Nick Kurtz promoted to Double-A a Week into His Pro Career

Jason Burke | Aug 20, 2024

May 29, 2022; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics helmets are stacked near the field before the game against the Texas Rangers at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Former Demon Deacon Nick Kurtz has been mashing since turning pro. The Oakland Athletics took him with the fourth overall pick in the MLB Draft, and not too long ago he was assigned to A-Ball with a slew of other A's top picks. The 21-year-old former Wake Forest first baseman ultimately played in seven games with the Stockton Ports.

According to A's GM David Forst on A's Cast, Kurtz is on his way to Double-A Midland, skipping High-A altogether. With the Ports, Kurtz went 10-for-25 (.400) with a .571 OBP, four home runs and 12 RBI. He also carried a 1.531 OPS. We said on Saturday that he would be promoted shortly due to the insane levels of production, and two days later he was. We didn't think he'd be in Midland so quickly, however.

The A's have seemingly been more aggressive with their promotions of late, most notably with last year's first rounder Jacob Wilson, who made his MLB debut in the first game out of the All Star break.

In watching Kurtz's batting practice the day he signed, the ball just seemed to leave his bat differently, almost as if it got into the air and found a wind tunnel. The ball just left his bat in a way that you don't see very often.

While it's his power that has been catching people's attention, it's his advanced approach at the plate that has likely made the A's comfortable having him skip a level a little over a week into his pro career. In college he walked more than he struck out, and in those seven games he struck out seven times (20%), but he also walked ten times.

Another reason for having Kurtz jump to Midland is because they have another solid first base prospect in Lansing already in Will Simpson, a 15th rounder last season that's hitting .272 with a .376 OBP and 15 homers with 79 RBI in 104 games. The A's likely felt that Simpson wasn't ready for his own promotion just yet, and they couldn't have both first basemen struggling for playing time, so they decided to test Kurtz by dropping him in Double-A.

A's GM David Forst said on A's Cast that Brennan Milone, who has been playing first in Midland and has been swinging the bat great, "isn't a true first baseman," which will give Kurtz a spot to play while Milone can DH and move around.

With Midland challenging for a spot in the postseason, Kurtz could receive another five weeks of playing time with the RockHounds, which could set him up nicely for the 2025 campaign, and potentially a quick jump to Triple-A next season.