DETROIT -- The Athletics got Tyler Soderstrom back from the injured list on Wednesday, but the good news didn’t last long. By the second inning against the Tigers at Comerica Park, Nick Kurtz was out of the game, leaving the A’s to wonder whether another major piece had been knocked loose.
Kurtz’s exit came after a sequence that looked like it might have involved his right hand. In the first inning, he appeared to jam it while colliding with Dillon Dingler near first base as he tried to handle an errant throw from third baseman Zack Gelof. An A’s trainer checked him out, but the team later announced that Kurtz was removed at the start of the bottom of the second because of an illness.
That made him the second A’s player sidelined by illness in as many days. Starter J.T. Ginn was also pulled from Tuesday night’s loss after four innings after feeling sick early in that game.
For Oakland, the timing couldn’t be much worse. Soderstrom’s activation marked the third key player to return from injury over the past week, and Kurtz had just been named an All-Star for the first time in his career. He was later announced as the starter for the AL after Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero said he would not take part in this year’s Midsummer Classic.
Kurtz has been in a rough stretch at the plate, going 8-for-50 (.160) over his previous 13 games entering Wednesday. Even so, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year remains the A’s most dangerous hitter and one of the biggest power threats in the sport.
Jeff McNeil, who is primarily a second baseman, took over at first base after Kurtz left. If the A’s need a longer-term answer, Triple-A Las Vegas offers two first base options in veteran Joey Meneses and No. 8 prospect Tommy White, both of whom are swinging it well.
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The 2024 draft class has only strengthened that case, with Kurtz, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Gage Jump already reaching the majors and adding to the sense that the organization is getting more out of its scouting and development process. General manager David Forst has credited those efforts, even as the A's have had to live with a few lottery outcomes that did not quite match the odds, a reminder that the next wave of talent will still have to be earned the hard way. [Read more 🡒]
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One name worth watching is a left-hander in Washington who has quietly put together a strong year with a 2.87 ERA over 103.1 innings. His path has been interesting too, as he has gone from a four-pitch mix to a seven-pitch arsenal after three seasons in Japan, and his one-year, $5.5 million deal could make him a movable piece if the right opportunity comes along. [Read more 🡒]