Our prized rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz had an amazing debut season and he’s likely got some hardware coming this offseason as the consensus favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year.
The honors don’t stop there for the young first baseman either. Today MLB announced this season’s nominees for the Hank Aaron Award, the annual award that goes to the best offensive player in each league (voted on by both fans and a panel of Hall of Famers) and Kurtz was one of the 10 picked in the American League:
It’s been an incredible ascent for the Wake Forest alumni. Kurtz looks like a budding superstar after he hit 36 home runs in his first taste of the big leagues. And that includes his delayed callup, a power drought to start his career, and a couple injuries along the way that cost him a hand full of games. Kurtz likely won’t win the award, not with Aaron Judge in New York putting up his usual video game numbers. But it’s still nice to see the Athletics’ young player get some national recognition. Feel free to go ahead and start voting for him right now! Voting ends next week and we’ll find out the winner on November 13th at the MLB Awards Show.
We got a couple of playoff games today as the Yankees fight to remain alive down 0-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays. And the Mariners and Tigers will play their Game 3 on even ground after splitting the first two games. Should be another great day of baseball!
Add former Athletic Nick Hundley to the list of potential manager for the Giants, along with Kurt Suzuki: