What you see is not always what you get. Jacob Wilson came up in 2024, age 22, and didn’t exactly overwhelm in 28 games. Wilson batted just .250/.314/.315, getting jammed often and making too much weak contact.
For Wilson it was just a “getting the kinks out” kind of debut. He has hit the ground running, to say the least, in 2025 batting a gaudy .341/.381/.478 and is widely considered the front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year.
So as we look at Nick Kurtz’ maiden voyage through MLB, it is a look at the past but not necessarily a glimpse of the future. Kurtz is getting his feet wet, and doing it after just 32 minor league games.
We have seen ups (exit velocities routinely over 100 MPH on his hits) and downs (an 0 for 21 skid) from the 22 year old whose big league service time will reach a month on Friday. What stands out to me, personally, is that the Kurtz we have heard about is not really the one who has shown up … so far.
With the understanding that everything we’re seeing might relate strictly to “it’s his first 24 games in the big leagues,” here are some observations from the Eyeball Scout.
Controlling the Strike Zone
Kurtz is known for having a terrific eye and excellent plate discipline, which helps him draw a lot of walks and hit for power without striking out a ton. At least in theory.
Facing pitchers for the very first time, and learning a new level that happens to be the toughest one on the planet, Kurtz initially struggled to lay off junk below the knees but has improved his pitch recognition on those chase pitches of late.
Nonetheless, taking some very hittable first pitch strikes and swinging through a lot of off speed pitches, Kurtz has struck out an awful lot so far: 31 times for a 34.8% K rate. Meanwhile his BB rate has been pedestrian a 6.7%, neither percentage matching his hitting profile.
Raw Power
One thing we heard about Kurtz when he was drafted was that he has tremendous raw power, eliciting comps like Jim Thome to describe his ceiling.
We did see that power last night, as Kurtz hit a majestic HR to left-center field that cleared the wall by plenty. But I have been surprised at how little power he has shown overall so far. This is partly because Kurtz has hit a lot to the off field, rarely lifting the ball to RF.
Additionally, he has hit the ball on the ground frequently, playing pepper with the 2Bman on a regular basis. He has a 46.2% ground ball rate and it’s where most of his balls to the pull side have been hit. Overall Kurtz has pulled the ball 40.4% of the time, but has involved the 2Bman far more than the RFer.
Both of Kurtz’ big league HRs are to LF, leaving fans on the RF berm to wonder when they might finally get a shot at a souvenir.
vs. LHP
All of the above don’t concern me a lot as you can project that once Kurtz gets familiar with the pitchers and their patterns, he will understand the strike zone better, get more pitches he can pull, can lift, and can drive, and everything will come together for him…so long as the pitcher agrees to throw with his right hand.
Kurtz’ futility so far against LHP is a bit of a worry because he would not be the first LH slugger to demolish RHP but be heavily subdued by lefties. And the A’s did not draft him, and aggressively promote him, to be a platoon player.
Kurtz is 0 for 14 with 0 BB and 6 K against LHP, along with 2 sacrifice flies (16 PA). In general he has not appeared to track breaking pitches very well and has been kind of an easy out. This is something to watch moving forward, as it is not exactly a new phenomenon: in the minors this season he had 43 PA against LHP and batted just .195/.213/.317.
Again, much of this is looking backward — the road ahead is likely far brighter than the 24 game sample that followed just a 32 game MiLB career. Hopefully Kurtz’ arc is similar to that of teammate Wilson’s and it may well be.
But this is the big leagues and it has humbled men bigger and stronger than Kurtz. What have you seen — and maybe more importantly, what do you expect to see going forward?