Jaden Agassi, son of tennis legends, launches with Germany towards WBC
Jaden Agassi, son of tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, plays the qualifier of the World Baseball Classic as Germany Pitcher
Tucson, Arizona – does not surprise in the least Jaden Agassi –son of the Andre Agassi tennis legends and Steffi Graf– He had a racket in his hand since he could walk. But No one imagined What I would change All for one baseball ball.
The boy loved running and hitting the ball. The problem was that precision was not his thing.
“It was hard for me to keep the ball inside the lines,” Agassi said laughing. “I just wanted to hit her as far as I could.”
His parents enrolled him to play baseball. Some 20 years later, he is trying to leave his own mark in the world of sport.
Agassi, 23, is a release of the German team who participates in the classification matches for the World Baseball Classic this week in Tucson, Arizona. The right pitcher grew up in Las Vegas with his famous American father and his German mother before playing university baseball at the USC. It has dual nationality and speaks a bit of German.
The popularity of baseball has grown in Germany in recent decades, but manager Jendrick Speer was still looking for some roster incorporations for WBC qualifiers when he ran into AGASSI on social networks and realized his connections with the country.
“I found him because he is a good baseball player,” said Speer. “With all available technology, we found it while we investigated and discovered that he had played at the university and had the citizens. It worked very well and is a great guy. ”
Agassi grew in the Las Vegas area and was in the middle of a baseball boiler. The Metropolitan Zone has produced leading MLB players such as Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, Bryson Stott, Paul Sewald, Joey Gallo and Tyler Anderson.
Agassi said that his parents never pressed him to practice tennis, baseball or any other sport, because they did not want to repeat his childhood and adolescence, in which he was totally dedicated to tennis. Instead, he had a relatively normal education and naturally gravitated to the baseball field.
Agassi, 1.90 meters tall, has had its share of setbacks during its baseball career. He needed Tommy John surgery in his elbow after his first game in 2019, which made him miss his junior season in the high school. Then, in 2020, his team played only a handful of games before the COVID-19 suspended sports during the year.
“It was almost a disguised blessing,” said Agassi. “I had almost two years to rehabilitate my Tommy John, I returned strongly and then began my university career at the USC.”
His three seasons with the trojans were a bit irregular. He had a solid year as a second year student with a 3-2 record and an effectiveness of 4.34, but after a coach change, he retreated as a junior with an effectiveness of 9.70.
He found his place again in the MLB Draft League last summer with an effectiveness of 2.96 and 28 strikeouts in 27 1/3 tickets. Now he hopes to join a MLB organization once the qualifiers of the World Baseball Classic end. His passage through the German team-which will probably include a role in the Bullpen-is another opportunity to show its line of more than 90 miles per hour.
“I felt good to find some things that work for me,” said Agassi. “Follow a plan and improve 1% every day.”
Agassi does not care that people often ask him about his parents or why he does not play tennis. His mother won 22 Grand Slam titles while his father won eight Grand Slams and one of the first memories of the childhood of the young Agassi is to hug his father on the court after getting a great victory at the end of his career.
While none of his parents is a baseball expert, he said they both support their career in that sport and will be among the public this week while throwing for their mother’s country with the Team Deutschland in his chest.
“As a child, you don’t realize the world,” said Agassi. “It seemed completely normal. I learned a lot from them. I learned many things and it has been a blessing. ”
