So, you know, even an all-star this past year, Jacob Wilson was. So, somebody that, you know, just depending on where he’s being taken, I I I believe in the talent. Um I do think uh maybe at you know the age of um you know u 24 years old next season that we could see him you know maybe grow into a little bit more power at 62 190. don’t think he necessarily he’s going to get any quicker. But you know what? If he can get closer to 20 bombs and hit 290 with 80 and 80 and five steals and just be good in points leagues, that that looks a lot better on paper and it definitely helps us keep him in our lineups in uh fantasy leagues as well. Let’s do a little bit of pitching here. Um you know, the athletics unfortunately there wasn’t a lot going on in the pitching department, but Jacob Lopez was pretty good. had, you know, a good run of it here and there. Uh, you know, was useful in stints, but kind of got a little bit tricky if you weren’t, you know, paying attention and you were just for setettting and forgetting. Um, you didn’t realize when he was going on those bad ends and you might have caught some of those really bad starts. But in total, the 27year-old Jacob Lopez for the Athletics, um, made 17 starts, came out of the bullpen in a few other games, so it was 21 games played for him overall. had a 408 RA across 92 innings, had 113 strikeouts uh over that time and had a 127 whip. Now, with Jacob Lopez, I don’t necessarily know if I’m buying him taking a step forward uh next year, but the thing is I I feel like I’ve said this about all the athletics players, or at least most of them so far. Um I just I believe I I believe in who he is, right? A lot of the underlying stuff looks good. If you look at some of the stuff for erra, it could says that, you know, he was due for more of a 35 um, you know, erra batters, you know, really had a tough time, you know, seeing um, you know, some of his pitches. His four seam fast ball that he throws, um, you know, 37% of the time only sits at 91, but it gets pretty, you know, solid movement. Batters only hit 220 against it. His slider was Jacob Lopez’s bread and butter. So you go from that fast ball that’s 91 and then you see that slider that’s 78 miles an hour. You know, it does really throw you off. So that’s a 2011 batting average against Jacob Jacob Lopez’s slider. Uh the cutter and the change up really did get hit hard. So you know that’s something that Lopez could, you know, potentially you know uh you know work on this year because they got good they got good run on them. They got good break run you know on those breaking balls but just necessarily didn’t get the best results. He’s a big dude at 6’4 220. He gets good extension. He doesn’t really get hit hard. I I just think there’s a really good pitcher somewhere in here with Jacob Lopez. We saw a bunch of, you know, 10 strikeout starts this season, you know, double digit starts, even eight, nine strikeout starts. Jacob Lopez did a bunch of times. So I think he’s a guy that if Lopez could be a 35 36 you know erra kind of guy with well over a K per nine and then even if we have to take a little bit of a hit in the whip department if Lopez could get it down to let’s say like a 120 whip. I’m not even going to be necessarily that mad at that. I think he’s going to be more of a dart throw though, you know, in uh 2026. I don’t think he’s somebody that unnecessarily um I’m going out of my way to draft though. So, with that being said, you know, Lopez is there’s not too many other pitchers, you know, for you know, the athletics that I think are going to be even super relevant going into 2026. So, I don’t mean to do them any sort of disservice, but this is a fantasy baseball podcast, so we’re going to really keep it fantasy baseball relevant. not really buying a Jeffrey Spings or or Luis Everino. Luis Medina is somebody or I’m sorry, not Luis Medina. Luis Morales is maybe somebody that we look at who had a decent year, but I’m not really going to get in depth with him because he’s once again not somebody I super buy into. I like Jacob Lopez a little bit more. Uh but let’s talk about Leo Dere, guys. We are here. One of my favorite prospects in all of baseball. Honestly, I wish Matt was here to talk about him with me. Uh Leo Dere is the number three prospect in all of baseball. He headed over to the athletics. um in a trade this off seasonason. He is only 18 years old, but he is 61, 183. He’s got a great hit tool. He got better as the year went on. And it’s funny as the breeze climbed the levels in minor league baseball, he got better. And you know, high A, you know, he played for, you know, uh two different teams as I mentioned the trade, but you know, as