Nick Kurtz Admits Funny Detail Discussing Historic Night Against Houston Astros

The Houston Astros had some problems pitching to Kurtz in 2025

Jul 25, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Athletics designated hitter Nick Kurtz (16) celebrates after hitting his fourth home run of the game during the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

With baseball season around the corner, that means that A's first baseman Nick Kurtz will have more opportunities to take Houston Astros pitchers deep. In his rookie campaign, he played ten games against Houston, going 21-for-42 against them with nine home runs, 18 RBI and a 1.829 OPS.

Of course, a decent amount of that damage was done on July 25 in Houston, when he went 6-for-6 with four home runs and 19 total bases, marking this as one of the best offensive performances in MLB history. In addition to the four home runs, he also notched a single and a double, which he mentioned in the most recent episode of Beyond the Dugout with Dallas Braden.

Kurtz was asked about that night, after the second home run, with more at-bats on the way, when it started to creep in that he could have the opportunity to run into a few more long balls. "Is that something that you process, or do you just kind of keep that same approach?" was the way Braden phrased his question.

Kurtz was aiming for a smaller piece of history

"Honestly I was trying to hit a triple," Kurtz admitted with a smile. "I wanted the cycle. That's kind of what I was thinking about. I think I went single, homer, double, so after three at-bats, I'm a triple away. Let's hit a gap, let's go. We've got a good lead, if I get thrown out at third, oh well."

His mentality started to change after his second home run, and then after his third home run in the eighth inning, he figured he'd had a really good day, but likely wouldn't get another at-bat in that game.

"Then I see the position player come in and I was like 'there's a chance I get up again.' I don't love hitting against position players, but he was throwing a good speed . He wasn't [at] 31 [miles per hour], he was more of a 75, so maybe I could do this. I wasn't really trying to."

This performance propelled Kurtz to be the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year in 2025, besting teammate Jacob Wilson, who was the early favorite for the award. It was in this game, where Kurtz was just trying to hit a triple, that his season really took off and he gained national attention.

From that game forward, he'd hit 17 home runs, bat an impressive .294 with a .411 OBP, and finished out the year with a 179 wRC+ (100 is league average). Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were the only other players with at least 200 plate appearances that had better numbers over this stretch.

The A's first home series of the season will begin on Friday, April 3, and of course, it will be the Houston Astros in Sacramento. We'll have to see if they've come up with a way to pitch to him over the offseason, or if he'll continue to bat a cool .500 against them.