Kansas City Royals Select Ashe Russell with the 21st Pick

Last night, the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft got underway. It is certainly an exciting time, as fans hope their teams can draft the next bright star to lead their franchise to the Promised Land. While it may be a lot of pressure to place upon a player who has yet to see a day of professional baseball, such is the nature of being one of the top picks int he draft.

With the 21st pick in this year’s draft, the Kansas City Royals selected high school pitcher Ashe Russell. Russell, a right handed pitcher from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Russell is an intriguing prospect, an 18 year old high school pitcher who has touched 96 on the radar gun with his fastball and is considered to have a solid breaking ball as well. While it is far too soon to be comparing Russell to other major league players, his slider was compared to Noah Syndergaard‘s by Dan Plesac. Likewise, the major league pitcher most commonly listed as a comparison to Russell is Clay Buchholz.

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Seeing both pitcher’s deliveries, it is easy to see why that comparison would be made. Both have the same sort of three quarters delivery, and as Buchholz sits in the mid 90’s with his fastball and could have a comparable slider. However, given Buchholz track record and ongoing injury issues, this is certainly enough to give one reason to pause.

Yet, this comparison could certainly be a positive. There is no denying the pure stuff that Buchholz has. When he is on, and his head is right, he can be as dominant a pitcher as there is in baseball, as evidenced by his 2013 season, when he was 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA and a 1.025 WHiP. The problem is, Buchholz only pitched 16 games there year due to yet another injury. If Russell has the mental strength that Buchholz seems to be lacking, then the Kansas City Royals truly have an intriguing arm that they added to the system.

Right now, according to Baseball America, Ashe Russell is considered to be a possible middle of the rotation starter. If his stuff can translate, and he can truly turn into a Clay Buchholz type of pitcher, then the ceiling is much higher than what he is currently projected to be. Plus, at only 18 years of age, Russell has a lot of room to grow.

Ashe Russell is a thoroughly intriguing prospect for the Kansas City Royals. It may be a few years before he is able to make his mark in Kansas City, but it will be fun to watch his progress through the Royals system.

Next: Five Best Draft Picks in Kansas City Royals History