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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 22: Nick Kurtz #16 of the Athletics celebrates after scoring during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on April 22, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images)

The Athletics are currently top of the American League West, with a 14-11 record, after finishing fifth, fifth and fourth over the last three years respectively. They have integrated and molded some young talent into established professionals over that time, raising both the ceiling and the floor of the franchise, and have hope for the future combined with some quality in the present. From where they were just two years ago, losing 112 games, these are all good things.

None of them are as good as Nick Kurtz, though. Kurtz – the team’s first baseman, reigning American League Rookie of the Year and already a surefire 2026 All-Star despite still not having played 150 Major League games yet – is setting records all over the place, and is on the cusp of another. He is now only one game away from matching a mark held by Barry Bonds, of all people, for second-place all time in consecutive games with at least one walk.

Kurtz drew a walk again in today’s 6-3 Athletics victory over the Kansas City Royals, his 19th consecutive game with a base on balls, moving him within one game of tying Bonds for the second-longest streak of consecutive games with a walk in Major League Baseball history. The all-time record remains held by Roy Cullenbine at 22 games, with Bonds’ 20-game run placing second. Nick Kurtz has only been in the majors for the tenure of one Pope, and he has already moved into Bonds kind of territory. (And Roy Cullenbine territory, of course.)

Kurtz Earning His Passes

Although he is hitting only .236 on the year, every night features a slew of plate appearances in which Kurtz has consistently worked deep counts and avoided chasing pitches outside the strike zone. Opposing pitchers have increasingly limited their exposure to him, particularly in high-leverage situations, contributing to a steady accumulation of walks rather than a concentration in isolated games. There are quite a lot of pitches thrown with trepidation when you hit 36 home runs as a rookie and are a threat to hit another dinger literally every at-bat, and Kurtz is letting them proceed with that caution.

On the season, Kurtz – inevitably – is baseball’s leader in walks, with his 33 just beating out the 32 of Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. His walk rate of 23.7% is nigh-on double the 12.9% mark of his rookie campaign, and showing quick growth to capitalize on his rookie season power barrage. Despite the batting average, Kurtz’s overall line includes an on-base percentage of .415 at the time of writing, supported by an approaching-even strikeout-to-walk ratio. The average matters not with an OBP like that.

The comparison to Bonds reflects the sheer quality of the streak. Bonds’ 20-game streak came during a period in which he routinely led the league in walks, often by thousands of miles. And although Kurtz’s current run would need to continue for a decade to even graduate for the long-term Bonds conversation, it also has not been driven by intentional walks to the same extent, but instead by a combination of selectivity and opposing pitch patterns. He brought this on himself, in a good way.

His Journey To Date

Kurtz was drafted 4th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft by the then-Oakland Athletics out of Wake Forest University. In his final college season, he hit .306/.531/.763 with 22 home runs, 51 RBI, 61 walks, and 42 strikeouts over 54 games, after an even bigger 2023 line of .353/.527/.784 with 24 home runs and 69 RBI in 61 games.

He debuted professionally in 2024 across the Single- and Double-A league levels, combining for 12 games with a .368/.520/.763 slash line, 4 home runs, 13 RBI, 12 walks, and 10 strikeouts. Entering 2025, he was ranked among the top prospects in baseball and began the season in the upper minors. And the promotion to the majors came quickly.

In 2025, Kurtz split time initially between Double-A and Triple-A, playing 21 games and hitting .333/.400/.690 with 8 home runs, 27 RBI, 11 walks and 26 strikeouts. As all those on-base percentages attest to, the walks were always a big part of his prodigious talent. But not to this extent.