A’s slugger Nick Kurtz wins Player of the Month award. Could he win MVP?
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- Nick Kurtz won the American League Player of the Month award for May 2026.
- Kurtz led the AL in May with a 1.025 OPS, 21 runs, 34 hits and 26 RBIs.
- MLB.com’s second 2026 MVP poll placed Kurtz fifth in the American League.
Though Athletics star Nick Kurtz missed out on extending his historic 48-game on-base streak through the end of May, the slugger is leaving the month with a bit more than a consolation prize.
Major League Baseball on Wednesday named Kurtz the American League Player of the Month for May after he led the AL in on-base plus slugging percentage(1.025), runs (21), hits (34) and RBIs (26), launching him into the wide-open AL MVP race.
The award was the second of 23-year-old Kurtz’s young career, and his fourth overall monthly award. His all-time July 2025, which saw him hit multiple clutch home runs and become the frontrunner in the AL Rookie of the Year race, saw him receive both the Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards.
Kurtz also won Rookie of the Month in June 2025 en route to a unanimous Rookie of the Year victory as his teammate Jacob Wilson finished second.
During May, Kurtz slashed .333/.456/.569 while launching 13 extra-base hits, including five home runs, and walking 21 times.
Before Kurtz won his 2025 award, and teammate Shea Langeliers earned the August honors, the last A’s player to win a Player of the Month award had been Josh Donaldson in September 2013.
How impressive was his on-base streak?
The “Big Amish” had multiple notable moments during May, including a 405-foot opposite-field blast that lifted the A’s to a mid-month win and sparked a three-game home run streak for Kurtz.
However, Kurtz’s most notable throughline of the month was his on-base streak, which helped raise his MLB-best .440 on-base percentage.
After tying the A’s single-season on-base streak with a walk in the first game of last week’s series against the Seattle Mariners, Kurtz’s streak ended without obtaining sole possession of the record. However, the streak elevated his name among some club greats, sharing the record with Mark McGwire and passing other A’s legends like Jimmie Foxx and Rickey Henderson.
While the streak ended with Kurtz not reaching base in the last two games of the Mariners series, the slugging first baseman has already bounced back in a big way. He is hitting .500 and has amassed seven hits and three home runs, two of which were in May, in the A’s last four games, beginning a new streak.
“I know I’m not gonna get on base every day,” Kurtz said after hitting a home run in Saturday’s win over the Yankees. “It’s a hard game, and if you go 40-whatever games you get on base, you’re probably due for two (off).”
Could Kurtz win MVP?
During the series, Yankees manager Aaron Boone compared Kurtz to one of his own players: three-time AL MVP and likely future Hall of Famer Aaron Judge. The comparison to Judge was one that A’s manager Mark Kotsay concurred with.
“Obviously, yes, it’s young for Kurtsy to be comp to Aaron, but there’s a lot of similarities, with the ability to drive the baseball out of the ballpark at any given time in any count,” Kotsay said after Saturday’s game. “For Boone to talk and comp Kurtz to Judge, that’s a great compliment and one that I wouldn’t say anybody just throws out.”
Kurtz’s comparison to Judge wasn’t the only MVP-related buzz he has gotten recently.
MLB.com’s second MVP poll of the season, released Wednesday, had Kurtz at No. 5 in the AL, receiving no first-place votes but a large chunk of down-ballot votes. The poll was of 35 MLB.com baseball writers.
“The A’s first baseman — the reigning AL Rookie of the Year — has proven himself to be an incredibly well-rounded hitter, and he’s been back for more in 2026,” MLB.com writer Theo DeRosa wrote in an analysis of the results. “His 48-game on-base streak is no more, but Kurtz is still having a tremendous year worthy of MLB consideration.”
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez is the top candidate as of now, according to the poll. While Alvarez is behind Kurtz in OBP, he has hit 10 more home runs (21 total) to push his OPS to 1.064 — only touched by Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice, who was fourth on the poll.
Judge and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., known for some of the best defense in the MLB at the toughest position and steals on the base paths, were second and third, respectively.
Overall, Kurtz holds a .952 OPS, 11 home runs, 12 doubles, 42 RBIs and 40 runs across 59 games so far this season. Should he continue his impressive sophomore campaign and slug a little bit more, Kurtz could easily find himself in the thick of the MVP race by the time the season ends.
Ten Athletics players have won league MVP honors in franchise history, most recently Miguel Tejada in 2002. The other nine are: Jason Giambi (2000), Dennis Eckersley (1992), Rickey Henderson (1990), Jose Canseco (1988), Reggie Jackson (1973), Vida Blue (1971), Bobby Shantz (1952), Jimmie Foxx (1932 and 1933) and Lefty Grove (1931).
