Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
What a fantastic weekend of baseball we had. The A’s swept the Reds over the weekend, largely with juggernaut-like offensive performances behind Nick Kurtz, who hit one of the most ridiculous grand slams you will ever see on a rollicking Saturday night hit parade at Sutter Health Park. With the sweep, the A’s put a big dent in the Reds’ playoff aspirations, established a four-game winning streak, and redeemed themselves for the listless offense performances in their
previous series against the Red Sox.
Starting tomorrow, the A’s will seek revenge against the Sox at notoriously hitter-friendly Fenway Park in their penultimate road series of 2025, followed by one final stop in Pittsburgh before heading back to Sacramento to wrap up the season.
The A’s are not headed to the postseason, but they’re giving us a glimpse of the successful team they could become in 2026, and there are a few interesting story lines to keep tabs on through the rest of the month. When will Brent Rooker join Kurtz and Shea Langeliers to become the third Athletics player to hit 30 or more this season? Langeliers was the first to hit number 30, but Kurtz surged ahead to 32 in dramatic fashion in the Reds series—it seems inevitable at this point that the rookie will be the A’s 2025 home run champ, but it is not certain.
Jacob Wilson may have lost his shot at winning the AL Rookie of the Year award to his own teammate, but there is still a glimmer of hope for a batting title. Will we see Jacob Lopez or Denzel Clarke before the season ends? I suspect not, but their expected return remains listed as late September.
Most importantly, what kind of statement will the A’s make as a team in the final two weeks of the season? They have improved to 70-80, so they have just exceed their 2024 wins total of 69. It will take quite a run to finish at .500—an 11-1 run, to be exact. But crazier things have happened.
Have a terrific week, AN.
A’s Coverage:
- Reds Learn The Hard Way: Don’t Play HR Derby With The A’s (7-4)
- Leo De Vries: Fast Track Or Faaaast Track?
- Athletics Hammer Reds 11-5
- Athletics defeat the Reds 3-0, take series opener
- ‘Big Three’ rides again as Hudson, Mulder, Zito inducted into A’s Hall of Fame
- Who’s the closer? Doesn’t matter — whole ‘pen is stepping up for A’s
- De Vries stays hot, homers in second consecutive game at Double-A
- Lawrence Butler Joins A’s Legends in Impressive Feat
- A’s speechless after Kurtz’s 493-foot HR — MLB’s longest since 2023
- Ginn exits early with right calf cramp, day to day for now
- Latest Athletics injuries and transactions
MLB News & Interest:
- Giants’ Matt Chapman blames Oracle’s infield dirt for injuries, ‘starting to affect the way I play’ ($)
- Mets Moving Sean Manaea To The Bullpen
- Jose Altuve Exits Game With Foot Discomfort
- Cashman: Yankees “Believe In” Anthony Volpe Despite “Tough Stretch”
- Mind the WAR Gap
- Cardinals To Activate Nolan Arenado On Monday
- Mookie Betts May Salvage His Season Yet
- Roberts: Roki Sasaki “Open” To Pitching In Relief
- Orioles Notes: Kantrovitz, Dubin, Ragsdale, Rutschman
- Rangers Activate Adolis Garcia
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Roster moves.
It was truly one of the most video-gamish things I’ve seen in any sport.
So…what nickname should we give Wilson/Kurtz?
I knew he would get there.
