Nick Kurtz wins American League Rookie of the Year
Athletics’ Nick Kurtz outvoted teammate Jacob Wilson and Red Sox’s Roman Anthony
The powerful first baseman of the Athletics, Nick Kurtzunanimously won the award Rookie of the Year Jackie Robinson of the American League in the 2025 season, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) reported on Monday.
Kurtz surpassed his teammate Jacob Wilson and outfielder Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox in the vote.
Kurtz led all Major League Baseball (MLB) debutants in home runs (36), runs batted in (86), runs scored (90), walks (63), extra-base hits (64) and OPS (1.002) despite debuting late in April and only appearing in 117 games for the A’s.
The 22-year-old slugger is the only rookie to hit four home runs in a game, tying the baseball record, which he achieved on July 25 against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park.
Kurtz is the ninth member of the Athletics to win Rookie of the Year and the first since Andrew Bailey in 2009. Mark McGwirein 1987, had been the franchise’s only first baseman with the trophy.
The Athletics tied with the Atlanta Braves (9) for third place in most Rookie of the Year winners, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (18) and New York Yankees (10).
Kurtz will receive 750,000 from a pre-arbitration bonus pool, and second place Wilson will receive 500,000.
Kurtz, 22, starred at Wake Forest University before being selected by the A’s with the fourth pick in the 2024 amateur draft. The 6-foot-10 slugger started this season in the minor leagues, but had an RBI single in his first major league at-bat on April 23 against the Texas Rangers.
It was a hint of what was to come.
He hit a solo home run off Los Angeles Dodgers reliever JP Feyereisen for his first major league home run on May 13. He hit four more homers in a four-day span that same month, including his first career multi-homer game on May 21 against the Los Angeles Angels.
He had his most notable performance on July 25 against the Astros, becoming the youngest player in Major League history and the first rookie to hit four home runs in a single game. He went 6-for-6 with eight RBIs while tying an MLB record with 19 total bases.
Kurtz was the 14th unanimous American League Rookie of the Year selection and the second of the A’s franchise, joining Mark McGwire in 1987.
The Manager of the Year for each league will be announced on Tuesday, followed by the Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
