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 first baseman Nick Kurtz.

Still holding a sizable lead for American League Rookie of the Year coming out of the All-Star break in MLB.com’s most recent poll last week, Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson may have just officially been overtaken by a new favorite -- his teammate Nick Kurtz.

Nick Kurtz made baseball history on Friday night, becoming the first MLB rookie ever to hit four home runs in a single game, during the Athletics’ 15-3 win over the Houston Astros.

Kurtz is the first player in the long, storied history of the Athletics franchise to hit four homers in a game and the first rookie ever to accomplish the feat. The 2024 first-round draft pick now is the 20th player in MLB history to go deep four times in a game and the youngest by nearly three years.

Last July, Nick Kurtz was selected fourth overall by the Athletics in the 2024 MLB Draft. This July, he became the 20th player, and the first rookie, in MLB history to post a four-homer game, leading the A's to a 15-3 win over the Houston Astros on Friday.

On June 8, Wilson appeared unstoppable, hitting .372, which trailed only Aaron Judge at the time, through the first two-plus months of the season after going 2-for-4 against the Orioles. That number has been in freefall ever since.

Wilson had been the Rookie of the Year favorite for the majority of the season while threatening Yankees slugger and reigning MVP Aaron Judge to win the American League batting title. A recent slump put Wilson's average down to .311 after it had been as high as .360 on June 17.