15 biggest draft busts in KC Royals history

As the 2025 MLB draft approaches the Kansas City Royals will once again be in search of the next piece of the organization's future.

They've certainly hit big in the past with the likes of Zack Greinke, Bobby Witt Jr. and most recently Jac Caglianone all coming through this system.

However, it seems as though more often than not, the Royals have left a lot to be desired on draft day, with countless high value picks seemingly wasted.

So, with draft being just mere months away, let's look at some of the biggest draft busts in Royals history.

15 biggest draft busts in KC Royals history

15. OF Hugh Walker - 1st Round, 18th overall in 1988

While he did end up a top 20 pick in the 1988 MLB draft, Hugh Walker failed to come close to the hype that a pick of that magnitude should hold.

Walker never ended up making it to the major leagues, and had just one Triple-A appearance under his belt, spending a majority of his professional career in High-A and Double-A.

Having failed to even register a plate appearance in that lone Triple-A game, a .253 AVG and .710 OPS across 846 Double-A plate appearances is the most notable contribution to Walker’s pro career.

Overall, Walker hit .248 with a .696 OPS, 48 home runs, 306 RBI and 118 stolen bases in seven minor league seasons, not including the several seasons in independent baseball he played after the fact.

14. RHP - Ben Gryzbek - 1st Round, 18th overall in 1976

Like Walker, Gryzbek was an 18th overall pick for the Royals, just 12 years prior. And also like Walker, he came nowhere close to fulfilling Top 20 potential.

Never making it past Double-A, Gryzbek holds a career 3.87 ERA and 1.48 WHIP In 581 minor league innings across five campaigns.

He'd leave affiliated baseball after 1980 with a 3.67 ERA in 299 Single-A innings being his most noteworthy contribution he had in the Royals’ system.

13. 1B Matt Smith - 1st Round, 16th overall in 1994

Moving to another mid first round selection for the Royals, in 1994 they used the 16th overall selection to draft first baseman Matt Smith. And as is becoming a trend on this list, he too failed to make an impact at the major league level.

In five total minor league seasons, Smith hit just .243 with a.634 OPS, 17 HR and 165 RBI in 1501 plate appearances across 398 games.

And of that over 1500 plate appearance sample size, only 192 were spent in the upper minors, where he slashed just .227/.283/.295 with one home run and 15 RBI.

12. 1B Nick Pratto - 1st Round, 14th overall in 2017

Next, we move to the first name that could theoretically change his fortunes in Nick Pratto. That being said, he's given the Royals faithful little to no reason to believe he's anything other than a bust at this point.

At 14th overall in 2017 and once earmarked as the first baseman of the future, Pratto has struggled mightily to make any sort of impact with the bat.

Pratto's minor league career started out promising, recently including a .818 OPS in Triple-A in 2022. Since then, however, he's seemingly been chasing that form with a.735 OPS in Omaha last season being the closest comparable campaign to his early pro form.

And when he's gotten his shot in the major leagues, he's looked all but lost at the plate slashing .216/.295/.364 with 25.0% K-rate and 79 wRC+ in 527 plate appearances.

11. RHP Dan Reichert - 1st Round, 7th overall in 1997

Now we move into the realm of top 10 selections that have gone poorly for the Royals starting with Dan Reichert.

Like Pratto, Reichert does have some major league experience under his belt including parts of four seasons with the Royals, however, they weren't anything worthy of the Royals high investment in him in the 1997 draft.

In those four seasons in Kansas City, Reichert appeared in 109 games, 51 of which were starts, and threw to a 5.53 ERA, 5.15 FIP and 1.66 WHIP.

He'd make a brief stop in Toronto in 2003 before being out of Major League Baseball entirely.

10. RHP Lew Olsen - 1st Round, 9th overall in 1973

At least Reichert was able to appear in the major leagues, as the same cannot be said for the Royals top ten selection in the 1973 draft in Lew Olsen.

While Olsen was able to work his way up to the upper minors with respectable sub-3.00 ERA tenures in the lower levels, he was never more than just an average mid-to-high-3.00s ERA arm in both Double and Triple-A.

Shoulder injuries would plague him in 1977 and other than a brief 32 inning stint in rookie ball in 1979, Olsen was out of affiliated baseball.

9. RHP Colt Griffin - 1st Round, 9th overall in 2001

After being selected 9th overall in 2001, Colt Griffin would never come near reaching the heights that a pick of that magnitude should have the potential to achieve.

At no level did Griffin ever produce an ERA below 4.00, with a 4.02 ERA in 87.1 innings of work a cross two Double-A seasons being the highlight of his professional career.

Griffin would never make it higher then Double-A Wichita.

8. RHP Kyle Zimmer - 1st round, 5th overall in 2012

As a top five pick and at one point even a Top 100 prospect, there was plenty of reason for Royals fans to have high hopes about Kyle Zimmer.

However, injury upon injury saw Zimmer fail to ever live up to the weighty expectations on his shoulders.

