Latest news with #DaxKilby
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Yankees are gushing over Dax Kilby, their top MLB Draft pick: ‘We were holding our breath'
The New York Yankees did extensive research on shortstop Dax Kilby, their 18-year-old top pick in the MLB Draft. They had eight amateur scouts see the Newnan, Ga., native play. He met with staff from the Yankees' performance science and mental conditioning departments. He visited their player development facility in Tampa, Fla. The Yankees also met with his family. Advertisement 'That's how a guy like this is our guy,' said Damon Oppenheimer, vice president of domestic amateur scouting, in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Oppenheimer raved about Kilby's skill set and called him a 'pretty easy' pick at No. 39, which came with a slot value of $2,509,500. 'A lot of the stuff that he hit on, he was athletic,' the scout said. 'He has a major-league body. His swing works real well. He's got a contact-oriented swing that also has power. It adapts to being able to hit balls in different quadrants.' The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Kilby hit .495 with five home runs, 42 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in his senior year at Newnan High School. 'On top of that,' Oppenheimer said, 'he can run. He's got good instincts. What we saw of him at shortstop this year gave us a lot of hope that with our (player development) people and what they're able to do defensively that he's going to be able to play shortstop.' Kilby generated a range of rankings among publications that follow the draft closely. The Athletic's Keith Law ranked him as the No. 62 prospect, as did MLB Pipeline. But Baseball America had him at No. 75. ESPN had him at No. 28. What accounts for the difference in where the Yankees valued Kilby and where various publications ranked him? 'It's a fair question,' Oppenheimer said. 'That's what the public gets the opportunity to see, is publications and where they have things. Things like that. It's no different than me studying the hockey draft and I'm reading what they're saying. That's where we get our information. But when it comes to the stuff that we're paid to do and the professionalism that we're here to have, we obviously just lean heavily into what we've done and the work we've done and the research we've done. … 'The deep dive is so much further than what a publication is going to have. Where they're getting their information, I don't know. Is it from scouts? Is it from a one-time look from where they saw him in the summer and now he's 20 pounds different? We have a skin in the game where it holds up and there's a report that shows up and one guy does well and doesn't do well, and these publications' rankings, they go away after the draft is over.' Advertisement The Yankees had been impressed with Kilby for a while and were excited when they had the chance to draft him. 'We were holding our breath (hoping) it was going to be Dax on our board,' Oppenheimer said. The Yankees took shortstop Kaeden Kent in the third round and No. 103 overall. It was their second pick of the draft. They lost their second-round pick as a competitive balance tax penalty for signing lefty Max Fried, whom the Atlanta Braves had given the qualifying offer. Kent is the son of Jeff Kent, a five-time All-Star and the all-time leader in home runs among second basemen with 377. Kaeden Kent, 21, played at Texas A&M, and he hits lefty. Yankees executive advisor Brian Sabean was the Giants' general manager for Jeff Kent's time in San Francisco. Oppenheimer said the Yankees were able to lean on Sabean insight into the Kent family. 'We have a lot of knowledge of the intensity of Jeff Kent,' Oppenheimer said. 'Once we met with the kid — more than once — we kind of realized that this kid is his own kid. Being raised in a major-league house, we do know that that's an advantage. They have some knowledge of what's getting ready to happen and what they need to do. So, it does help a lot.' Oppenheimer said he spoke to Jeff Kent only once during the process, at a Cape Cod League game in which Kaeden was playing. Oppenheimer said there were some similarities between the younger Kent and his father. 'It's a little bit different with Kaeden working from the left side and being more of a shortstop,' Oppenheimer said. 'His intensity level might be the one where they might be a little bit the same. Wants to win. Is going to do everything he can to be the best version of himself. I think that side of it, you learn from being around a competitor like his dad was.'
