Update on the Status of A's Top Prospect, Nick Kurtz

With Athletics first baseman Nick Kurz landing on the injured list on Tuesday, the next question is how long he'll be out. The slugging first baseman was really starting to find his groove at the plate, going 7-for-17 (.412) over his past five games, including four home runs. He'd also walked as many times as he'd struck out in that span, with five of each.

In that brief stretch, he'd gone from batting .208 with a .259 OBP to batting .245 with a .315, a huge improvement. He was getting more comfortable, stroking the ball the other way with authority, and clobbering baseballs.

In the tenth inning of Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Kurtz raced to third on a base hit from CJ Alexander, and as he approached the bag he began to hold his left hip. He was lifted from the game immediately and kept out of Sunday's lineup. The hope was that he may be able to return soon enough that an IL stint wouldn't be necessary.

On Tuesday, after the day off on Sunday and the team off-day on Monday, Kurtz was placed on the IL. A's manager Mark Kotsay spoke with reporters in Houston before last night's 11-1 blowout loss to the Astros about his status moving forward.

"We’re hoping that it’s not a long timetable. We got him evaluated, took [Monday] to further that evaluation and just didn’t feel like he would be able to get back within the 10-day time frame. But there’s hope and thought that it could be a shorter stint than a longer one."

The mention that this could potentially be a longer stint isn't the best news for the Athletics, who have dropped 12 of their last 13 games, with Kurtz beginning to provide a surge for the offense. Still, the hope is that it will be a shorter stint. We just don't know for certain what kind of timeframe we're looking at just yet.

The A's have been dealing with injuries this season, largely on the pitching side of things, but missing Kurtz is one of those guys that they really can't afford to be without for too long if they hope to reach their goal of going .500 this season and potentially contending for a postseason berth.

This club is built around offense, with the A's bats ranking No. 7 in MLB in wRC+ with a 110 (100 is league average). They're also the fourth-best offense in the American League by this metric.

With Kurtz out, Kotsay said he believes Soderstrom will continue to roam left field, since he's looked pretty good out there, which will open up first base for switch-hitting Logan Davidson and left-hander CJ Alexander for the time being.

In left field, Soderstrom has graded out as league average, posting 0 Outs Above Average. While that may seem like a bad stat, only eight left fielders have accrued +1 or more OAA, while nearly 30 players have put up -1 or worse. So Soderstrom's league average defense actually makes him a top-10 defensive left fielder by the numbers.