A’s Nick Kurtz stays hot in Vegas with longest homer of MLB season. How far?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Nick Kurtz hit a Statcast-projected 471-foot homer, the MLB’s longest this season.
- Through 68 games Kurtz has 16 home runs and leads MLB with a .437 on-base percentage.
- Kurtz’s 48-game on-base streak tied the A’s record and earned AL Player of the Month.
Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz might be even better in Las Vegas.
Four games into the A’s six-game stint at Las Vegas Ballpark that’s serving as a preview to the franchise’s planned move in 2028, Kurtz has done nothing but rake, mashing four home runs and getting on base a total of 15 times for a 1.641 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Kurtz’s first-inning solo home run Friday against the Colorado Rockies might’ve been the best showcase of the 23-year-old’s power, and dominance, in Vegas.
The Statcast-projected 471-foot moonshot, which came off the bat at 109 mph, is the longest home run across Major League Baseball so far this season.
The homer comes less than a year after Kurtz launched a 493-foot grand slam at Sutter Health Park, the longest home run hit in MLB last season and the longest in team history since Statcast tracking was implemented in 2015.
The lights and fireworks at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, after Kurtz’s home run serve as the city’s introduction to what the 2025 American League Rookie of the Year can do.
The A’s are planning to move to Vegas in 2028 after three seasons in West Sacramento, when their new stadium is complete. Kurtz, 23, is under team control until 2030, so it is likely that he will play many more games in Vegas once the move is completed.
How good is Kurtz?
Building off an all-time rookie campaign last season, Kurtz has done anything but slow down in his sophomore season.
In 68 games this season, Kurtz has an MLB-best .437 on-base percentage, to go along with 16 home runs, 12 doubles, 50 RBIs and 64 walks.
Led by his stellar walk rate and power hitting prowess, Kurtz holds the third-best OPS in the league at .976, only behind Houston Astros slugger and American League MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez and New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice.
A poll of MLB.com experts released Thursday this week named Kurtz the third-best hitter in the league, only behind Alvarez and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. Recent betting odds showed Kurtz as the fourth-most likely to win AL MVP, behind Alvarez, Rice and defensive-mastermind Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
While his four game stretch at Las Vegas Ballpark, a noted hitter-friendly stadium, is arguably the best stretch of his 2026 campaign, Kurtz’s most notable feat was his historic 48-game on-base streak, tied for the longest within a single season in A’s history.
The streak stretched through most of April and May, and Kurtz won AL Player of the Month in May large part for his streak. In May, Kurtz led the AL in OPS (1.025), runs (21), hits (34) and RBIs (26).
A’s injury notes
- 2025 All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson returned to the A’s lineup Friday after a rehab stint with the Aviators. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored a run, while staying in the lineup the entire game. Wilson missed about a month of games due to a left shoulder subluxation.
- Fellow 2025 All-Star Brent Rooker, the A’s stalwart designated hitter, was placed on the injured list in a corresponding move as Wilson was recalled Friday. He was placed on the IL retroactive to June 9 with a bone bruise in his left knee.
- Starting pitcher Aaron Civale threw 4 1/3 innings of no-run, no-hit baseball in a rehab start for the Aviators on Thursday, fanning seven along the way. He is expected to return to the A’s as soon as his next scheduled start in the coming days.
