A’s star Nick Kurtz has Home Run Derby on ‘bucket list.’ Will he do it in 2026?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kurtz said 2026 will not be the year he wants to do the Home Run Derby.
- The 23-year-old said he would not do it because of injury risk and losing a day of rest.
- Kurtz said his energy will go toward helping the A’s make the playoffs this season.
At some point in his career, Athletics star first baseman Nick Kurtz, who has already slugged 19 home runs this season, said he would like to participate in the Home Run Derby.
But 2026, he said Tuesday, will not be the year, despite the Derby taking place in Philadelphia, near his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“I’m not really too interested in it. It’s not something that I’m really passionate about doing,” Kurtz said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “But it’s definitely a bucket-list thing that I would want to do eventually in my career. The good thing is I am young, so I can hopefully have a lot of time.”
Kurtz’s announcement came hours after Tampa Bay Rays slugger and 2025 Derby runner-up Junior Caminero became the first to confirm his participation in the fan-favorite event.
Fellow A’s slugger Shea Langeliers, who entered Tuesday tied with teammate Kurtz for the 13th-most home runs in MLB at 19, said Monday that he alsowas not interested in the Derby, meaning the A’s likely won’t have a competitor this season. Designated hitter Brent Rooker competed in the Home Run Derby and All-Star game last season.
Both Kurtz and Langeliers cited workload and the need for rest during the long Major League Baseball season as reasons for their lack of interest. Langeliers noted fatigue at the catcher position, while Kurtz said there are “a lot of risks” associated with the derby, including injury risk and it taking away a day of scheduled rest.
“We play a lot of baseball, and we don’t get that many days off,” Kurtz said. “So taking a day off, not taking full-effort swings can be very beneficial. That’s my thing to benefit everyone.”
On Monday, A’s manager Mark Kotsay said both Langeliers and Kurtz deserved an invitation and that he would support whatever decision they made about whether to compete or not. He also called the potential risks of the contest minor, only noting injury and potential fatigue as downsides.
Team mentality spurs decisions
The A’s were sitting at 40-44 heading into Tuesday, three games out of the American League West lead and 2 1/2 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. However, the club has been riddled with injuries as of late, with starters Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof and Rooker as well as ace Luis Severino and reliever Mark Leiter Jr. all on the injured list.
Kurtz said that all of his energy will go toward trying to help the A’s make the playoffs this season, which they haven’t done since the COVID-shortened, expanded 2020 playoffs, making the Home Run Derby less of a priority.
“In a sport where the game is really hard, and we’re trying to focus so much on personal goals and personal statistics, the way for me to not think about it too much is putting everything towards the team,” Kurtz said. “We want to win, that’s the biggest thing.”
However, Kurtz said making the Philadelphia All-Star game, which is usually a less-intense affair with reserve players getting one or two at-bats at the most, would be a “cool” honor.
While Langeliers advanced to the ongoing Phase 2 of All-Star voting, which will decide the starters at each position, Kurtz finished with the fourth-most votes among AL first basemen in Phase 1 and will not have a chance to start the game, despite putting together a strong sophomore campaign. As of Tuesday morning, Langeliers led his head-to-head voting matchup with Toronto Blue Jays backstop Alejandro Kirk with 66% of the vote, MLB announced.
In 84 games this season, Kurtz, the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year by unanimous vote, leads all MLB playersin walks (74), RBIs (64) and runs scored (51), alongside the second-best on-base percentage (.423) and fifth-best OPS (.944).
Though Kurtz is widely speculated to be a likely reserve selection — decided by a combination of a players’ ballot and selections from the MLB Commissioner’s Office —the 24-year-old slugger said he isn’t dwelling on the fan vote, instead focusing on his performance day-to-day.
“It’d be really cool to have the first All-Star appearance be in Philly, it would be pretty special, be a full-circle moment for me,” Kurtz said. “Fan voting, it is what it is. I can’t control it. … Just trying to do what I can to perform today, and help the team win.”
