Mitchell Kilkenny Living The Dream In First Season
If you ask Grand Junction Rockies pitcher Mitchell Kilkenny what his dream job has always been, he’ll probably answer professional baseball player. He’s been playing it for so long that he doesn’t remember when he started.
“My brother is five years older than me and he started playing when he was four or five. Before I could walk, I basically had a bat in my hand but I started playing before I can even remember.”
Kilkenny grew up playing at a higher level of baseball not only through travel ball but through his family as well.
“My brother would always let me play with him and his friends so I was just around better baseball constantly,” Kilkenny said.
Kilkenny’s older brother Patrick played baseball at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee where he was an outfielder and a pitcher.
“He was blessed with the brains in the family,” Kilkenny said laughing. “I’m not really sure all the specifics but I’m pretty sure at some point he had to decide between walking on at a bigger school to continue playing baseball or get the degree he wanted. I think he went for the degree. He played baseball for four more years and was happy with it.”
It was a choice that Kilkenny would also have to make when deciding on his next step.
“If I’m being completely honest, Texas A&M was the best opportunity on my doorstep and I knew I wanted to play baseball at the highest level. At that point, that was the highest level,” Kilkenny. “I had a stroke of luck and caught their eye. They gave me a walk-on opportunity and the rest was just up to me to earn.”
Texas A&M was also a good fit for Kilkenny because of his familiarity with the school.
“The first Aggie in my family is four generations back. Both of my parents went to A&M and a ton of family did too including cousins, uncles, aunts, and my godparents.”
Kilkenny said he remembers his freshman year as one of the most memorable teams he has ever been on.
“My freshman year to this day was the most talented team I’ve ever been part of. Everyone was fighting for each other,” Kilkenny said. “In my first year, I was just exposed to the type of baseball that I had never known and never imagined. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot there.”
Fast forward to 2018. Kilkenny was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2nd Competitive Balance round behind former GJ Rockies Ryan Rolison and Grant Lavigne. Kilkenny said he was surprised because he didn’t think he was going to be picked the first day.
“I was just at my house. We were watching it because you hear that friends are going to go in certain places. We were watching it and a couple of my teammates invited themselves over because they were like you’re going to get picked today. I was like no. It’s not going to happen,” Kilkenny said. “We were watching it and then I got a call and it was from my advisor at the time. He asked if this was alright and I said yes. Then I got a call from Jeff Edwards who was my area scout. I love him. He was the first one to call from the Rockies and then all of the congrats messages from family and friends started pouring in. To this day, I still don’t remember any of it. It was all just a blur.”
He decided to sign with the Rockies and miss his senior year at Texas A&M but according to Kilkenny, it was an easy decision.
“I have always wanted to play baseball. Degrees don’t have a time limit. You can go back and get them,” Kilkenny said. “To not only live out your dream but live out other people’s dreams and seeing all of your hard work come to fruition, it’s really hard to say no. It’s scary because it’s the same thing as graduation. You’re going into the next step and you don’t really know what’s next but it’s fun and has been special.”
Kilkenny went to Denver after being signed for the normal medical checkups when they came across some elbow damage that led to Tommy John surgery.
“When you go through a full season, a bunch of different things start acting up at different times and different ways. We had no idea. We just thought it’s off-season fatigue,” Kilkenny said. “I knew it was tight but I figured I just won’t throw for a little bit and it will calm down. We got the MRI results and it was suggested that I have Tommy John surgery.”
The Rockies suggested he get a second opinion to make sure surgery was the best option and Kilkenny said they looked out for him every step of the way.
“The Rockies said the surgery was normal but let’s just get a second opinion so that you fully trust it because the last thing you want to do is get surgery and not need it,” Kilkenny said. “For how scary of a time that was and how many questions were being thrown around, the Rockies were accommodating and they comforted me when I needed it. They were very straight up and to the point and my mom trusts them.”
Kilkenny has spent the past year rehabbing from surgery and working his way back to the mound.
“There’s a lot of steps to take which makes the time go by quicker. The hardest part is that you can’t compete. Winning isn’t the same off the field but then once I got to spring training, everything was new. We were practicing with all these big time guys like Arenado and Story. It was cool.”
Now that Kilkenny has worked his way back to the mound and is spending his first season in pro ball here in Grand Junction, he hopes to continue learning and progressing.
“I want to be healthy. I also want to progress and get a better feel for what pro ball is and just put down a good foundation for what I hope will be a long career.”
