Chris Welsh told listeners to hold or re-add Nick Kurtz rather than cling to Jordan Lawlar. Kurtz is batting .280 with his first big-league homer and, in Welsh’s words, the “profile looks good.” Lawlar, meanwhile, is stuck in a platoon that limits him to sporadic at-bats, and Welsh does not expect significant playing-time growth unless Ketel Marte lands on the IL—something Arizona says is unlikely after the second baseman merely reported general soreness. Because Lawlar’s upside is currently theoretical while Kurtz is producing every day, Welsh advised reversing any recent Lawlar-for-Kurtz swap and treating Kurtz as the superior season-long stash in 12-team formats.

Eric Lindquist said he is throwing a 0.1-unit dart on nine-hole slugger Nick Kurtz to hit a home run at +1200. Lindquist admitted the price is "a little wide" but argued the market is still underrating Kurtz’s raw power because he bats at the bottom of Oakland’s order. In Lindquist’s words, Kurtz "just absolutely murders baseball," and moving to spacious Oakland Coliseum has not muted his elite exit velocities. With the Athletics unlikely to draw much public action, Lindquist feels sportsbooks left the prop mispriced and views the plus-money as an exploitable ceiling play on a day when few other home-run spots stand out to him.

Joe Pisapia said it is perfectly reasonable to drop Nick Kurtz in 10-team formats after another 0-for-3 with a ninth-inning pinch-hitter. Kurtz owns a 39 % strike-out rate through his first two weeks, and the upcoming stretch (@Dodgers, @Giants, vs Angels, vs Phillies) does him no favors. Even though the rookie still sports a .269 average, Pisapia expects pitchers to keep exploiting his whiff problems with breaking and off-speed stuff. He added that Oakland could send Kurtz back down by Memorial Day if the punch-outs do not correct, so redraft managers protecting batting-average or OBP categories should move on unless they play in 12-plus-team leagues where upside bats are scarce.

Using THE BAT X model, Derek Carty flagged Nick Kurtz OVER 0.5 home runs at +800 as Monday’s highest expected-value long-shot. The projection gives a 13% chance (fair odds +669) thanks largely to the day’s warmest forecast—82°—which historically inflates HR rates. With elevated temperature reducing air density and aiding carry, Carty’s model pegs the prop at +$16.91 EV per $100 staked.

B Wade played Nick Kurtz TO RECORD A SINGLE. Kurtz has logged at least one base knock in eight of nine games this year, and every one of those hits has been a single. He’s on a seven-game single streak, making the plus-money line attractive even though a generic ‘hit’ prop would be safer but pay less. Wade is betting the trend continues against middling pitching.

Jim Turvey said he would only get involved with Nick Kurtz for AL Rookie of the Year if a stray 25-1 or longer number appears. Projection models at Action keep flagging Kurtz unders, which Turvey reads as the market’s respect for his underlying batted-ball data even though the first-baseman is just 7-for-27 with 14 strikeouts and zero walks through eight MLB games. Oakland’s home park heats up in the summer, a factor Jim believes could unlock Kurtz’s 70-grade raw power once the weather warms. Still, with every major book sitting 12-to-13-1, he is passing for now but will pounce if public skepticism pushes the A’s rookie back into the mid-20s. Turvey framed it as a strict price-sensitive play: talent is real, but the current number overstates it.

Johnny Venezia told listeners not to abandon Nick Kurtz even though the rookie first baseman is just 4-for-16 with no homers, three RBI, and a .485 OPS through five MLB games. Kurtz crushed seven homers at Triple-A to force his call-up, and Venezia noted he handled left-handed pitching well in college and the minors despite Oakland curiously sitting him versus southpaws last week. The analyst expects the usual adjustment period—from college and Triple-A velocity to big-league sequencing—but believes Kurtz’s elite strike-zone awareness and on-base skills will surface with more reps. With Yahoo roster percentage already slipping, Venezia recommended holding or scooping him off waivers, projecting the slugger as a legitimate AL award contender by 2025.