Nick Kurtz #18

Selected in the first round (No. 4 overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics out of Wake Forest... signed with the A's on July 22, 2024 and received a $7 million signing bonus... batted .306 with 22 home runs, 57 RBIs and 78 walks for Wake Forest in 2024 while also earning First Team All-ACC honors... was ranked by MLB as the No. 7 prospect in the 2024 Draft class... Wake Forest originally recruited Kurtz as a left-handed pitcher, but over the course of winning consecutive Tennessee Division II 2-A state baseball championships at Baylor School (Chattanooga), he emerged as a superior prospect as a hitter -- after batting .344/.498/.695 with 39 homers in his first two college seasons, he entered 2024 as a candidate to go first in the Draft... missed two weeks with a shoulder injury but then went on a rampage shortly after he returned and homered 14 times in nine games, including six blasts in seven at-bats... topped NCAA Division I with 78 walks in 2024