Mariners must hope AL West rival keeps foolishly ignoring slugging prospect

The Seattle Mariners have already felt the sting of an Athletics slugger in 2025, as Tyler Soderstrom clubbed three homers against them in a split of a four-game series that opened the year for both clubs at T-Mobile Park.

Soderstrom now leads MLB with eight long balls, yet he's only one of two hitters in the A's system who leads his respective league in homers. The other is Nick Kurtz, who leads all minor leaguers with seven homers amid an attention-grabbing season for Triple-A Las Vegas.

For now, the A's aren't calling the 22-year-old Kurtz up to The Show just yet. The Mariners will have to hope they remain steadfast in this position, because this is a guy who could do real damage to their outlook in the AL West.

The Mariners will benefit if the A's continue to keep Nick Kurtz at Triple-A

That Kurtz has burst onto the scene so thoroughly at the outset of 2025 is not what you'd call a surprise. He was the No. 4 pick in the draft just last year, and that had everything to do with the sky-high potential of his bat.

"More than just a slugger, he's a complete hitter with no discernible weakness who crushes left-handers and right-handers and all types of pitches," read the book on Kurtz at MLB Pipeline, which rated him as a 60 hitter with 65 power. "He controls the strike zone, covers the entire plate and hits the ball with authority all over the ballpark."

All that was backed up by a 1.235 OPS and 61 home runs in 164 games at the college level for Wake Forest. And now, Kurtz has a 1.206 OPS and 11 home runs just 27 games into his pro career.

Kurtz is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 35 prospect in baseball, and his all-fields power has been especially as advertised. Of the six homers the lefty swinger has had tracked by Statcast, three have been to the right of center field and three have been to the left. He's also averaged 95.0 mph on his batted balls.

“He’s done as much, or more, than what’s needed,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said on Sunday, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. “Now it’s just, from our standpoint, you never can time a move. You just have to make the move.”

It is fortunate for the Mariners, however, that the A's brass actually needs to think about the right time to call Kurtz up. He's undeniably rising fast, but 27 games isn't much of a sample size and it hasn't even been a calendar year since he was drafted.

Moreover, Kurtz is a first base/designated hitter type. The A's are set at both positions with Soderstrom at the cold corner and Brent Rooker at DH. So barring an injury, a trade, or perhaps a move to the outfield for Kurtz, there isn't a natural way for him to be added to the lineup.

This is the good news for the Mariners. Even after a 5-1 homestand against the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers last week, they're only 8-9 and one game ahead of the 7-10 Athletics in the AL West. It has all the makings of a tight race, wherein one gifted slugger could make an outsized impact.

Since Kurtz appears to be such a slugger, the Mariners should be just fine with him staying in the minors for a while longer. Or, at least until after they next play the A's in Sacramento between May 5 and 7.