Illness takes out 3 A’s stars in 3 games, just as injury bug had started to lift
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- Three A’s players were affected across three games by a stomach illness.
- Nick Kurtz exited in the bottom of the second after vomiting and is day-to-day.
- J.T. Ginn exited after four innings with reduced velocity attributed to the same illness.
Just when the Athletics were finally starting to get healthy again, a stomach bug came biting.
On Wednesday, A’s All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz became the third player in as many days to be scratched or removed from a game early because of illness after exiting a loss to the Detroit Tigers in the bottom of the second inning.
A’s ace J.T. Ginn was pulled from his Tuesday start after just four innings and 61 pitches of decreased velocity due to illness. Infielder Jeff McNeil was a late scratch from Sunday’s lineup for the same reason. The A’s were off Monday.
“It’s definitely going around a little bit in the clubhouse right now,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com. “(Kurtz) tried to play, but there in the second, he was actually throwing up in the dugout. Credit to the kid for going out and trying to grind through it, but it’s a stomach flu illness right now.”
The illnesses have hit the A’s just as the team regained three of its middle-of-the-order bats — Jacob Wilson, Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom — all within the last week.
With three of their best players back, the 41-51 A’s currently sit five games out of the last American League wild card spot and are hoping to make a run at the playoffs. However, they have lost their last five contests entering Thursday, at least three games of which had players affected by illness, and haven’t won a series since the second week of June, before the team’s injuries started piling up.
When will Kurtz be back?
Speculation about potential injuries to Ginn and Kurtz — arguably the A’s best pitcher and hitter this season, respectively — were prominent on social media during the last two games before being dispelled by Kotsay.
Kurtz, the unanimous 2025 AL Rookie of the Year, leads the league in walks with 76 on top of 20 home runs, 15 doubles and a stellar .912 on-base plus slugging percentage in 91 games this season. Ginn, who appeared to be on the periphery of the AL All-Star team himself, is 7-5 with a 3.10 earned run average and 86 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings this season.
After grounding out in the top of the first inning Wednesday, Kurtz appeared to jam his hand during a minor collision with Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler on an errant throw before being checked out by a trainer.
While many speculated this play caused an injury, Kotsay later called Kurtz “day-to-day” and the first baseman was set to hit second for the A’s on Thursday as a designated hitter.
Ginn on Tuesday said he expected to be fully healthy for his next start and that his illness contributed to his early exit and decreased velocity.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 12:34 PM.