the year went on, he got better. So, we’ll talk about his second stint in high A. Um, after the trade, it was 15 games, 268 batting average. He had two homers and a steal with four walks to 15 strikeouts. He was okay, but really took it to another level when he got to double A Dere did. 281 batting average over 21 games, 17 runs, seven doubles, five homers, 16 RBI’s, 10 walks, 20 strikeouts, two steals. Now I think Dere’s top 10 prospect for a very good reason. I think the upside here 3030 kind of profile should be decent counting stats. You know, like I said, this athletics lineup has been, you know, scoring runs pretty well the past couple of years. And let’s see, you know, if Dere is tearing up double A, you know, this year and then they decide, hey, you know, uh, you know, the first couple months and then they move him to AAA and he continues to hit like that, I wouldn’t be shocked if we see a Dere at the All-Star break. The Athletics showed us they’re not afraid to, you know, be aggressive with their prospects. Allah Nick Curts, you know, and, um, couple other kids. I can’t remember the other outfielder’s name that came up last year for the athletics, but they called him up um as well. Let’s see. Do I have it pulled up here? Uh just as I look. Um I don’t think No, they don’t have his name here, but Max Muny, another young prospect that got called up for them last year. Gall off a couple of years ago. Just, you know, another for instances. Um so they are aggressive with their prospects when need be necessary. And like I said, Leo Dere is, you know, the number uh three prospect in all of baseball with all due good reason. But let’s talk about the number 38 prospect in all of baseball. And you know, another one of the athletics high-end prospects, it is Jamie Arnold. Now, Arnold, um, you know, another guy who actually has not, um, had much actually any minor league experience at all yet. Um but he does have that big fast ball that um you know averages about 95. It gets up there touches around 97. Um but also uh he does you know back that up with a nice uh big sweeping uh breaking ball uh that sits at around you know 82 to 85. Um you know that slider it could be a little bit wild at times but it does have nice break and it’s good to it. You know Arnold can fill up the zone. You know uh he’s pretty good at that. throws a lot of strikes. So, it’s going to be interesting to see what the young Jamie Arnold can do, you know, once he gets the, you know, call up to the Athletics. Personally, I do like that slider a lot. Like I said, it’s just the control of it. Um, and, you know, Jamie Arnold was uh picked in the first round of the 2025 draft by the Athletics um with the 11th pick. So, high prospect pedigree here with a guy like this. Uh, just keep the name in mind. Not sure if he makes his debut in 2026. as I said, doesn’t really have much minor league pitching experience yet, but we know the Athletics can be aggressive with their prospects. Uh, but guys, that is all for today. Um, shout out to all of you, our everydayers and new listeners, for making Lock on Fantasy Baseball your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the all new lock on MLB game night every game, every night, all season long at local analysis on national scale. Find MLB Gamer Unlocked on Mo on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. And guys, make sure you check out the newsletter as well. But until next time, see you.

Athletics’ Nick Kurtz: The Next Fantasy Baseball Superstar?

Dominick Martino breaks down the A’s roster, spotlighting Nick Kurtz’s breakout season and 2026 potential. From Brent Rooker’s consistent production to Shea Langeliers’ emergence as a top-tier catcher, this analysis covers key players shaping Oakland’s future. The discussion explores Lawrence Butler’s disappointing year, Jacob Wilson’s upside, and pitching prospects like Jacob Lopez. Martino also examines top prospects Leo De Vries and Jamie Arnold, projecting their impact on the A’s lineup. Will Kurtz become the #1 first baseman in fantasy baseball? Tune in for expert insights on Oakland’s rising stars and their 2026 fantasy value.

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Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
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0:00 Intro: Atletics Fantasy Discussion

13:52 Brent Rooker’s solid 2025 performance

17:27 Shea Langeliers’ breakout and future outlook

21:31 Jacob Wilson’s potential and 2025 stats

24:05 Jacob Lopez’s pitching performance analysis

27:08 Leo De Vries: Top prospect breakdown

29:41 Jamie Arnold: Athletics’ pitching prospect

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