Adam McKillican of the Comox Valley has joined the ranks of ball players from the University of British Columbia who have been drafted by a Major League Baseball club. Last summer, the 6’5” pitcher signed a free agent deal with the Texas Rangers.
A former Parksville Royals ace, the 23-year-old McKillican played at UBC until 2020. He switched to Georgia Gwinnett College for the 2021 season, helping the Grizzlies win the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) World Series Championship in June.
READ: Comox Valley pitcher honing his craft at UBC
Maryland became his home from early-June to mid-July of this year when McKillican played for the Frederick Keys, a collegiate summer team of the MLB Draft League. He then negotiated a contract with the Quebec Capitales in the Frontier League, which he said aims to secure as many professional contracts as possible for players through the draft and free agent/independent league signings. He was in Quebec when he got the call from the Rangers in August.
He pitched for the Arizona Rangers in a minor league game against the Cincinnati Reds, then was called up to the Hickory Crawdads in North Carolina — the high A affiliate of the Rangers — where he finished the season. The final game was canceled due to a COVID outbreak on the team. McKillican was supposed to fly home Sept. 17, but his COVID test came back positive, which forced a 14-day quarantine before flying to Canada.
“That was a very strange end to the year for me,” he said. “Spent nine months in the U.S. and was able to dodge COVID until the very last day. Thankfully the season was over by then and I didn’t miss any playing time.”
McKillican said the level of play is “definitely a step up” from college ball.
“There are not as many holes in lineups and each guy you face is capable of hitting a mistake 400 feet,” he said. “I think the biggest difference for me was the hitters’ ability to foul off tough pitches. I had some good battles in college, won some and lost some, but those types of hitters came around once or twice every couple months. At this level, every lineup has at least one guy who is not going to chase a bad pitch and will fight off anything close. I’m excited to keep working on my repertoire and finding ways to get those guys out consistently.”
When he left for Georgia, McKillican was four courses shy of graduating from university. He is finishing his degree online during the off-season.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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