Athletics’ Nick Kurtz earns second consecutive AL Player of the Week honor originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Big Amish has done it again.
Athletics rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz won his second consecutive AL Player of the Week award, MLB announced Monday, to no one’s surprise.
Kurtz’s stretch of six games from July 21-27 was just unreal.
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The 22-year-old rookie hit .600 with a 1.400 SLG and 2.043 OPS over six games and finished with 15 hits, 11 RBI and five home runs.
Kurtz’s week, of course, was headlined — and immortalized — by his historic performance on Friday against the Houston Astros, in which he hit four home runs, collected six hits, drove in eight runs and totaled 19 bases at Daikin Park.
“It’s hard to think about this day being, you know, kind of real,” Kurtz told Chris Caray and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” following the 15-3 win. “Still feels like a dream. So it’s just, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t really know what to say.”
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“I don’t really know how to describe that one,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters that same night in Houston. “It’s arguably the best game I’ve ever watched from a single player.”
Kurtz has been on a tear for far longer than the past week. Through 67 games, the A’s No. 4 overall pick from the 2024 MLB Draft is slashing .309/.378/.683 with 75 hits, 59 RBI, 23 homers and a 3.4 WAR.
And he leads the league in virtually all offensive categories as July nears a close.
Kurtz is the ninth A’s player in franchise history to earn consecutive Player of the Week awards and is the first to do so since former ace Barry Zito in 2000 — the lefty’s rookie year.
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There is no telling how high Kurtz’s ceiling will be. But at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, it’s clear it’ll end up being quite tall.