Athletics Rookie Nick Kurtz Makes Franchise History With Multi-Home Run Performance

Bright spots have been hard to come by during the Athletics' ongoing losing streak, which reached seven games Wednesday night.

But in their latest defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels, the A's at least got some production out of their most-hyped young bat.

First baseman Nick Kurtz, still ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Athletics' farm system and the No. 14 prospect in baseball, had hit just one home run through his first 23 games in the big leagues. He hit one Tuesday, then doubled his total Wednesday.

Kurtz went 2-for-5, blasting bombs in the fifth and seventh innings. Nobody was on base for either of his homers, though, which is all the more frustrating considering he struck out with the bases loaded in the first. The A's went on to lose 10-5.

Still, Kurtz has added 25 points to his batting average and 137 points to his OPS in the last two days alone. The 22-year-old's showing on Wednesday also helped him make some pretty impressive franchise history.

According to Underdog Fantasy's Justin Havens, Kurtz is the Athletics' youngest player to record a multi-home run game since Ben Grieve had one on June 16, 1998. Grieve was just 28 days younger then than Kurtz is now.

Grieve went on to make an All-Star appearance and win AL Rookie of the Year that season.