On a day mostly dominated by the Astros to avoid a three-game sweep, it was Kurtz, who has tormented Houston so often this season, that delivered the loudest swings of the game in the A’s 11-5 loss at Sutter Health Park. The 22-year-old first baseman mashed a pair of home runs as part of a three-hit effort, bringing his season total to 35 in what continues to be one of the most impressive rookie seasons by any player in MLB history.
“The kid really is unfazed by the acknowledgement of how we expect him to play or how everyone expects him to perform,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s pretty remarkable what he’s done and how gracefully he’s done it. He’s a very humble person. We talked a lot about what I felt would be a leadership quality, even though he’s young and just starting out, he can bring that to this club. I think we’re seeing that.”
Kurtz’s first blast — a 393-foot solo homer to left off Framber Valdez in the sixth inning — moved him ahead of Jose Canseco for second-most homers in a season by an A’s rookie, trailing only Mark McGwire’s leading mark of 49 in 1987. Two innings later, Kurtz bashed a 389-foot two-run shot to left-center, becoming just the 12th rookie in MLB history with 35 or more home runs in a single season.
Kurtz played a massive part in that success. The rookie sensation dominated Houston throughout the year, highlighted by his historic four-homer performance on July 25 at Daikin Park. Overall, Kurtz hit an even .500 (21-for-42) with nine homers, six doubles and 18 RBIs in 10 games against the Astros in 2025.
“It’s nice to know that, a team that you’re going to play four different times a year, you’ve had success and seen a lot of their arms,” Kurtz said. “It’s nice going into the following years knowing that it’ll be a lot of the same guys that I’ve seen and I’ll kind of know what to expect.”
The Astros, and really the rest of the league, have constantly tried switching up their plan of attack against Kurtz. Following the four-homer game, opposing pitchers began feeding him a heavy dose of pitches on the inner half of the zone.
But as they saw on Tuesday, Kurtz has an answer for that, too. His first homer came on a curveball low and in from Valdez. His second was on a fastball inside from Enyel De Los Santos.
“It’s a day-to-day type of thing,” Kurtz said. “Especially against those guys that I’ve had a lot of success with, they’re not going to go back to the well. They’re going to change things up and try to figure out different ways to get me out. They did a pretty good job the first two days [of this series] and had good arms all three days. But my power is going to the back side of the field. I had to realize that I can still do that on inside pitches. I don’t need to pull them.”
With three games remaining, Kurtz, who leads Major League rookies in homers, RBIs, runs, walks and extra-base hits, has pretty much wrapped up AL Rookie of the Year honors. All that is left for him is to put the finishing touches on a year that looks to be catapulting him into full-on stardom as a big leaguer.
“You never really know what to expect when you get to the big leagues,” Kurtz said. “What it’s going to be like or if you’re going to be able to do the same things that you’ve kind of done your whole life. It’s a whole different game. Knowing that I’ve had success and can do it, there’s a different type of confidence that comes with that.”