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Minors  | General | 12/10/2018

PG in the Pros: AL Central

David Rawnsley
Photo: Alex Kirilloff (Perfect Game)

As part of Perfect Game's recurring PG in the Pros series David Rawnsley will take a look at some of the top prospects in minor league baseball and their impact on the sport prior to their professional careers. This will be done in a six-part series, one feature for each division in Major League Baseball while identifying one of the top prospects for each team. Links are provided below to past installments of the PG in the Pros series for other reports on prospects, both past and present.


Chicago White Sox

Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Erik Johnson, Courtney Hawkins, Tyler Danish
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Chris Beck, Micah Johnson, Jacob May
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Tim Anderson
PG in the Pros, 2016-17 – Carson Fulmer
PG in the Pros, 2017-18 – Zack Collins

 Dylan Cease, RHP

Cease was a slender 6-foot-2, 180-pound athlete in high school with the type of frame that would likely always be slender and wouldn't take much bulk. He played shortstop when he wasn't on the mound and it was a middle infielder’s build much more than a power pitcher's build.

Velocity on the mound always came exceptionally easy to Cease, though. He worked in the 90-93 mph range at WWBA events during the summer between his sophomore and junior years and was steadily in the mid-90s and touching higher the next summer. His arm stroke was as loose and fast as any scout will ever see on a teenager and there was surprisingly little effort to create all that velocity from such a wiry build. Cease's curveball was a developing pitch throughout high school, as he learned to throw the pitch with more and more true arm speed and stay on top of the ball instead of guiding it but it was easy to project a plus breaking ball with all that arm speed and extension once he had enough repetitions. He profiled as a three-pitch starter with an already established changeup.



Cease was outstanding at the 2013 PG National Showcase, topping out at 97 mph and defining him as one of the top pitching prospects in the country and a PG All-American. His report from that event as follows:

Slender young athletic build, loose actions. High leg raise delivery, stays balanced and on line, big loose arm swing, surprisingly low effort release considering velocity, great lower/upper half sequence coming through, three-quarters arm slot, makes throwing a baseball look easy. Big fastball velocity, warmed up at 95 mph, topped out at 97, gets downhill well, late fastball life at times, could pitch with a true plus-plus fastball in the future with additional strength. Change up best secondary pitch at present, good fading action, maintains arm speed well. Tends to get on side of curveball for sweeping shape, curveball is better at higher velocities with tighter spin and bite. Fun to watch pitch.

On March 3 of his senior spring, Cease left an outing with a sore elbow and did not pitch the rest of the spring, although he continued to hit. His injury and commitment to Vanderbilt drove teams away at draft time but the Cubs stepped up in the sixth round, signing him to a $1.5 million bonus. Cease underwent TJ surgery after signing and resumed pitching in May 2015.


Cleveland Indians

Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Francisco Lindor
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Clint Frazier, Tyler Naquin, Mitch Brown
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Bobby Bradley
PG in the Pros, 2016-17 – Triston McKenzie
PG in the Pros, 2017-18 – Conner Capel

 Nolan Jones, 3B

A Pennsylvania native, Jones started playing at Perfect Game tournaments during his sophomore year, competing for the Philly Whiz and Team Elite. He was a tall and slender 6-foot-4 athlete at that point, very tall for a middle infielder but also very athletic with obvious physical tools, including arm strength that would make him a prime pitching prospect should he decide to concentrate on that position. Most importantly, Jones was a lefthanded hitter with a smooth and very projectable swing.

Jones was still maturing when he participated in the 2015 PG National Showcase but showed enough to be selected to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic. He still looked and moved like a future shortstop at that point. His report from that event reads:

Long and lean athletic frame, very projectable physically. 6.91 runner, is very smooth and fluid in his athletic actions defensively, light on his feet, works through the ball well at shortstop, arm works very well, gets on top of his throws and the ball comes out of his hand easily, has the tools and skills to stay at shortstop even as he matures physically. Lefthanded hitter, spread stance with a simple and short shift into contact, keeps his hands in and has a short and direct swing, works the middle of the field but showed the hand quickness and bat speed to turn on the ball and pull it with authority when needed. Potential two-way prospect if he concentrated on pitching, multi-part delivery with a long loose three-quarters arm action, fastball to 90 mph with good sink down in the zone, flashes hard spin on his curveball, have heard reports of mid-90s velocity and don't doubt it is in there. High-level athlete who will continue to improve.



When Jones came back to play at the WWBA World Championships in Jupiter in late October, it was obvious right away he hadn't been spending his late summer and fall casually enjoying his senior high school year. He had added physical strength throughout his long and lean build and had added a grade to his raw bat speed. One could almost feel his stock rising over the weekend as more scouts saw him.

Jones had a very successful, albeit short, senior spring season, hitting .636-5-24 in 19 games with 24 walks and 17 stolen bases. He was signed with Virginia, which may have caused him to slide somewhat due to signability concerns, but the Indians drafted him in the second round with the 55th overall pick and gave him an above slot $2.25 million bonus.


Detroit Tigers

Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Nick Castellanos, Jake Thompson, James McCann
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Buck Farmer, Kevin Ziomek, Joe Jimenez
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Derek Hill
PG in the Pros, 2016-17 – Beau Burrows
PG in the Pros, 2017-18 – Daz Cameron

 Matt Manning, RHP

The 6-foot-6, 185-pound Manning was a two-sport standout in high school and had virtually no national baseball profile until the summer before his senior year. Manning's father, Rich, was a second round NBA draft pick in 1993 and played two years in that league as a 6-for-11 power forward/center. The younger Manning scored 1,266 points during his three-year career at Sheldon High School in Northern California, averaging 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds a game as a senior and drawing mid-level Division I attention.

Talk about a fast rising big righthanded pitcher started swirling early in the summer of 2015. Manning had only been pitching for two years and had appeared at only one Perfect Game event, topping out at 89 mph at the 2014 California World Series, but was quickly identified as the subject of all the scout talk.

Perfect Game scouts got their first look at the "new prospect" Manning at the 17u PG World Series July 17-21 in the sweltering Arizona heat. Manning was up to it, working in the 91-95 mph range for five innings that day and showing an upper-70s breaking ball and 80 mph changeup. He was quickly added to the West roster for the 2015 PG All-American Classic.



Manning's best Perfect Game performance was for the champion EvoShield Canes at the 2015 WWBA World Championship in Jupiter. He threw one short outing in pool play, striking out all six hitters he faced, then returned to start the semifinal game Monday morning, throwing five shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out nine. Manning used his 92-94 mph fastball almost exclusively in Jupiter but quality hitters didn't seem to see the ball at all and Manning was content to fill up the strike zone with his heat and simply challenge hitters. He was named the event's Most Valuable Pitcher after the Canes won the championship.

Manning's senior season went smoothly, with 77 strikeouts in 40 innings while showing improvement with his young breaking ball and continuing to throw strikes. The Tigers, who have been aggressively drafting high school arms for the past few years, picked Manning with the ninth overall pick and signed him for a $3.5 million bonus and buying him out of a Loyola Marymount scholarship.

Kansas City Royals

Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Sean Manea, Bubba Starling
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Hunter Dozier, Kyle Zimmer
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Chase Vallot
PG in the Pros, 2016-17 – Jake Junis
PG in the Pros, 2017-18 – Foster Griffin

 M.J. Melendez, C

Melendez developed quite a reputation as a baseball rat during high school, only fitting as his father, Mervyl Sr., is a long-time college coach who held the head coach job at Bethune-Cookman and Alabama State before his present job at Florida International. Melendez appeared at 34 Perfect Game events growing up, beginning with the 2012 13u BCS Finals. He was also a regular at other national level events such as the East Coast Pro, Area Code Games and Tournament of Stars. Any scout who didn't have a good feel for Melendez's tools and make up wasn't paying attention.

A lithe and agile 6-foot-1, 175-pound athlete who ran a 6.8 60-yard dash, Melendez stood out defensively during his development. Not only was he exceptionally quick and athletic for a catcher, he had a cannon of an arm, throwing up to 86 mph in drills at PG showcases. With his father's background, it was also obvious that Melendez had the mental skills and fundamentals to handle the difficult catching responsibilities. PG's Daron Sutton found that out first hand in his piece on Melendez and his younger brother Jayden at the 2018 WWBA World Championship.

Melendez is a lefthanded hitter, always a huge plus on a catcher, but his offensive projection was less secure than his defensive projection. There was plenty of bat speed and whip in the barrel and Melendez would flash power, especially the opposite way, at times. But there just wasn't a firm offensive identity yet to his overall game.



As much as anything, it was always obvious that Melendez loved to play. He had some flair in his game and would occasionally make an easy play look more difficult, just as he could make a difficult play look easy with his tools, but that was all about learning to play while having fun.

Melendez moved from Alabama to Florida before his senior season after his father moved from Alabama State to Florida International, enrolling at Westminster Christian High School. He had a strong senior year while refining his hitting approach, eventually being drafted 52nd overall by the Kansas City Royals. Even though he was committed to play for his father at FIU, he signed with the Royals for a $2.1 million bonus.


Minnesota Twins

Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Byron Buxton, Alex Meyer, Jose Berrios
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Kax Kepler
PG in the Pros, 2016-17 – Nick Gordon
PG in the Pros, 2017-18 – Travis Blankenhorn

 Alex Kirilloff, OF

Similar to M.J. Melendez, Kirilloff comes from a baseball background, as his father Dave played collegiately at Pittsburgh and is a well respected hitting instructor. It was obvious from the time that Kirilloff started participating in PG events following his freshman year that the Pennsylvania native had high-level hitting tools and aptitude.

Kirilloff's lefthanded hitting approach wasn't a study in easy simplicity, with a big leg lift trigger and lots of lower half shift that had to be well timed in order to make his very real bat speed usable. But the repetitions and constant monitoring enabled Kirilloff from a young age to be consistently timed. Not only that, the strong 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete showed an innate ability to know when to keep his hands in and work middle away and when to turn on a ball and use his power and ability to lift and drive the ball.

Kirilloff was unexpectedly a primary first baseman, secondary lefthanded pitcher through much of his high school development. He was an outstanding defensive first baseman, arguably the best defender at that position in the entire 2016 class, but it was evident that with his 6.6 speed and overall athleticism that he was best suited for the outfield and maybe even center field. On the mound, Kirilloff topped out at 89 mph at PG events.



Perhaps knowing, as fellow Pennsylvanian Nolan Jones did, that scouting opportunities in the spring are limited, Kirilloff had a full summer circuit schedule before his senior year, including the PG National Showcase and the PG All-American Classic. His report from the National Showcase read:

Outstanding athletic build, good present strength with more to come. Primary first baseman but clearly a higher level defender in the outfield, 6.67 speed, long and loose actions, lots of raw arm strength, has the raw tools to play all over the outfield, obviously has all the tools to play first base at a high level defensively as well. Lefthanded hitter, big loading action with both his front leg and hands, keeps his timing consistent, lots of bat speed with some back side dip and uphill plane, complicated swing but works well for him, ball carries to the gaps, has feel for the barrel and makes consistent hard contact.

Plum High School in Pittsburg and Kirilloff were able to play 21 games in his senior spring and Kirilloff blew away the scouting community, not to mention opposing pitchers, hitting .540-3-24 with 20 extra-base hits, 17 walks versus only a single strikeout and 11 stolen bases. He also went 6-0, 0.74 on the mound with 60 strikeouts in 38 innings.

The Twins picked Kirilloff with the 15th overall pick in June, signing him for a slot value bonus of $2,817,100. He had been signed with Liberty before turning professional.



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