Yankees’ first-round pick Dax Kilby expects to sign Friday

First-round pick Dax Kilby expects to sign with the Yankees on Friday afternoon.

Kilby, a high-school shortstop from the Atlanta area, had committed to play at Clemson, but on Thursday he was at the Yankees’ facility in Tampa, where he was set to complete his physical.

“I’m super excited to get to work,” Kilby said on an introductory Zoom call.

The Yankees selected Kilby, 18, with the No. 39 pick in Sunday’s first round, securing a player they identified as their target through an exhaustive pre-draft process.

The feeling was mutual, Kilby said Thursday, as the infielder out of Newnan High School said he went into the draft hoping the Yankees would take him.

Kilby met with numerous teams, but a private workout with the Yankees in Tampa sold him on the organization.

During that visit, Kilby hit and worked out on the field, became impressed by the Yankees’ facilities and player-development program, and met with a contingent that included Damon Oppenheimer, the team’s vice president of domestic amateur scouting.

“I was the only one here,” Kilby recalled. “I felt like I was very welcomed, and I really loved everything about the Yankees organization while I was down here. Leading up to the draft, I knew that I just wanted to be a part of this organization.”

Kilby batted .495 with five home runs, 42 RBI and 15 stolen bases as a senior with Newnan and won the Georgia state 5-A championship. As scouts filled the stands for his games, Kilby realized he had a legitimate chance of being drafted.

Asked if it was difficult to pass on Clemson, Kilby said Thursday, “It definitely was, but as the draft started getting closer and knowing that my name was going to be farther up the draft [board] than I originally thought it would have been, it was a clear no-brainer.”

The 6-2, 190-pound Kilby is the latest high-school shortstop to be drafted in the first round by the Yankees, joining a fraternity that includes Derek Jeter, Anthony Volpe and top prospect George Lombard Jr.

Kilby said he modeled his left-handed swing after those of MLB All-Stars Christian Yelich and Jackson Merrill, and he expressed admiration for Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette.

“He was athletic. He has a major-league body. His swing works real well,” Oppenheimer said Tuesday of Kilby.

“He’s got a contact-oriented swing that also has power and adapts to being able to hit balls in different quadrants. On top of that, he can run. He’s got good instincts, and what we saw of him at shortstop this year gave us a lot of hope that, with our [player-development] people, … he’s going to be able to play shortstop.”

Kilby shared his desire to stick at shortstop, too, saying, “I’m excited to be able to work with all of the top-tier coaching here with the Yankees.”

The Yankees had only one pick in the top 100 in this year’s draft, as they forfeited their second-rounder to sign Max Fried in the offseason.

In the third round, the Yankees used the No. 103 overall pick on Texas A&M’s Kaeden Kent, who also plays shortstop. Kent, the son of 2000 National League MVP Jeff Kent, signed with the Yankees for $744,400, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis.

The pick value for No. 39 is $2,509,500, according to MLB.

After he was drafted, Kilby said Nick Swisher sent him a congratulatory message on Instagram, while manager Aaron Boone called on Wednesday night to welcome him to the organization.

Those interactions added to a special week in which Kilby was surrounded by family, friends, and his high school teammates and coaches when he was picked.

“We found out that the Yankees were going to take me probably five picks before it happened,” Kilby said. “It was just unreal. It’s obviously a moment that every little kid dreams of, especially with the Yankees.”