Athletics star first baseman Nick Kurtz spent part of the team’s only day off during their week-long Las Vegas series helping area youth players hone their skills.
About 200 kids between the ages of 6 and 13 years old took part in Kurtz’s baseball youth camp, where the reigning American League Rookie of the Year and other camp coaches led the players through drills at Big League Dreams in Las Vegas.
The temperature already hit 100 by 11 a.m, but that didn’t stop any of the participants from enjoying their time as hydration breaks were encouraged.
“Let’s try to stay cool and let’s have some fun, campers,“ Kurtz said.
Kurtz and the A’s have been active in the community this week, with the team taking part in multiple sites, including the West Sahara Library, Three Square Food Bank and an area Boys & Girls Club.
Twenty-nine-year Las Vegas resident Victor Rodriguez signed up his 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter up for the camp. Seeing the A’s get out to events two years before their Southern Nevada arrival says a lot about the team’s future intentions, Rodriguez said.
“It just shows class and it shows them giving back to the community, which is great,” Rodriguez said. “It gets people more involved and maybe people that didn’t know about Kurtz or know about baseball too much.”
Kurtz has the future on the mind and has loosely began to think about where he might live once the team relocates to Las Vegas following the 2027 MLB season.
“I haven’t looked like in detail, but probably the Summerlin area or Henderson area,” Kurtz told the Review-Journal.
Kurtz said this offseason he plans to focus more on finding a house in Las Vegas when he doesn’t have to worry about the daily grind of the season.
“I’ve really only spent time in the Summerlin area just from being here for three or four weeks,” he said. “Love the area, especially the area around (Las Vegas Ballpark). It’s beautiful.
“Not a big city, Strip kind of guy. I kind of want to be just off of it so it’s accessible if I want to go, but that’s all I see in Vegas. There’s a lot more to it than that.”
The A’s will continue their Las Vegas homestand Friday, with a three-game series against the Rockies.
Kurtz has started the season strong, building off his rookie season by winning May’s American League Player of the Month.
Seeing Kurtz excel at a young age has teammate and catcher Shea Langeliers happy he’s on the right side of the plate with him.
“Somebody his age doing what he’s doing; unbelievably rare,” Langeliers said. “It’s been really cool.
“Obviously, we’re really lucky to be his teammate and not call the pitches against him.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
