A’s slugger Nick Kurtz closes in on a streak not seen in MLB since Barry Bonds
A walk for A’s slugger Nick Kurtz on Friday would mark a milestone matching Barry Bonds.
Kurtz, who extended his streak of games drawing at least one walk to 19 on Thursday, would match the former San Francisco Giants left fielder should he extend the streak to 20 on Friday night against the Cleveland Guardians, which would tie him with Bonds for the second-longest such streak in Major League Baseball history.
Bonds walked in 20 straight games from Sept. 9, 2002, to April 2023, the two seasons following his historic 73-home run campaign in 2001.
Kurtz’s mark is the longest in Athletics history, the longest over a single season in the past 79 years and matches legendary Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams’ 19-game streak from 1941. The longest streak ever was 22 by Detroit Tigers outfielder and first baseman Roy Cullenbine in 1947.
Kurtz, 23, is in his second Major League season and is coming off winning American League Rookie of the Year in 2025 when he hit 36 home runs with 86 RBIs in 117 games while posting a 1.002 on-base plus slugging percentage. He had one of the best single game performances in MLB history when he hit four home runs while going 6-for-6 in a 15-3 win over the Houston Astros on July 25. Kurtz became the first rookie to homer four times in a game.
Kurtz’s numbers are down in his sophomore season with the A’s, though his OPS remains a highly respectable .842 while he leads the American League in walks. His .417 on-base percentage ranked 11th in MLB coming into Friday’s game. He’s hitting .236 with five home runs and 15 RBIs through 30 games and has started every game at first base.
The A’s enter their weekend three-game series against Cleveland in first place in the American League West. Kurtz, if he continues to play every game and draw a walk, would have a chance to tie Cullenbine’s 22-game record in Sunday’s series finale vs. the Guardians and break it next Tuesday against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Entering Friday at 17-14, the A’s are one of only three teams in the 15-team American League with a winning record, along with the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.
