It’s not that Alex Kirilloff and his family flipped their house in Plum. But it did turn into a veritable testing center this past winter and fall.
Kirilloff’s home was a must stop for representatives from Major League Baseball teams.
“I’d say two or three came a week. Sometimes even five,” said Kirilloff. “I think just about every team was in. Psychological tests. Eye tests. Personality tests. I took them all.”
When reps or scouts from major league teams come to a high school player’s house or school for tests in the offseason, you know they are serious about a player. The reason they came to see Kirilloff is because he is being projected as a possible first-round pick in the June baseball draft.
Seriously.
It’s not often a WPIAL player is selected in the first round out of high school. Since the MLB draft started in 1965, only four WPIAL players have gone in the first round from high school. The most recent was Pine-Richland’s Neil Walker in 2004. Kirilloff could be one for the thumb.
High school baseball in Pennsylvania begins today, and one 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior at Plum High School is certainly one to watch. Kirilloff is a well-spoken 18-year-old, a deeply religious teenager who also is an excellent student with a 3.7 grade point average. In baseball, he has a few abilities that scouts love. He is a left-handed hitter (and thrower) with power. He won a home run derby at a national showcase last summer, hitting 12 home runs in three minutes — at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.
Kirilloff can pitch and play first base and the outfield, although he is being projected as an outfielder. On top of his power, Kirilloff also is extremely athletic. He ran the 60-yard dash in 6.59 seconds at an event last summer.
“That’s flying,” said John Manuel, editor-in-chief of Baseball America.
Baseball America picked a preseason high school baseball All-American team of 13 players, including only eight position players. Kirilloff made it.
“That team is voted on by major league scouting directors and their staffs,” said Manuel. “His bat is what got him on there. From talking to scouting directors, there is a high level of confidence in his hitting ability, and he’s done it against good competition.”
As of a few weeks ago, Baseball America rated Kirilloff as the No. 27 draft prospect, including college players. Prep Baseball Report ranks him the No. 6 high school player in the country.
“We’ve had scouts come in here and amazingly just watch him jump rope, work out or see how he interacts with other players,” said Plum coach Carl Vollmer.
Teams might be investing a few million dollars in Kirilloff if he is taken in the first or even second round. Vollmer moved the starting time of Plum’s home games back a half hour to 4:30 because so many scouts want to watch Kirilloff take batting practice. Kirilloff also has an adviser with the Ballengee Group, a sports-agency company based in Dallas.
“I don’t even know what Neil Walker went through exactly when he was drafted. I’m sure it was insane,” said Vollmer. “But I wonder if things have been amped up even more now. The thing I want to say is not only is Alex a special talent, but a special kid. It’s really hard to put into words the positive impact he has on our team, just as a person and a teammate.”
A year ago, Kirilloff made the Post-Gazette 10-player All-Area team after he hit .500 with 9 doubles, 6 home runs and 29 RBIs. He also was 5-1 as a pitcher with a 1.55 ERA.
But Kirilloff opened scouts’ eyes with his play — and power — not in high school games but in national competitions or showcases. Over a two-month period last summer, he played in tournaments, all-star games or participated in showcases in Ohio, Florida twice, North Carolina, Georgia and California.
Kirilloff will tell you he owes much of his talent and attitude to his father, Dave, who owns Baseball 19 University, a training facility in the Pittsburgh Mills Mall.
“We get in our heated arguments over baseball,” Kirilloff said, with a laugh. “But I wouldn’t be where I am today with him or without God showing him the knowledge he has given to me.”
Baseball America’s Manuel said many major league teams might already have made their minds up on where Kirilloff should be drafted. If things don’t work out with the draft, Kirilloff will play college baseball at Liberty University, a Division I school in Virginia.
But Kirilloff says his biggest goal now is helping Plum win. The Mustangs are the Post-Gazette’s preseason No. 1 WPIAL Class AAAA team.
“I’m trying to enjoy every bit of this [draft process],” said Kirilloff. “Some of it can be redundant, but you can’t take it for granted. … It’s nice in theory to be a first-round pick. But my goal is to play the best I can. If that takes me to the first round or if it falls me to the second or 40th, all I can do is my best and make good decisions.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1975 and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.
First Published: March 24, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
