'I'm at peace': Kirilloff cites injuries for retiring at age 26

When the saga of Alex Kirilloff began, he was the kind of can’t-miss prospect whose abilities as a hitter were so seemingly certain that the Twins didn’t hesitate to promote him to the Majors for the first time during the postseason, putting him in the lineup for his big league debut as part of an elimination game in the 2020 American League Wild Card Series.

But very suddenly, it’s over, all too soon.

Years of lingering injuries took their mental and physical toll as the 2016 No. 15 overall Draft pick never got the chance to realize that sky-high potential that seemingly had him destined to become a long-time cornerstone of this chapter of Twins history. Kirilloff, still only 26, announced a stunning retirement from baseball on Thursday following parts of four MLB seasons.

“I'm at peace for where I'm at right now,” Kirilloff said. “Life is difficult. A couple of years ago, if you would have told me we'd be having this conversation I wouldn't have believed you. But we're here now. There's definitely things I'll miss about baseball and about the game, but ultimately there's a lot more that plays into a decision like this at this point in time.”

Once ranked as high as No. 9 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 overall prospects in baseball, Kirilloff, the western Pennsylvania native and son of a hitting coach, was expected to excel alongside Royce Lewis and Trevor Larnach as the three big position prospects the Twins hoped would anchor their core.

But for as much as Kirilloff utterly demolished the Minor Leagues every time he was sent there, a painful four years led to consistent difficulties in the Majors -- and ultimately, this decision at the start of what would have been a fourth consecutive offseason of recovery, as he stares at a rehab of up to a year for what ultimately became a career-ending back injury.

“I think now, with this rehab process for me, this is a new way forward for me,” Kirilloff said. “This is what I feel is best right now, this new way forward. We’re at peace with this decision. Family-wise, we’re all on board with it. That’s kind of where we’re at now.”

First came the wrist injury -- and season-ending cleanup surgery -- that limited him to 59 games and a .722 OPS as a rookie in ‘21. That didn’t fix it, and recurring issues held him to 45 games and a .651 OPS in ‘22, at the end of which he required a second -- much more invasive -- surgery on that same wrist, intentionally breaking an arm bone to create more space in the area.

That’s when, he said, he first started wondering what a Plan B would look like for a life beyond baseball.

But seemingly armed with a healthy wrist in ‘23, he built to a .793 OPS in 88 games before being sidelined by another injury -- this time, to his shoulder -- that saw him pulled off the club’s postseason roster and led to yet another offseason surgery.

And in ‘24, the Twins consistently remarked that they’d never seen Kirilloff hit so ineffectively while healthy as he regressed to a .653 OPS -- and, in fact, it turned out that he was not healthy, as he revealed the back strain that sent him to the IL for good on June 13 ahead of what would have been a demotion to the Minor Leagues.

The diagnosis is spondylolisthesis, Kirilloff said -- noting that “it’s a mouthful” -- but in layman’s terms, that’s a slipped vertebra in the lumbar spine (the lowest section of the back) that sent him to three different back specialists and a recent week of treatments in Miami. The most recent doctor, Kirilloff said, expressed confidence in a full recovery -- but it’ll take time, and lots of it. He made the final decision to retire in the last several weeks, he said.

For now, he’s not sure what’s next.

The Twins are down the player they hoped would be their long-term first baseman -- and with Carlos Santana’s impending free agency, that remains a spot of uncertainty. Perhaps Edouard Julien could slide over to open a spot at second base for Brooks Lee, if both of their bats progress to a stage of better MLB readiness.

Kirilloff said he’ll spend time with his family and perhaps start exploring his interests in real estate and business -- but he’ll figure out where his passions are. He now has time to do that.

“Baseball has been my life up until this point every single year -- travel, playing,” Kirilloff said. “It's uncharted territory for me to take that next step and that next chapter. It's a leap of faith for me. It's something I feel like is the right time right now and something that will be able to let my body reset without the demands of baseball. I definitely see the silver lining.”