The Oakland Athletics season, if you can call the last-place stretch run of a rebuilding club a “season,” just got worse. All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz is likely done for the year with a thumb injury, and the timing could not be more brutal for a franchise trying to build something around him.
Kurtz was diagnosed with an acute on chronic volar plate tear of the MCP joint in his right thumb. He got a platelet-rich plasma injection on Aug. 4 and will wear a brace for at least four weeks. Manager Mark Kotsay did not sound remotely optimistic about a September return, and even if Kurtz does come back, the A’s are a fourth-place team playing out the string.
Why This Hurts More Than a Normal Injury
Because Kurtz is the whole point. The Athletics have spent the last two years tearing this thing down to the studs, trading away the franchise and packing up for a temporary home in Sacramento. The one thing that made any of this feel like a real rebuild was Nick Kurtz turning into a legitimate All-Star slugger as a rookie.
Now his rookie season ends with a brace on his hand and questions about his recovery. Volar plate tears are the kind of injuries that mess with a hitter’s grip, his top hand, and his ability to drive the baseball. Even in a best case, we do not know what Kurtz looks like at the plate when he returns in 2027.
The A’s Have Nothing Else
This is the harsh truth. The Athletics roster, without Kurtz, is a collection of prospects and journeymen. The rotation is spotty. The lineup outside of him lacks a real thumper. Losing him removes the one everyday player fans could point to and say “that’s a building block.”
Kotsay has to keep a room together for two more months while the games mean nothing. That is not easy for any manager. It is even harder when your best player is out of the lineup and the fan base is already checked out.
What Comes Next for the Franchise
Health for Kurtz. That is the only thing that matters. The A’s need him back in a batter’s box in spring training with no restrictions, ready to be the guy this whole rebuild is banking on. Thumb injuries on hitters are worth taking seriously all winter and into February.
The good news, if you squint hard, is that Kurtz’s timeline probably lines up with a full offseason of recovery. If the brace does what it needs to do and surgery gets avoided, he should be at spring training on time. But the “avoided” is doing work in that sentence, and one bad checkup between now and October changes everything.
For a franchise that has taken hit after hit, this one lands right on the chin. The Athletics were not going to make the playoffs. Everyone knew that. But watching your rookie All-Star spend the second half in a brace is the kind of thing that turns a rebuild from “just be patient” to “how much more can this fan base take?” The answer better be “not much.” The A’s need Nick Kurtz back and productive next April, or this rebuild is going to feel a lot longer than anyone in Sacramento wants to admit.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
