Athletics' Nick Kurtz is already better than Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper per ESPN

The Athletics have some of the more exciting young position players in all of Major League Baseball. Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom have already emerged as stars. Lawrence Butler, Leo De Vries, and Shea Langeliers are also great.

But the best player already, by a wide margin, is first baseman Nick Kurtz. "Big Amish" was a massive breakout player in 2025, putting up a strong 5.4 bWAR in 117 games with a ridiculous 36 homers in an abbreviated debut season in MLB.

After such a breakout year, his standing among all first basemen in 2026 will be interesting. And for ESPN's Buster Olney, Kurtz comes into 2026 as a better-ranked player than Freddie Freeman and Bryce Harper.

Nick Kurtz ranked higher than Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman in 2026 ESPN 1B rankings

Kurtz comes in on ESPN's top-10 position rankings at third overall, behind only Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson.

He's ahead of Freeman (5th) and Harper (6th) in the 2026 MLB first baseman rankings from ESPN. It's his second season in the Major Leagues, and Kurtz is already ranked this high. As Olney writes, "Kurtz has a special set of skills."

This past season, Kurtz had a slash line of .290/.383/.619, which means Kurtz had a stunning 1.009 OPS in his first MLB season.

In 117 games, Kurtz had 122 hits, 90 runs scored, 26 doubles, two triples, 36 homers, 86 RBIs, two stolen bases, 63 walks, and a 173 OPS+.

Not many debut seasons are better than what Kurtz did for the A's in 2025. He was the AL Rookie of the Year and also the AL Silver Slugger among first basemen.

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He's only 22 years old, and he was drafted in the first round (4th overall) by the Athletics in 2024. Kurtz has not played professional baseball for more than two full years yet, and he's already being ranked as one of the best at his position.

While this isn't a career-long ranking, and only for 2026, seeing Kurtz ahead of both Harper and Freeman, along with sluggers like Pete Alonso, Rafael Devers, Josh Naylor, and many others, it's an impressive feat for Kurtz heading into year two.

If he can back up the hype in 2026 and put up another strong season, not only would he prove this ranking right, but he could also challenge Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. for the AL MVP.

Kurtz has superstar potential, and he's already shown he can play at such a level in his career during his rookie season. Kurtz is special, and those around MLB love him already.

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