Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz exploded onto the national scene Friday night. And in the process, he earned a spot between some legendary, Hall-of-Fame company.
Playing at Houston, Kurtz had what some are saying may have been “the best game ever.” In a 15-3 win over the Astros, Kurtz went 6-for-6 with four home runs, a double, a single, six runs scored and eight RBIs.
Simply put, Kurtz delivered one of the most statistically dominant performances in MLB history, becoming the first player ever to finish a game with at least six hits, six runs scored, and eight RBIs. He is only the second player ever to go 6-for-6 with four home runs, joining Shawn Green, who accomplished the feat in 2002. His 19 total bases also tied Green for the most in a single game, per the Elias Sports Bureau, and his six runs scored marked just the ninth time that’s happened in a game since at least 1900.
It was also a historic night for the A’s franchise. Kurtz became just the second player in team history with five or more hits and at least three home runs in one game — the first being Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx back in 1932, when the team was still based in Philadelphia.
“It still really hasn’t set in that it actually just happened,” Kurtz said. “A game like that is stuff you don’t even dream about, because it doesn’t really happen. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Nick Kurtz Trails Just Joe DiMaggio in Extra-Base Hits to Begin MLB Career
It’s the latest in what has been an unbelievable start to his MLB career. In fact, Kurtz’s historic effort gave him 43 extra-base hits in his 66th game, one more than Ted Williams for the second-most such hits at that point in his young career. Only Joe DiMaggio had more, with 48 through his first 66 games.
“This is not normal,” said A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson. “He’s playing a different sport than us right now. It’s not baseball. It’s T-ball what he’s doing out there right now.”
But while Kurtz only recently became known to the casual baseball fan, he has been putting up some ridiculous numbers for a while now.
Athletics Rookie Nick Kurtz Continues Power Display That Began in College
The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder was the Athletics’ first-round pick (No. 4 overall) in the 2024 draft after playing three seasons at Wake Forest University, where he posted a slash line of .333/.510/.725 with a 1.234 OPS. In 164 NCAA games, Kurtz clobbered 61 home runs with 182 RBIs. And by the way, he had more walks (189) than strikeouts (130) with the Demon Deacons.
Called “Big Amish” because he grew up in Lancaster, PA, the 22-year-old Kurtz needed just 33 minor-league games to earn his callup, combining to slash .344/.440/.712 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs.
“The kid is really unbelievable,” said A’s pitcher Jeffrey Springs. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that.”
That’s because only a handful of players in the history of the sport have done anything like it. For his effort, Kurtz was an easy choice as American League Player of the Week, the second consecutive week that he earned the honor.
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