A’s roster moves: Nick Kurtz promoted, Max Muncy optioned, bullpen shuffling

And another move in the bullpen department

The A’s made a not-so-secret roster move on Wednesday afternoon before their game against the Rangers, officially promoting top prospect Nick Kurtz to the major league roster for the first time:

The promotion isn’t surprising as beat writer Martin Gallegos broke the news on Monday afternoon. The team had Kurtz with the club yesterday to get acclimated to his new (and hopefully permanent) surroundings and get to know his new teammates better. Kurtz is now all set to make his debut tonight against Rangers rookie right-hander and fellow 1st-round pick Kumar Rocker. He’ll likely play first base tonight as Tyler Soderstrom slides over to left field to make room for his new teammate. Kurtz will wear #16, the same number former A’s great Jason Giambi wore.

Making room for Kurtz, the Athletics decided to option second baseman Max Muncy. The former 1st-rounder made the Opening Day roster and got plenty of playing time at the keystone after regular second baseman Zack Gelof went down with a broken wrist. Muncy got off to a terrible start and hasn’t recovered, hitting just .117/.211/.279 with one home run and no stolen bases. He’ll now return to Triple-A and continue to develop after likely being rushed a bit to the major league roster.

The team also made a couple swap outs in the bullpen. Veteran reliever Jose Leclerc will land on the IL after experiencing obvious shoulder pain in last night’s outing. It was expected that Leclerc would miss time after a reaction like that and the move will now afford him some time off. The former Ranger has a 6.00 ERA in nine innings with his new team. Hopefully this rest allows him to reset and restart his season.

Taking Leclerc’s place in the bullpen will be fellow right-hander Grant Holman. The 24-year old reliever made it to the big leagues last year after rocketing up through the system. He’s gotten off to a great start in Triple-A so far here in 2025, pitching in eight games for the Aviators without allowing a single run and collecting four saves. He’ll hope to keep that going in his second go-around with the big league squad.

That’s not all the shuffling in the bullpen. Left-hander Jacob Lopez was optioned to Triple-A after pitching 1 ²⁄₃ innings last night while throwing 41 pitches. The lefty has had a good start to his time with the A’s, making it into three games and pitching 4 ¹⁄₃ innings without allowing a run. Based off those numbers we should be expecting to see Lopez back with the big league team soon enough. He’s just hurt by the fact that he threw so many pitches last night and will be unavailable for a few days.

Taking his spot in the ‘pen will be fellow lefty Hogan Harris. The 28-year old Harris has already made his season debut with the A’s after making it into one game earlier this year. He’s spent most of the year in Triple-A where things have not been going smoothly. The former starting pitcher has allowed six runs in just 9 ¹⁄₃ innings for the Aviators, good for a 4.82 ERA. He’ll take Lopez’s spot in the bullpen for the time being as a lefty capable of going multiple innings.