Nick Kurtz Marquee

Nick Kurtz hit 36 home runs in 117 games as a rookie in 2025, which for a player who did not debut until late April is a rate few first-year hitters have matched. He batted .290 and drove in 86 runs.

The Athletics had taken him fourth overall out of Wake Forest the previous summer, and he needed less than a year of minor league baseball. The season brought a Silver Slugger and a place on the All-MLB second team.

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2003, Kurtz bats and throws left-handed and has spent his career so far with the Athletics, whose home has shifted from Oakland while he has been in the organization.