A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz, a Lancaster native, grew up a Phillies fan
When Bryce Harper Singled within the first inning on Tuesday in opposition to the Athletics, he spent a while chatting with Nick Kurtz at first base.
Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, grew up a Phillies fan in Lancaster and attended video games at Citizens Bank Park. The 23-year-old first baseman had round 30 family and friends members on the stadium for the collection opener on Tuesday.
When he stood subsequent to Harper at first, they talked about Kurtz’s 20-game stroll streak that ended on May 2, which was second-longest in MLB historical past. (Kurtz’s single within the ninth on Tuesday prolonged his on-base streak to 29 video games.)
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One matter that did not come up was the truth that Kurtz’s household has a cat named Harper. And the identify is just not coincidental.
According to MLB.comKurtz additionally had canine rising up named after Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Hunter Pence.
“It’s pretty cool,” Kurtz mentioned. “I got that cat probably in 2022 [or] 2023, and it’s not too long ago. But for me, I was still in college and not knowing where life was going to go. …Now he’s one of my colleagues, who is pretty awesome.”
Kurtz was drafted fourth total by the A’s in 2024 out of Wake Forest. He mentioned he did not know the breed of cat Harper, however it’s black-and-white.
According to Harper, that is the first time — that he is conscious of — that an opponent had a pet named after him. But he is used to going through gamers who grew up watching him.
“Especially the young guys, there’s been a lot of them that get over to first base, and it’s a little weird during the game, just because, [they say] ‘Man, you’re my favorite player growing up,’ or a lot of stuff like that,” Harper said. “But it’s still really cool. “I mean, I love talking to the young guys too, because obviously I want to help them in any way, or give them an ear.”
He met Kurtz final 12 months, when the Phillies have been in Sacramento, and signed a bat for him. They talked about Travis Jankowski, a former Phillie and present Texas Rangers first-base coach who can be from Lancaster.
“At first it was pretty cool, but at the same time he’s just a regular dude, like all the rest of us, and he goes through the same things that we all go through,” Kurtz mentioned. “So it’s just like talking to anyone else. Just got to get over the ‘wow’ factor.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s recreation, Kurtz had a Harper Phillies jersey hanging in his locker within the customer’s clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park. Harper signed it for Kurtz’s roommate, A’s infielder Max Muncy, who’s on the injured listing with a fractured finger and did not make the journey.
The respect between Kurtz and Harper is mutual.
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“He hits the ball extremely hard,” Harper mentioned. “Really good player. And wish him all the success, because he’s in a pretty good spot.”
Harper mentioned he makes an effort to be pleasant to younger gamers once they attain first base, if the state of affairs requires it. He did not have the chance to take action a lot earlier in his profession when he was within the outfield. Since shifting to the infield, although, he has a lot extra conversations.
On the Phillies’ current journey to Miami, he even had a few of the Marlins’ younger gamers discuss to him about their swings.
“I just want to be able to talk to them, and not big-league them,” Harper mentioned. “I don’t want to do that. When I first came up, that was kind of how it was. You get to first base, you don’t talk. … I think it’s changed and evolved a little bit.”
Extra bases
Bryson Stottwho homered on Tuesday, was out of the lineup Wednesday in opposition to A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs, whereas Edmundo Sosa drew in at second base. “There’s going to be days where Stott plays against lefties, but Sosa has been really good,” mentioned interim supervisor Don Mattingly. “To me, we got to keep everyone involved.” Brandon Marsh began in middle whereas Justin Crawford obtained the break day. … Andrew Painter (1-3, 5.28 ERA) is scheduled to start out Thursday in opposition to A’s righty JT Ginn (0-1, 4.30).
