Alek Thomas, before he was even in high school, did something most major leaguers can’t even claim: He once robbed a home run during a Chicago White Sox Spring Training practice… as an 8th grader. You see, Alek’s dad, Allen, is the South Sider’s long-time strength and conditioning coach, which would explain the younger Thomas’ accessibility to the venue. Talent would explain the athleticism.

It’d be difficult to go anywhere but up after that introduction to MLB heroics. But, if MLB.com’s Jim Callis’ latest Mock Draft calculations are correct, Thomas may be patrolling the Minute Maid Park outfield. Callis has Thomas at #28, the Astros’ position, in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, June 4-6 in Secaucus, NJ.

UPDATE: Thomas signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks June 12, 2018. From July 6 through July 20, he’s had a ten-game hit streak, collecting 16 hits in 45 ABs during that span. In his 100 ABs, so far with the Rookie League AZL D-backs, Thomas is hitting .340 with 3 doubles, 4 triples, with 7 out of 9 stolen bases through games of July 20.

Related: Astros 2018 Mock Draft Roundup

Alek Sebastian Thomas

Thomas, in his final year at Chicago’s Mt. Carmel High School, is a left-hand hitting center fielder. He stands 5’11”, 175 lbs, and will certainly fill out as he matures. He’s committed to TCU, so the drafting team will have a challenge in signing him: He wants to play both football and baseball in college.

Through 35 games this season for Mount Carmel, Thomas is hitting .426 with nine homers, 55 runs scored, and 40 RBIs, striking out only four times in 122 at-bats.

During a recent 21-game hit streak (34-72), Thomas hit .472, with two doubles, five triples, and six home runs.

This spring, he’s helped lead the Caravan to a 25-10 record, including a 2-2 finish in the prestigious National High School Invitational in Cary, North Carolina.

Last year, he was All-State after swatting 11 home runs, hitting .470 with 43 RBIs, and scoring 59 runs.

He’s been a three-sport star for Mount Carmel, starring in football and basketball, as well as baseball. But, for this, his senior year, he lopped hoops off the list, filling his time with baseball and as quarterback and receiver on the football team.

Alek recently explained the connection he feels between football and how it helps him on the diamond to NBC Sports: “Football really helps for baseball, because in football, you’ve got to go in there like, ‘All right, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to do this.’ You’ve got to step on the field with that killer mentality that no one’s going to stop you, and that’s what I try to do with baseball.”

Alek played on Team USA’s 18-and-under World Cup Championship Team that shut out Korea last fall in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, hitting .361. In fact, he was teammates with Mike Siani, another prep outfielder some mock drafters have predicted might end up in an Astros uni.

According to a recent USAToday article, “Thomas plays his travel ball for the White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) and Kenny Fullman, the co-founder and program director of ACE, first remembers noticing Thomas’ potential several years ago.

“‘When he first came to our Area Code tryouts when he was 14 or 15, I saw him in BP hit five balls off a dorm behind the University of Illinois at Chicago,’ Fullman said. ‘He can hit with power. He’s hit a lot of round-trippers with the Chicago ACE program.'”

Big League Mentors

“I definitely think it’s an advantage to having a dad like that,” the younger Thomas revealed recently to Chicago’s WGN, speaking about his baseball biz father. “My dad just gave me the tools. I had to go out and do it. But, he’s a big part of where I’m at today and I thank him all the time.”

“We were molding him from a young age and knew he had athletic genes,” Allen Thomas replied. “We let him out in the outfield on his own when he was six or seven years old, catching big league pop ups. I knew he was going to be special. No one can replicate the reps he has.”

“Soaking up big league life from Sox legends Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson and Jim Thome was like an AP course in how to succeed at the sport,” WGN reported.

So dream come true if the White Sox draft him, right?

“To be honest, I hope they don’t,” Alek said, somewhat surprisingly. “I hope they go for a pitcher. I’m still a fan. I don’t think they need me. It would be neat to go to another team and possibly play against my dad.”

“I think Alek’s whole goal is to get to the big leagues; he doesn’t care who with,” the elder Thomas said.

Looking at you, Astros!