Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz grew up a Phillies fan — and has a family cat named after Bryce Harper

When Bryce Harper singled in the first inning on Tuesday against the Athletics, he spent some time chatting with Nick Kurtz at first base.

Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, grew up a Phillies fan in Lancaster and attended games at Citizens Bank Park. The 23-year-old first baseman had around 30 friends and family members at the stadium for the series opener on Tuesday.

When he stood next to Harper at first, they talked about Kurtz’s 20-game walk streak that ended on May 2, which was second-longest in MLB history. (Kurtz’s single in the ninth on Tuesday extended his on-base streak to 29 games.)

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One topic that didn’t come up was the fact that Kurtz’s family has a cat named Harper. And the name is not coincidental.

According to MLB.com, Kurtz also had dogs growing up named after Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Hunter Pence.

“It’s pretty cool,” Kurtz said. “I got that cat probably in 2022 [or] 2023, and it’s not too long ago. But for me, I was still in college and not knowing where life was going to go. … Now he’s one of my colleagues, which is pretty awesome.”

Kurtz was drafted fourth overall by the A’s in 2024 out of Wake Forest. He said he didn’t know the breed of cat Harper, but it is black-and-white.

According to Harper, this is the first time — that he’s aware of — that an opponent had a pet named after him. But he’s used to facing players that grew up watching him.

“Especially the young guys, there’s been a lot of them that get over to first base, and it’s a little weird during the game, just because, [they say] ‘Man, you’re my favorite player growing up,’ or a lot of stuff like that,” Harper said. “But it’s still really cool. I mean, I love talking to the young guys too, because obviously I want to help them in any way, or give them an ear.”

He met Kurtz last year, when the Phillies were in Sacramento, and signed a bat for him. They talked about Travis Jankowski, a former Phillie who is also from Lancaster.

“At first it was pretty cool, but at the same time he’s just a regular dude, like all the rest of us, and he goes through the same things that we all go through,” Kurtz said. “So it’s just like talking to anyone else. Just got to get over the ‘wow’ factor.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s game, Kurtz had a Harper Phillies jersey hanging in his locker in the visitor’s clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park. Harper signed it for Kurtz’s roommate, A’s infielder Max Muncy, who is on the injured list with a fractured finger and didn’t make the trip.

The respect between Kurtz and Harper is mutual.

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“He hits the ball extremely hard,” Harper said. “Really good player. And wish him all the success, because he’s in a pretty good spot.”

Harper said he makes an effort to be friendly to young players when they reach first, if the situation calls for it. He didn’t have the opportunity to do so as much earlier in his career when he was in the outfield. Since moving to the infield, though, he has a lot more conversations.

On the Phillies’ recent trip to Miami, he even had some of the Marlins’ young players talk to him about their swings.

“I just want to be able to talk to them, and not big-league them,” Harper said. “I don’t want to do that. When I first came up, that was kind of how it was. You get to first base, you don’t talk. … I think it’s changed and evolved a little bit.”

Bryson Stott, who homered on Tuesday, was out of the lineup Wednesday against A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs, while Edmundo Sosa drew in at second base. “There’s going to be days where Stott plays against lefties, but Sosa has been really good,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “To me, we got to keep everybody involved.” Brandon Marsh started in center while Justin Crawford got the day off. … Andrew Painter (1-3, 5.28 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday against A’s righty J.T. Ginn (0-1, 4.30).

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Hunter Pence's 368-day stint with the Phillies was a study in extremes. Acquired at the trade deadline in 2011 as the missing right-handed bat for a World Series contender, he got dealt a year later by an underachieving team. And with the Phillies in full-on crisis mode this week, Pence sits down with "Phillies Extra," the Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss how quickly a team's fortunes can change. Watch here.

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