Zimmer only managed 95.1 innings pitched in his MLB career. And while a 1.57 ERA in 23 innings of relief in 2020 may've given the Royals some hope in getting some sort of return on their investment, that quickly came back down to earth between both injuries and a 4.83 ERA in 54 innings in 2021.

When all was said and done for Zimmer and his big league career he only managed to throw to a 5.19 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP.

7. RHP Roy Branch - 1st Round, 5th overall in 1971

Roy Branch was just the third ever first round selection for the Kansas City Royals when they selected him 5th overall in 1971.

But after seven years in the Royals minor league system, never of which were any higher than Double-A, the Royals would end up parting ways with Branch.

And even when Branch did manage to crack the majors with Seattle in 1979, he didn't offer the Royals any sort of vindication for their top five investment in him, as in 11.1 innings with the Mariners, Branch through to a very inflated 7.94 ERA.

That would be the only major league experience Branch would have before being out of baseball entirely after 1982.

6. RHP Jeff Austin - 1st Round, 4th overall in 1998

Next, we move to Jeff Austin, whose most impactful major league seasons may have occurred with the Kansas City Royals, but that's not saying much.

In two seasons with the Royals in 2001 and 2002, Austin threw to a combined 5.35 ERA, 4.35 FIP and 1.65 WHIP.

An 8.58 ERA across seven starts with the Cincinnati Reds in 2003 would mark the end of Austin’s MLB career - certainly a far cry from the potential a fourth overall pick traditionally carries.

5. OF Bubba Starling - 1st Round, 5th overall in 2011

Bubba Starling was on pace to be everything the Royals thought he would be after selecting him in the top five in 2011.

He was a Top 20 prospect in 2012, before a mix of injuries and primarily flat-out poor performance tanked his prospect status before ever appearing in the major leagues.

And while regaining a bit of momentum in the minor league seasons before eventually being promoted in 2019, once he reached the majors it was nothing but sheer lack of production, with a 47 wRC+ in 197 plate appearances in 2019 being the strongest performance the KC Royals saw of Starling at the MLB level.

Between taking nine years to reach the major leagues and a .204 AVG and .544 OPS, Starling unfortunately never reached the heights many thought he could.

4. LHP/1B Mike Stodolka - 1st Round, 4th overall in 2000

Then we have the interesting case of Mike Stodolka, the left-handed pitcher turned position player who the Royals invested a top five pick on in 2000.

As a pitcher, Stodolka was nothing to write home about, posting a combined 4.93 ERA and 1.44 WHIP across six minor league seasons. He'd never surpass Double-A before transitioning to a position player role after the 2005 season.

And while a .287 AVG and .839 OPS across four seasons at the plate was certainly a better showing than what he showed on the mound, Triple-A was the highest-level Stodolka would reach, never gracing the Royals with his major league presence.

3. OF/C - Rex Goodson - 1st Round, 8th overall in 1970

After the Royals missed out on their inaugural first round pick, as John Simmons didn't sign after going 23rd overall in 1969, the 1970 MLB Draft became all the more important.

And in that draft they went with OF/C Rex Goodson at eighth overall who, unfortunately for the Royals, never turned into anything remotely worth a high round pick, let alone a Top 10 one.

Goodson would play just 299 minor league games in four minor league seasons, never making it past Double-A. To make matters worse, at his highest level, he only managed to slash .187/.261/.201.

He'd be out of affiliated baseball by the age of 21.

2. OF Chris Lubanski - 1st Round, 5th overall in 2003

Chris Lubanski entered the 2003 MLB Draft with a hefty weight on his shoulders, capturing Gatorade Player of the Year honors in 2003 as the top high school baseball player in the country. For reference, the likes of Gary Sheffield (1989), Alex Rodriguez (1993), Clayton Kershaw (2006) and Royals legends Zack Greinke (2002) and Bobby Witt Jr. (2019) are the types of players who've also captured this award.

But unlike them, not only did Lubanski not make nearly the major league impact those names did, he didn't make a major league impact at all.

Lubanski hit well enough to have Royals fans dream what could've been, with a career minor league AVG of .278 AVG and OPS of .815, but injuries cut his career short, as after leaving the Royals organization in 2009, he'd be out of affiliated baseball by 2011.

1. LHP Asa Lacy - 1st round, 4th overall in 2020

Finally, we have Asa Lacy, who still technically has a chance to move down on this list (or even off of it). However, the more days that pass without him on the mound, the less likely that looks.

When the Royals drafted Lacy at fourth overall in 2020, it looked like they netted somewhat of a steal if you can believe it, as he was ranked amongst the top three draft prospects that season.

But between a shoulder injury in 2021, a back injury in 2022 and 2023, and then requiring Tommy John surgery in 2024, Lacy hasn't taken the mound since 2022.

And when he has been on the field, a 2.35 ERA in the Arizona Fall League in 2021 has been the highlight of his professional career, as 10.61 ERA in rookie all and 11.25 ERA in Double-A in 2022 have both been key reasons as to why Lacy holds a minor league career ERA of 7.65 in just two seasons.