Nick

Kurtz

It appears to be a matchup-specific wrinkle with Langeliers moving up to the leadoff spot to face Rangers southpaw MacKenzie Gore. Nick Kurtz moves into the second spot in the order with Colby Thomas hitting third and Tyler Soderstrom in the cleanup spot. Lefty Carlos Cortes retreats to the bench following Friday’s two-homer effort.

Kurtz walloped a 115.9 mph leadoff homer against Rangers veteran Nathan Eovaldi for a leadoff homer, his second straight contest with a round-tripper, as part of another multi-hit effort. The 23-year-old slugger has gone deep in three of his last four contests and appears to be rounding back into his previously elite form following an excruciatingly slow start to the year. He leads the majors with 28 walks through 25 games.

438 feet on the Kurtz homer. It was just the second 400-foot flyball Muñoz had given up since the beginning of last year. Kurtz hit that ball 110.6 mph and also had a 106.2 mph single. He’s still batting just .241 on the season, but he leads the majors with an average exit velocity of 98.8 mph. Oneil Cruz is second at 97.5 mph.

Kurtz smacked one of three homers for the A’s in the sixth inning to get the club within a run, and Shea Langeliers tied the game a batter later. Kurtz got off to an atrocious start — at least by his lofty standards created by his incredible rookie season — but now has three homers and an .807 OPS on the campaign. He’s going to be just fine, and he’s going to be just fine for a long time.

Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil each led off for the Athletics over their last four games. The surface-level stats remain underwhelming, but Kurtz has recorded an elite 98.7 mph average exit velocity and 17.9 percent barrel rate this season, per Statcast. It feels like only a matter of time before the reigning AL Rookie of the Year gets things going after hitting .225/.421/.352 with two homers, nine RBI and two steals through 21 games.

A popout in the first inning would be the only out Kurtz recorded on Saturday. He drew a walk in the third, knocked a base hit in the fifth, then slugged a two-run homer off Jordan Leasure in the seventh. Kurtz was intentionally walked two more times before the game was done. The 23-year-old slugger is hitting .235/.429/.368 with two homers and nine RBI across 91 plate appearances.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay decided to shake up his lineup card on Thursday by moving McNeil to the top of the order with Nick Kurtz hitting third behind red-hot Shea Langeliers. The 34-year-old veteran has gone 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles during that span and is probably going to continue leading off against right-handed starters with Lawrence Butler going to the bottom of the order.

Lawrence Butler has been dropped to eighth in the order after leading off four of their last six games. Kurtz has been mired in an unexpected slump at the dish this season, hitting .200/.380/.291 with eight runs scored, two homers, three RBI and two steals through 16 games. The fact that he’s struck out in nearly 40 percent of his 71 plate appearances is a big concern but he’s still getting on-base at a near-elite rate.

Kurtz’s homer was a 106.5-mph drive to right off Freddy Peralta. It was strictly a three-true-outcomes day for the 23-year-old, as he also walked and struck out twice. He’s walked (14 times) or struck out (24 times) in 59 percent of his 63 plate appearances this season.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay has decided to shake up his lineup card for this series with Butler leading off in back-to-back contests with an ice-cold Nick Kurtz hitting second. The move is an obvious plus for Butler, if it sticks, since it would lead to additional stolen base chances and opportunities to score more runs than being marooned at the bottom of the order. The 25-year-old power/speed combo threat is hitting .189 (7-for-37) with one homer, four RBI and one steal through 12 games. Hopefully this decision helps get both Butler and Kurtz going in the right direction.