Nick Kurtz celebrated the one-year anniversary of his professional debut on Sunday, and the Athletics first baseman already is established as a fierce power hitter after just 79 games in the majors.
That said, the 22-year-old Kurtz hasn’t homered in his past 13 games as the Athletics open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Kurtz has been in a power outage since his epic performance against the Houston Astros on July 25 in which he slugged four homers while going 6-for-6 with eight RBIs, six runs and 19 total bases.
Kurtz has just one extra-base hit — a double — since his historic night.
Of course, opposing pitchers are being very cautious when they face Kurtz, the fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Wake Forest.
“Obviously, there’s a little frustration,” Kurtz said of his power drought. “You want to do the things that help the team produce runs. Sometimes, you’re just not able to. I’m just trying to do what I can with what they give me.”
Kurtz is batting .305 with 23 homers and 62 RBIs. He drew a walk while going 0-for-3 in Sunday’s 3-2 road win over the Baltimore Orioles to stretch his streak of reaching base to 25 straight games.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay isn’t concerned about the power breakdown by the American League Rookie of the Year favorite. He said the four-homer game is part of the reason.
“For Nick, the power is always going to be there,” Kotsay said. “When you have that type of attention and that type of game, you become the spotlight for any team that you’re going to face going forward. We’ve seen that with Nick.
“He’s definitely not being pitched to in any aggressive way, and that’s probably the result of that four-homer game and the attention it brought upon him.”
Kurtz and the A’s went 4-2 on a road trip against the Washington Nationals and Orioles. Overall, the Athletics have won 11 of their past 16 games.
The Rays were swept in three games by the Seattle Mariners over the weekend and are 2-4 during the first half of a 12-game road trip. After the series against the Athletics, Tampa Bay visits the San Francisco Giants for a three-game set.
The Rays lost 6-3 to the Mariners on Sunday and were outscored 16-9 in the series.
In fact, Tampa Bay has dropped 15 of its past 20 games.
“Not happy. I think that’s the best way to put it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters after Sunday’s loss. “We’re not happy with the way that we played. We’re just not playing good baseball.”
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (7-9, 3.77 ERA) will start the series opener for Tampa Bay.
He beat the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday when he gave up three runs (two earned) and five hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Pepiot, 27, is 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA in three career starts against the A’s. Brent Rooker (3-for-8), Max Schuemann (2-for-6) and JJ Bleday (2-for-7) have each homered off Pepiot.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (10-7, 3.89) will be on the mound for the A’s.
Springs, 32, is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA over his past three starts. He has allowed just seven hits in 18 innings during the stretch.
He received a no-decision on Wednesday against the Nationals when he gave up one run and one hit — on a homer — over six innings.
Springs received a no-decision against the Rays — the team with which he played from 2021-24 — on July 1 when he gave up two runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in six career appearances against Tampa Bay.
Brandon Lowe and Christopher Morel homered against Springs in the July contest. Lowe has gone deep in three of Tampa Bay’s past five games.
–Field Level Media
