Latest news with #homeRuns
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Cal Raleigh passes Aaron Judge as AL MVP favorite
July 28 - Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has taken over as the American League MVP favorite with his closest rival, Aaron Judge, heading to the injured list. Raleigh hit home runs in consecutive games over the weekend to extend his major league lead to 41. It is already seven more than his career high, and Raleigh has tied Todd Hundley (1996) for the most home runs in a season by a switch-hitting catcher. Judge has led the MVP race most of the season, but the New York Yankees slugger will miss an undetermined amount of time due to a flexor strain. The two-time AL MVP currently paces the majors in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.711). However, Raleigh has now passed Judge for the AL RBI lead, 86 to 85, and is only one behind Arizona's Eugenio Suarez for the major league lead. Raleigh is now the -130 AL MVP favorite at DraftKings and is -135 at BetMGM. Judge has the second shortest odds at +100 of +105, respectively. It's still a two-player race, with the third-shortest odds belonging to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal at +4000 at both books. BetMGM reported that Raleigh is now the book's biggest liability in the AL MVP market, having been backed by the most total money wagered at 28.6 percent. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. leads with the most total bets placed at 19.6 percent but is currently a +8000 longshot. The gap between Raleigh and Judge could continue to widen depending on how long the Yankees star is sidelined. Judge experienced discomfort, wincing on a throw during New York's three-game series in Toronto last week. He was in more discomfort Friday and the Yankees sent him for tests that revealed only the strain and no damage to the ulnar collateral ligament. "All in all, we got good news," manager Aaron Boone said. "I think all of us feared the worst." Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani remains the prohibitive NL favorite at -2000 at both books. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 MLB betting: Nick Kurtz now a massive favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year
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 rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz. This is coming off a week where the 22-year-old Kurtz was named the AL Player of the Week. The betting market has taken notice as well. Kurtz opened up far down the odds board to win American League Rookie of the Year at BetMGM with 80-1 odds. New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez opened as the favorite at +600. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Kurtz, as Yahoo's Jordan Shusterman detailed in this article, as he went through and 0-for-21 skid in May before breaking out and becoming the best hitter in baseball in July. On June 14, Kurtz was down to 14-1 odds (tied for the second-best odds), but still a massive underdog to his Athletics teammate Jacob Wilson, who was -1000 to win the AL ROY. That equates to roughly a 90.9% chance to win the award. Even five days ago on July 21, Wilson was the +100 favorite at BetMGM and Kurtz was second at +160. Wilson had second-most wagers (11%, behind the Royals' Jac Caglionone) and by far the most money of any player at 33%. Wilson also represented the sportsbook's biggest liability on the award. But after Friday night's offensive explosion, Kurtz became the odds-on favorite for the first time all season and now has -2000 odds to win, an implied probability of 95% to win the award. It's an astonishing baseball — and betting — story, and one we'll be sure to follow throughout the rest of the season.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Athletics' Nick Kurtz Becomes First MLB Rookie to Hit 4 Home Runs in a Game
Nick Kurtz of the Athletics became the first rookie in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game, going deep in the second, sixth, eighth and ninth innings at Houston on Friday night. Kurtz also singled and doubled for 19 total bases on a 6-for-6 night, becoming the second player to have four homers and six hits in a game. The other was Shawn Green for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee. Kurtz drove in eight runs and scored six as the Athletics beat the Astros, 15-3. The 6-foot-5, 23-year-old slugger has 23 homers in 66 games this season. The fourth overall pick in last year's amateur draft out of Wake Forest, he made his major league debut on April 23 and hit his first homer on May 13. On Friday, Kurtz homered off each of the Astros' four pitchers: Ryan Gusto, Nick Hernandez, Kaleb Ort and Cooper Hummel. His longest drive was his third, a 414-foot solo shot off Ort in the eighth. For his fourth homer, he hit an opposite-field line drive against Hummel to the Crawford boxes in left field. The three-run shot made it 15-2. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why is Nick Kurtz called Big Amish? Meet the Athletics rookie who made MLB history
Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz made history on Friday night as the first rookie to ever hit four home runs in an MLB game. If you haven't already heard about Kurtz, you're probably going to hear about him sooner rather than later. Kurtz set the baseball world aflame after going 6-for-6 with four home runs against the Astros. No other rookie in MLB history has ever accomplished such a feat. Kurtz finished the game with 6 total hits, 8 runs batted in, and 19 total bases. It was an absolutely unreal performance from the slugger, who is quickly making his mark as one of the biggest rising stars in the sport. When you hear fans talk about Kurtz, who as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, you might hear them refer to him by his nickname. Kurtz is sometimes called Big Amish. But it's not necessarily because of why you think. It's because he is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania which has a large Amish population. So he has a celebration that matches the vibe of his nickname (via Nick Kurtz has jokingly and affectionately been given the nickname of "Big Amish" by his Athletics teammates. As a result, his celebration after a double or home run is unique from every other player on the team, as he 'churns Amish butter' by twirling his hands in a circular motion. Something tells us we're going to see Kurtz churning a lot more butter during his baseball career. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why is Nick Kurtz called Big Amish? Meet the Athletics rookie who made MLB history
CBC
5 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Nick Kurtz of Athletics becomes 1st MLB rookie to hit 4 home runs in a game
Nick Kurtz of the Athletics became the first rookie in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game and matched the MLB record with 19 total bases against the Astros on Friday night in Houston. Kurtz went deep in the second, sixth, eighth and ninth innings. He also doubled and singled on his 6-for-6 night to equal Shawn Green, who had four homers, six hits and 19 total bases for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee. "It's hard to think about this day being kind of real, it still feels like a dream," Kurtz said in a postgame television interview. "So it's pretty remarkable. I'm kind of speechless. Don't really know what to say." It was the 20th four-homer game in major league history and second this season. Arizona's Eugenio Suarez did it on April 26 against Atlanta. Kurtz and Green are the only players with six hits in a four-homer game. Kurtz finished with eight RBIs and six runs scored as the Athletics beat the Astros 15-3. The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old slugger has 23 homers in 66 games this season. The fourth overall pick in last year's amateur draft out of Wake Forest, he made his major league debut on April 23 and hit his first homer on May 13. He is the youngest player with a four-homer game. Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox was 25 when he homered four times on July 18, 1948. On Friday, Kurtz homered off each of the Astros' four pitchers: Ryan Gusto, Nick Hernandez, Kaleb Ort and outfielder Cooper Hummel, who worked the ninth with the game out of hand. His longest drive was his third, a 414-foot solo shot off Ort in the eighth. For his fourth homer, he hit an opposite-field line drive to the Crawford boxes in left field on a 77 mph, 2-0 pitch from Hummel. The three-run shot made it 15-2. Kurtz has been the best hitter in the majors in July, ranking first in batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (1.082), runs (22), doubles (13), homers (11) and RBIs (27).
