This is assuming they are not ahead of schedule over the next two seasons.
Having lost over 95 games each of the past three seasons, the Athletics have something brewing within the organization. The fitting comparison is that the core of their roster are three kids who spent the start of the year playing in minor league stadiums, were all called up while the Athletics themselves are playing in Sacramento the next three seasons. The 14,014 capacity far exceeded the team’s average attendance their final two years in Oakland.
Entering Sunday’s action, the Athletics are 45-62, 16 games out of first place in the American League West Division, and 11.5 games back in the Wild Card. This will be the third straight season missing the playoffs for the A’s, after three straight trips to the postseason from 2018-2020. The Covid-shortened 2020 campaign saw the Athletics win the division, but were bounced in the first round by the Houston Astros.
Despite being swept by the Texas Rangers earlier in the week, the A’s have series wins against the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays, and look to sweep the AL West-leading Astros on Sunday. The A’s haven’t just played the Astros tough this weekend, they’ve been downright dominant. The first three games of the series have seen the Athletics pound the Astros by a score of 25-6, none more evidence than a 15-3 mauling on Friday night.
In that game, rookie Nick Kurtz tied several major league records. Kurtz, the fourth-overall selection in the 2024 MLB Draft, was called up on April 21, after just 32 total games in with the A’s minor league clubs. Kurtz has since cemented his name as the runaway AL Rookie of the Year, engraving the final letter on the plaque Friday night.
The 23-year old Kurtz became the second player in baseball this season to hit four home runs in a game, the other being Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez on April 26. Kurtz became the first rookie to accomplish a feat only 19 others in the history of professional baseball have done before in this country. Kurtz’s 19 total bases tied the major league record set by Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2002. Kurtz also had the fewest career home runs when accomplishing this feat, having 19 coming into action.
The previous MLB record was Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox, who had 82 before hitting four in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics nonetheless, back during the 1948 season.
Kurtz also went 6-for-6 at the plate, adding a single and a double to the four homers. The double in the fourth inning hit just below the yellow line, which turned out to be fortunate. Had Kurtz homered, he would have been walked at least once, if not multiple times the rest of the way. However, had the Astros continued to keep pitching to Kurtz, we may have seen the first ever five home run game in MLB history.
The previous MLB record was Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox, who had 82 before hitting four in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics nonetheless, back during the 1948 season.
Kurtz also went 6-for-6 at the plate, adding a single and a double to the four homers. The double in the fourth inning hit just below the yellow line, which turned out to be fortunate. Had Kurtz homered, he would have been walked at least once, if not multiple times the rest of the way. However, had the Astros continued to keep pitching to Kurtz, we may have seen the first ever five home run game in MLB history.
Kurtz also became the first player in history to have six hits, six runs, and eight RBIs in a single game. Despite sitting fourth on the team with 86 strikeouts in 67 games, Kurtz is also hitting .309, and leads the Athletics with a .378 on base percentage. Unfortunately, Kurtz will not have enough at bats or games played to be among the league leaders in these categories over the final few months of the regular season.
When The Wise Guys Sports Show did our first half roundtable on Episode 116 (July 13, 2025), the name I brought up for the biggest surprise of the season was shortstop Jacob Wilson. The 23-year-old Wilson currently sits fifth in the American League with a .312 average, which is down a few dozen points after a 1-for-20 slump over the past week. Wilson has only struck out 31 times in 95 games to this point, and certainly should finish in the top 10 for league MVP voting. We all know Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees looks to be well on his way to another MVP, but even he has to know that Wilson is coming for the award, and coming fast.
When The Wise Guys Sports Show did our first half roundtable on Episode 116 (July 13, 2025), the name I brought up for the biggest surprise of the season was shortstop Jacob Wilson. The 23-year-old Wilson currently sits fifth in the American League with a .312 average, which is down a few dozen points after a 1-for-20 slump over the past week. Wilson has only struck out 31 times in 95 games to this point, and certainly should finish in the top 10 for league MVP voting. We all know Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees looks to be well on his way to another MVP, but even he has to know that Wilson is coming for the award, and coming fast.
In fact, Tyler Soderstrom is hitting .258 with 19 HRs and 60 RBIs this season. Soderstrom, like Wilson, is only 23 years old. Look at the numbers between these three…54 home runs, a .289 combined average, and 502 total bases.
Lawrence Butler is 25 and has 15 home runs playing in right field. Brent Rooker is 30 and has 21 bombs, while hitting .272. Catcher Shea Langeliers is 28, and hitting .248 with 16 home runs. There has to be something in the air for these west coast catchers to be hitting this many home runs, once you factor in that Seattle's Cal Raleigh leads all of baseball with 39 of them.
If the Athletics could develop some pitching, this should be the team to beat in the AL West by the time the move to Las Vegas is complete. The Athletics rank worst in the American League with a 5.18 ERA, and only the abysmal Colorado Rockies are worse in just about all major pitching categories.
The Rockies had their first shutout in 220 games on Wednesday, a 6-0 win over the fading St. Louis Cardinals. Then the Rockies went out and lost 18-0 on Saturday to the Baltimore Orioles, who sit dead last in the AL East.
The obligatory “Moneyball” reference will apply to the 2025 Athletics. Their 463 runs scored puts them in the middle of the pack across the league, but their 590 allowed are second-worst to the Rockies 639.
We have seen Toronto load up on young talent that can hit the cover off the ball the past 5-6 years, and now they are starting to put some distance between themselves and both the Yankees and Boston Red Sox atop the AL East. The Athletics have the bats, and now comes time to use the next two years to shore up the pitching staff before Athletics Stadium opens on the Vegas strip in three years.
-JC24
-JC24