A dream rookie season for Athletics<\/a> first baseman Nick Kurtz<\/strong><\/a> gained another jewel Friday night, as he became the only rookie to win a 2025 Silver Slugger Award.<\/p>\n This marks the fourth time an Athletics first baseman won the Silver Slugger Award, which was established in 1980. Kurtz joins two-time winner Mark McGwire<\/a><\/strong>, who won the 1992 and 1996 awards, and 2001 winner Jason Giambi<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The annual Silver Slugger Awards go to the best hitters at their respective positions in each league, American and National. Each on-field position, plus the designated hitter and utility positions, gets an award. Additionally, one award per league goes to the best hitting overall team.<\/p>\n Kurtz slashed .290\/.383\/.619 (122-for-420) across 117 games in 2025. He had 26 doubles, two triples, 36 homers, and 86 RBI. Notably, he had a 1.002 OPS \u2014 one of three hitters in the majors with at least 400 plate appearances to break the 1.000 OPS barrier. The others, New York Yankees<\/a> outfielder Aaron Judge<\/a><\/strong> and Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> designated hitter Shohei Ohtani<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 also won 2025 Silver Slugger Awards.<\/p>\n The capstone of Kurtz\u2019s rookie season came July 25 in Houston. On that Friday night, Kurtz went 6-for-6<\/a> with four homers, a double, 19 total bases, eight RBI, and a record-tying six runs scored. His 19 total bases tied the single-game record set by Shawn Green<\/a><\/strong> in 2002. Kurtz was the first rookie to score six times in a game. Additionally, he was the first Athletics player and first rookie to have a four-homer game. Since no one has ever hit five in a game, Kurtz tied that record as well.<\/p>\n Designated hitter Brent Rooker<\/a><\/strong> won the award in 2024, making this the second straight year the Athletics have had a Silver Slugger. Other Athletics to win the award while with the team \u2014 aside from Kurtz, Rooker, McGwire, and Giambi \u2014 are third baseman Eric Chavez<\/a><\/strong> (2002), outfielder and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson<\/a><\/strong> (1981, 1990), and outfielder Jose Canseco<\/a><\/strong> (1988, 1990, 1991).<\/p>\n Kurtz has a chance to win another award in the coming days. He and teammate Jacob Wilson<\/a><\/strong> are finalists for the BBWAA American League Rookie of the Year. This means that they had two of the three highest vote totals, along with fellow finalist Roman Anthony<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox<\/a>. The winner of this award will be announced Monday.<\/p>\nThe 2025 Season of Nick Kurtz<\/h3>\n
Past Athletics Winners<\/h3>\n
Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n
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