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 MLB Draft: Georgia high school, college players selected on Day 1
The 2025 Major League Baseball Draft began Sunday night at the Coca-Cola Roxy as part of Atlanta hosting the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. Five players from Georgia high schools and colleges heard their names called on Day 1. Advertisement [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Daniel Pierce, a shortstop from Mill Creek High School, was the first local player off the board. The Tampa Bay Rays selected the shortstop with the No. 14 overall pick in the first round. Another Georgia high school shortstop went 25 picks later. The New York Yankees selected Dax Kilby from Newnan High School at No. 39. Dax Kilby is a former WSB-TV Georgia Lottery Scholar Athlete. JT Quinn was the first Georgia Bulldog off the draft board. The Baltimore Orioles took the right-handed pitcher with the No. 69 overall pick during the competitive balance draft round. Advertisement Six picks later, the Chicago White Sox selected Georgia Tech shortstop Kyle Lodise with the No. 76 pick overall. Baseball runs in his family: the Atlanta Braves drafted Lodise's cousin and Florida State shortstop Alex Lodise in the second round. UGA junior Brian Curley rounded out Day 1 of the MLB Draft. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected the right-handed pitcher with the No. 92 overall pick. The MLB Draft will pick back up Monday with Rounds 4-20. RELATED STORIES:
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees select Dax Kilby with 2025 MLB Draft's No. 39 overall pick
The Yankees selected shortstop Dax Kilby with the No. 39 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Kilby, 18, is No. 62 in prospect rankings. From Newnan High School in Georgia, Kilby signed with Clemson University's 2025 recruiting class before the Yanks took him with their first selection of the draft in the Competitive Balance Round A. The pick carries a $2,509,500 slot value. Advertisement The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is a left-handed batter and right-handed thrower. "One of the more polished high school bats available, Kilby has a track record of producing against quality competition on the showcase circuit," said scouting report of Kilby. "There are questions about his long-term defensive home, but his hitting ability could land him as high as the second round if he's signable away from a Clemson commitment. He led Newnan HS to the Georgia state 5-A championship this spring, the Cougars' first title in 34 years. "Kilby has a quick and relatively compact left-handed stroke and a mature approach. He doesn't stray from the strike zone too often and makes consistent contact while looking to drive the ball from gap to gap. He has plenty of room to add strength to his projectable 6-foot-2 frame and should grow into at least average power. "Though Kilby has plus straight-line speed, he plays as more of an average to solid runner. Bothered by shoulder issues early in his high school career, he has a funky arm action and can't make all the throws necessary from shortstop. He'll get a look at second base and also could wind up in left field, though he still may provide enough offense to profile at the less challenging position."
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Yankees take high school shortstop Dax Kilby with their first pick of MLB Draft
The New York Yankees took Newnan (Ga.) High School shortstop Dax Kilby with the No. 39 pick of the 2025 MLB draft. The pick comes with a $2,509,500 slot value. The Yankees have the smallest bonus pool in MLB at $5,383,600. The club won't be back on the clock until the third round, holding the 103rd pick, after forfeiting their second-round selection as a penalty for signing Max Fried — who had received a qualifying offer from the Atlanta Braves — in free agency. The Yankees originally had the 29th pick in the draft, but it was moved back 10 spots because of luxury tax penalties. Advertisement Kilby, 19, was ranked by The Athletic's Keith Law as the No. 55 prospect in this year's draft class. 'Kilby has one of the simplest and quietest approaches in the draft, college or high school, with a swing that's short and direct and gets the bat to the ball consistently,' Law wrote. 'He showed excellent contact skills and a low chase rate at tracked events last summer, swinging at just 9 percent of pitches beyond the shadow of the zone, with 40 power now but a chance to get to average as he fills out and perhaps with a little fine-tuning in the box. He's a fringe-average runner who's not going to stick at shortstop, ending up at second or third instead. He's committed to Clemson.' Round 1 | Pick 39: The New York Yankees select SS Dax Kilby out of Newnan HS.#MLBDraft — NYYPlayerDev (@NYYPlayerDev) July 14, 2025 In 2024, the Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Ben Hess out of Alabama in the first round. Hess, 22, has started 12 games this season for High-A Hudson Valley, where he's pitched to a 4.08 ERA. He has struggled with his command, giving up more than five walks per nine innings pitched, but he has 80 strikeouts in 53 innings. The Yankees seem to have nailed their first-round pick in 2023 with their selection of shortstop George Lombard Jr., the club's No. 1 prospect. Lombard, 20, has been one of minor league baseball's biggest risers this year. He was named the best player at Saturday's Futures Game by Baseball America. It's been a slow start for Lombard at Double-A Somerset, where he's posted a .633 OPS, but he is one of the youngest players in the league. With the trade deadline just over two weeks away, Lombard is seen as close to an untouchable prospect as the Yankees have in their system. The team's 2022 first-round pick — outfielder Spencer Jones, 24 — seems to have figured some things out at the plate this season. In just 14 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Jones has seven home runs and a 1.202 OPS. He is one of baseball's most puzzling prospects because he doesn't make much contact, but when he does, the raw power is overwhelming. (Photo of Dax Kilby in 2024: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
