Royals Draft Recap: Day 2

The Royals followed up their first round selection of Kyle Zimmer on Monday by adding a mix of players in day two of the amateur draft.

Of their 14 picks on Tuesday, eight come out of high school and half of their picks were pitchers.

Their full draft through 15 rounds:

1. Kyle Zimmer – RHP – San Francisco
2. Sam Selman – LHP – Vanderbilt
3. Colin Rodgers – LHP – High school (Louisiana)
4. Kenny Diekroeger – SS – Stanford
5. Chad Johnson – C – High school (Illinois)
6. Zachary Lovvorn – RHP – High school (Alabama)
7. Fred Ford – OF – Jefferson College (Missouri)
8. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado – OF – High school (Florida)
9. Daniel Stumpf – LHP – San Jacinto College (Texas)
10. Alexis Rivera – OF – High school (Florida)
11. Zebulon Sneed – RHP – Northwest Nazarene College (Idaho)
12. Jackson Willeford – 2B – High school (California)
13. Hunter Haynes – LHP – High school (Missouri)
14. “Parker” Mike Morin – C – Utah
15. Dylan Sons – LHP – High school (Virginia)

Of the seven pitchers selected on Tuesday, five are left-handed, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s followed the Royals. They love left-handed pitching in the draft.

Selman didn’t pitch much in many innings at Vanderbilt until this year when he settled into the role. MLB.com wonders if he’ll sign or return to Vanderbilt for his last year while they also note that his secondary pitches could use refinement. He struck out 80 batters in 76 innings during his junior season.

Kenny Diekroeger is interesting. He turned down big money before going to Stanford in the past, but looked like a top 10 pick at one point. If he finally signs this time, he could be a few refinements from pushing Christian Colon and Johnny Giavotella at second (where most think he’ll end up rather than shortstop).

Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado has an awesome name and just turned 17 in February. He could be interesting but that’s way down the line.

Daniel Stumpf struck out 108 batters in 111 innings in junior college. Dylan Sons was described as a “projectible lefty” by Royals scout Lonnie Goldberg.

The Royals haven’t selected a college senior yet, which has seemed to be a trend through the first 15 rounds. The Royals have around $6.2 million to allot to their first ten selections. Some of the risk noted by draft commentators is that underclassmen have some leverage to ask for a higher bonus, so the Royals may not sign all of their top 10 (which isn’t that unusual most years for any team).

They’ll look to continue to add depth and find those hidden gems in the last 25 rounds of the draft starting Wednesday at 11 a.m. CST on  MLB.com. The crew at Seedlings to Stars is going through draft selections as well while they follow the action.