East Troy grad A.J. Vukovich joins Diamondbacks after fourth-round selection
MUKWONAGO, Wis. (BVM) — When A.J. Vukovich was in eighth grade he made a decision to attend Hitters Academy in Caledonia, Wis. Five years later on June 11, he was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 119th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
“When the draft was going on they didn’t think he’d get taken because no one would match what he wanted,” Hitters Academy owner and coach RJ Fergus said. “Then the Diamondbacks called up and he said no he wasn’t going to sign for that. They took him anyways because the Diamondbacks think they can make an agreement.”
Vukovich signed with the D-backs for second-round pick value putting pen to paper for a $1.25 million bonus. More than double his actual pick value of $483,000.
Big congrats to @aj_vukovich on signing his first professional contact another 18 year old made himself a lot of money through hard work. So proud of you AJ see you soon. Diamondbacks are getting a good one pic.twitter.com/MYrSr2Tb0U
— Hitters Baseball (@hittersbaseba11) July 3, 2020
The pick came as no surprise to anyone who has been around Vukovich from the beginning.
“There was potential right away to be a Division I athlete and he worked into the draft from there,” Fergus said.
Vukovich verbally committed to the University of Louisville, one of the premier college baseball programs in the country, early in his freshman year of high school. From there, he became one of the top high school prospects — first in the state and then the country.
“He doesn’t do any throwing program or anything like that in the offseason and we’ve seen A.J. throw the ball 100 [mph], you know he’s special,” Fergus said. “If he stays healthy, he’ll get there.”
That special athleticism was not exclusive to baseball as Vukovich also excelled at basketball throughout high school. At East Troy, he played varsity all four years, scoring over 2,000 points in his career. Last season, he averaged 27.9 points and earned first team all-state honors.
Those accolades are nothing compared to what he has done in baseball. He took second in the High School Home Run Derby during the summer of 2019. That same year, he played for the U.S. national team at the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 Baseball World Cup in South Korea. But the best is yet to come.
“Once he gets into baseball full time he’s really going to come out; there is a lot of untapped potential,” said Ro Coleman, one of the top hitting/baserunning coaches at Hitters Academy. “The competitiveness he has inside of him, the willingness to compete everyday no matter good days or bad days just come back and do it all over again.”
That mentality is also applicable to being drafted by an MLB team.
“He was hitting the next day,” Fergus said.
Vukovich has the raw talent, athleticism and drive to make it to the big leagues and that journey will start in the Diamondbacks farm system.
