Slugging 1B Nick Kurtz looks to build on AL Rookie of the Year award in 2nd season with Athletics

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Aside from towering over most of his Athletics teammates at 6-foot-5, Nick Kurtz blends in at his locker in the middle of the clubhouse — and that’s just the way he prefers it.

Even now with the extra fanfare and attention on him this spring as reigning AL Rookie of the Year at just 22. Kurtz stuck with his usual offseason routine of returning home to North Carolina, where he likes to “chill,” play video games and watch movies when he’s not busy training.

“First of all, I’m excited for Year 2. I kind of know what to expect and what it’s like to play in the big leagues,” Kurtz said Sunday before his first Cactus League game, against Cleveland. “Am I embracing the spotlight? Not so much. I’m a guy who likes to be out there, but obviously there’s a lot more eyes, a lot more expectations, which I’m all about. I use that as our team, we have higher expectations of ourselves and what we think that we can do, so it’s a good thing.”

A’s manager Mark Kotsay will consider Kurtz for the leadoff spot — where he was hitting Sunday and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his team’s 6-0 l...