Athletics fans may have seen the last of Big Amish this season.
2026 All-Star Nick Kurtz has missed the Athletics’ last 10 games with a lingering thumb injury. A’s manager Mark Kotsay shared an update on his status before the team’s Tuesday tilt against the Tampa Bay Rays.
According to Kotsay, Kurtz is expected to be in a brace for the next four weeks after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection on Aug. 4. Kotsay emphasized that Kurtz would have little to no mobility throughout that stretch, shrinking the window for Kurtz to return this season.
The Athletics could be entering their final couple of weeks of the regular season when Kurtz finally sheds the brace, giving him barely enough time to get back into game shape for an end-of-season comeback.
With the Athletics entering Tuesday with a 47-72 record, there is unlikely to be a playoff push that would incentivize Kurtz to rush his recovery.
Kurtz has been one of the few bright spots for the A’s in what has otherwise been a dreary 2026 campaign.
The 6’5″ first baseman is batting .256 with 21 home runs (2nd on the team), 69 RBIs (1st), and 79 walks (1st) through 99 games this season. The man with one of the best nickname origin stories in baseball has an .859 OPS that ranks first among all qualified Athletics batters.
Kurtz also had one of the greatest single-game performances at the plate ever in July, going 6-for-6 with 4 home runs in a win over the Houston Astros.
