In the Nick of Time
Nick Kurtz (ATH): 1-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB.
Brian Snitker gave the ball to Dylan Lee, one of his trusted relievers who entered the night with a 2.20 ERA and 0.85 WHIP across 42 appearances, with two down in the home half of the seventh and the Braves clinging to a one-run lead. He gave up a single to Lawrence Butler, but fanned Brent Rooker to escape the eighth. However, Nicky Nukes led off the bottom of the eighth and sent the Braves back to the drawing board with one big swing. It wasn’t a bad pitch: a letter-high 95 mph fastball on the outer half, but Kurtz poked it over the wall the other way in left, 358 feet from home plate.
The A’s selected Kurtz out of Wake Forest fourth overall last year with a big swing matching his six-foot-five frame, and, so far, he’s been exactly as advertised. His 15th home run leads all rookies; Miami’s Agustín Ramírez is second with 14 in 74 more at-bats. Kurtz has not only shown top-of-the-scale swing speed, but also a keen proclivity for barrels (94th percentile). PLV likes what it sees, assigning him a 132 Power+, just about two standard deviations above the league average. And have you noticed? He’s got a little flair for the dramatic, having also blasted two walk-offs before slamming last night’s game-tying shot. But, for as awesome as all the homers have been, whiffs have been a problem. A 33.1% strikeout rate is, well, pretty rough. However, his impressive swing decisions (119 DV+) have prevented him from bottoming out. All in all, Kurtz has done exactly what you want from a middle-of-the-order slugger. The A’s are, well, a project, but at the very least, they might have one piece figured out.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:
Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC): 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.
His second tater of the afternoon came against lefty-reliever Anthony Misiewicz in the seventh. On that note, he entered the game hitting just .138 with a 61 wRC+ across 117 plate appearances against lefties, so that was neat. PCA’s other blemish is his tendency to chase (64 DV+ and 4.4 BB%), which will make him susceptible against pitchers playing cat and mouse with junk out of the zone. Still, that’s 25 home runs, two and a half times last year’s total in 11 fewer at-bats. Not that there were any doubts, but his 117 Power+ corroborates his newfound thunder. I’ll have what he’s having.
Jordan Westburg (BAL): 1-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Westburg is making up for lost time, peppering the boxscore with three taters over his last five games. Last night’s two-run shot off lefty Brandon Waddell (413 feet, 110 EV) reversed a 2-1 Mets lead in the second inning, paving the way for a 7-3 O’s win in the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader. Westburg missed about a month with a hamstring injury; nonetheless, he entered the doubleheader hitting .248 with a 117 wRC+, pretty close to last year’s marks of .264 and 124, respectively.
Ha-Seong Kim (TBR): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Kim’s right shoulder has looked pretty good so far. Hitting fifth, he drilled a hanging slider from Walker Buehler 388 feet over the Monster, giving the Rays a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning of a game they would lose 4-3. Kim has modest power, having hit just 28 home runs over his previous two seasons combined (1,096 PAs); however, he also swiped 60 bases during that span with a solid .342 OBP.
Jorge Polanco (SEA): 1-5, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Polanco gave the Mariners what looked like an insurmountable 5-0 lead in the seventh inning of last night’s extra-inning loss to the Yankees, drilling a two-run dinger off righty Clayton Beeter (366 feet, 100.7 EV). I won’t pretend that I have the slightest clue if he’s back, after going more or less radio silent after his killer April. But at the very least, it puts him back on the radar. Regardless, he entered last night’s series finale against the Yankees, hitting .252 with a 119 wRC+, and is now just three home runs from what would be his most since 2021 (33).
Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS): 2-3, R, 2 RBI, SB.
Rafaela had the big hit for the Red Sox in last night’s come-from-behind win over the Rays. slapping a slider from righty reliever Bryan Baker into center for a two-run, go-ahead single in the seventh. The 24-year-old righty has been rock-solid for the Red Sox and fantasy managers alike, hitting .266 with a 109 wRC+. Hitting lower in the order is a drag, but it’s probably warranted, given his low walk rate and shaky swing decisions (84 DV+). Either way, Rafaela is more or less producing what many managers were hoping to get from Michael Harris, without, you know, costing a third or fourth-round pick.
Ozzie Albies (ATL): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.
At long last! A’s right-hander J.T. Ginn has had awful struggles against opposite-handed hitters this season, and they rared up again last night when he hung a slider down and in, giving Albies his seventh homer and first since May 29th. The switch-hitting Curaςoan entered last night’s game with a 72 wRC+, eighth-worst among qualified hitters, and his PLV metrics are similarly ice-cold. No one is expecting a miraculous turnaround at this point, but, hey, at least it was cool to see him get off the schneid and from what has been his weaker side too.
Marcus Semien (TEX): 4-5, 3 R, RBI.
I have a confession. I don’t believe in hot and cold streaks. I tend to think most of it is chaos, entropy, variance, or whatever you want to call it. I try to remain unattached to the results, but my efforts often fail because, you know, this is fantasy, and the consequences are real. Anyways, Semien’s dichotomy has me reconsidering everything. Through May 31st, he was hitting .193 with a 55 wRC, the latter tied with Michael Toglia for fifth-worst among qualified hitters. Since the calendar flipped, he’s hitting .288 with a 143 wRC+, and that’s not including last night’s four-hit effort. Remember when Bruce Bochy moved him down to ninth? Maybe that lit a fire under him.
Tyler Soderstrom (ATH): 3-5, HR, R, 4 RBI.
Spencer Strider was splendid last night, minus a hanging slider to Tyler Soderstrom, which landed 445 feet over Sutter Health Park’s right field fence, giving the A’s a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Soderstrom wasn’t done, either, as he made the A’s winners with a single in the eleventh against lefty Aaron Bummer. The 23-year-old lefty has settled down since his torrid April. However, 15 home runs with a 114 wRC+ 94 games into his first full season is nothing to sneeze at.
Zach Neto (LAA): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI.
With two down in the ninth inning of last night’s 11-3 loss to the Rangers, Dane Dunning tossed a 90 mph cutter down the middle, and Neto launched it into orbit for his 14th of the season (423 feet, 105.5 EV). Yeah, this probably qualifies as a garbage-time special, but they all count. Neto is striking out a bit more than you’d like at 26.9%, but his 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases are both good for fifth among shortstops. PLV validates Neto’s bat with a 124 Power+.
Dominic Canzone (SEA): 3-4, 2B, R.
Canzone has been in a platoon, and hitting low in Seattle’s order; he hit seventh last night. Yeah, that’s not exactly a recipe for excitement. However, he has been productive and entered last night’s game hitting .284 with a 142 wRC+. The sample size isn’t much (292 pitches and 65 BBE), but his 118 Power+ makes him a candidate for deep leaguers to put on their watch lists.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire | Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)
