Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

A’s rookie delivered the Bat Flip of the Year after walking off Astros

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Renzo Pocholo Salao | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 9:30 AM ET

Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz made his dreams come true Monday night against the Houston Astros.

Every baseball player dreams of making the big leagues and hitting a walk-off home run against a high-caliber pitcher. The rookie did that and more to get his team a 3-1 win over the Astros at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Calif.

The two teams were tied 1-1 as Kurtz stepped up to the plate with a man on first and no outs against standout Astros reliever Bryan Abreu. After getting the count in his favor 2-1, Kurtz clobbered a meatball slider 447 feet into right field. His lumber may have flown even farther than that as he gave fans a bat flip for the ages.

This is how you bat flip. pic.twitter.com/dJMoNIkT2X
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 17, 2025

Here’s another angle of Kurtz’ epic bat flip.

We need to talk about the bat flip pic.twitter.com/uFQ2yMdkeB
— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 17, 2025

Abreu entered the game with a stellar 1.45 ERA and just one home run allowed across 31.0 innings. Kurtz doubled that home run tally with just one swing of his bat.

Earlier this season, announcers were warned about Kurtz for reasons that had nothing to do with baseball. Opposing relief pitchers may now also need to be warned that Kurtz will throw the meanest bat flip if you make a mistake against him.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: