Can Alex Kirilov (26, Minnesota Twins), a major prospect suffering from an injury, recover his ‘health’?
On the 29th (Korean time), Park Do-hyung, who is in charge of Minnesota at MLB.com, the official website of the Major League Baseball (MLB), posted on his social media, “Kirilov started swinging in early January. He’s doing about 50 to 60 swings a day now,’ he said. Kirilov underwent season-ending wrist surgery in August last year. As his condition improves considerably, expectations for his successful comeback are also growing.
Kirilov has been plagued by wrist injuries for a long time since making his big league debut in 2021. Due to his injury, he only played in 59 games in 2021 and 45 last season. Although he was a high-profile prospect, he rarely showed his potential after his MLB debut. This winter, he is focusing on his rehabilitation treatment with the goal of ‘the healthiest regular season’. For Minnesota, Kirilov’s return is close to heaven.
In the 2016 rookie draft, Kirillov, who was nominated in the 15th overall in the first round, received $2,817,100 (3.5 billion won) in signing money alone. He was so valuable that he was called more quickly than Gavin Lux and Will Smith (both LA Dodgers), who joined in the same year. In 2018, he exploded with a .348 batting average of 20 home runs and 101 RBIs in minor league single-A and upper single-A. Last year, in the minor league Triple-A, he had a batting average of 0.359 (47 hits in 131 bats), 10 homers, and 32 RBIs. However, his performance was insignificant when he only came up in the big leagues. It was the result of not being able to swing properly due to his wrist injury. 안전놀이터