Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz is the unanimous winner of the American League Rookie of the Year award after putting together an impressive season at the plate.
The 22-year-old Kurtz batted .290 with 36 homers, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games this year. The first baseman became the eighth rookie since 1901 to finish with an OPS over 1.000 while making at least 400 plate appearances.
A’s teammate Jacob Wilson was second in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that was announced on Monday night. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony was third.
Braves catcher Drake Baldwin, Cubs pitcher Cade Horton and Brewers infielder Caleb Durbin are the finalists for National League Rookie of the Year.
Each Rookie of the Year gets $750,000 from a pre-arbitration bonus pool, and each runner-up receives $500,000.
The Manager of the Year for each league will be announced on Tuesday, followed by the Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday.
Kurtz, 22, starred at Wake Forest University before he was selected by the A's with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 amateur draft. The 6-foot-5 slugger began this season in the minors, but he hit an RBI single in his first big league at-bat on April 23 against Texas.
It was a sign of things to come.
He hit a solo drive off Dodgers reliever J.P. Feyereisen for his first big league homer on May 13. He belted four more homers in a span of four days that same month, including his first career multihomer game on May 21 against the Angels.
He had his signature performance on July 25 at Houston, becoming the youngest player in major league history and the first rookie to hit four home runs in one game. He went 6 for 6 with eight RBIs while matching an MLB record with 19 total bases.
Wilson, 23, also had a terrific rookie season for the A's, batting .311 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs. He was the starting shortstop for the AL in the All-Star Game.
Anthony, 21, made his big league debut on June 9. He batted .292 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 71 games with Boston before his season was cut short by an oblique injury.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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