Nick Kurtz continues to add to his growing resume in his sophomore season with the Athletics.
Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that Kurtz has been named the American League Player of the Month for May.
Kurtz slashed .333/.456/.569 with a 1.025 OPS during the month. He also hit five home runs and drove in 26 runs.
This marks the second time Kurtz has won the award in his young career. He also earned the honor in July of last season during his unanimous AL Rookie of the Year campaign.
That year, Kurtz hit .290/.383/.619 with 36 home runs and a 1.002 OPS.
There were concerns that Kurtz could suffer a sophomore slump after a slow start. On April 15, he was hitting below .200.
Since then, Kurtz has completely turned his season around. He is now slashing .289/.440/.512 with 11 home runs, 42 RBI, and a .952 OPS.
In fact, since making his debut in April of last season, The Big Amish has taken baseball by storm.
Over the last calendar year, Kurtz ranks tied for sixth in batting average (.298), first in on-base percentage (.418), first in slugging percentage (.603), first in wRC+ (178), eighth in home runs (41), and third in RBI (112).
And since the calendar's flipped to June, Kurtz has shown no signs of slowing down. In Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs, he launched his 11th home run of the season. It was his third homer in his last four games.
That production has helped put Kurtz firmly in the American League MVP conversation.
Aaron Judge remains the favorite, but injuries and a slower-than-usual season have opened the door for challengers.
Kurtz is firmly in the mix alongside Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Bobby Witt Jr., and Ben Rice. All five players have legitimate cases at this point in the season.
More importantly, Kurtz has helped turn the Athletics from an afterthought into a contender. The Athletics sit just a half-game out of the final American League Wild Card spot after spending time atop the AL West earlier this season.
If The Big Amish can maintain his current pace, he may not only win MVP but help send the Athletics to their first playoff appearance since 2020.
