Growing up in the Las Vegas area, Agassi was right in the middle of a baseball hotbed. The metro has produced recent MLB standouts like Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, Bryson Stott, Paul Sewald, Joey Gallo and Tyler Anderson.
Agassi said his parents never pushed him into tennis, baseball or any other sport because they didn’t want to repeat their childhood and teenage years, which were totally consumed by tennis. Instead, he had a relatively normal upbringing and naturally gravitated toward the baseball diamond.
The lanky 6-foot-3 Agassi has had his share of setbacks during his baseball career. He needed Tommy John elbow surgery after his first game in 2019, which caused him to miss his junior season in high school. Then in 2020, his team played just a handful of games before COVID-19 shut down sports for the year.
“It almost worked as a blessing in disguise,” Agassi said. “I got almost two years to rehab my Tommy John, came back strong and then started my college career at USC.”
His three seasons with the Trojans were a little up-and-down. He had a solid year as a sophomore with a 3-2 record and a 4.34 ERA, but after a coaching change, he regressed as a junior with a 9.70 ERA.