Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz continues to impress at the plate, making a big push in the American League Rookie of the Year race.

Still holding a sizable lead for American League Rookie of the Year coming out of the All-Star break in MLB.com’s most recent poll last week, Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson may have just officially been overtaken by a new favorite -- his teammate Nick Kurtz.

Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz pulled off one of the rarest feats in baseball Friday night in Houston when he hit four home runs in a single game, becoming just the 20th player in MLB history to do so. He is the second player this season to accomplish such a feat,

Kurtz is the first player in the long, storied history of the Athletics franchise to hit four homers in a game and the first rookie ever to accomplish the feat. The 2024 first-round draft pick now is the 20th player in MLB history to go deep four times in a game and the youngest by nearly three years.

Nick Kurtz already had three homers and five hits with his parents and godparents in attendance as he began his final at-bat with a chance to make history, but none of that was top of mind for the Athletics' astonishing rookie slugger.

Coming off of a historic game on Friday night in which he became the first Major League Baseball rookie to hit four home runs, the general public has been introduced to Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz. This is following the 22-year-old Kurtz being named the AL Player of the Week. The betting market has taken notice as well.

On June 8, Wilson appeared unstoppable, hitting .372, which trailed only Aaron Judge at the time, through the first two-plus months of the season after going 2-for-4 against the Orioles. That number has been in freefall ever since.

Nick Kurtz became the first rookie in MLB history to hit four homers in a game, going deep multiple times vs. Houston on Friday.

Last July, Nick Kurtz was selected fourth overall by the Athletics in the 2024 MLB Draft. This July, he became the 20th player, and the first rookie, in MLB history to post a four-homer game, leading the A's to a 15-3 win over the Houston Astros on Friday.