Kansas City Royals: Reviewing debut seasons for top 2017 draft picks

LHP, Holden Capps, eight round, pick No. 240, Central Oklahoma

You might have sensed a pattern, so far. The Kansas City Royals really like drafting left-handed pitchers, so much so that it borders on an obsession. One of the many who wound up being taken by the organization in the first 10 rounds came out of a small Oklahoma college. Holden Capps, who’s originally from Lawton, Oklahoma, didn’t perform as well as some of his fellow lefties in his inaugural season.

After making four appearances, stretching over 12 innings, in the Arizona League, Capps started nine games for Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. He showed an ability to keep balls on the ground with a stellar 2.45:1 groundout-to-flyout ratio, while limiting opponents to just two home runs over 53 total innings. However, that’s where the positives end.

Capps pitched decent enough in his limited time with the AZL Royals. He put up an 0-1 record with a 3.00 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He allowed one out of every four batters to reach via a base hit, and his 11 strikeouts to four walks aren’t exactly great. Things went further south as he traveled north to Idaho Falls.

Over his nine starts in the Pioneer League, Capps allowed 33 runs (25 earned). He allowed 52 hits and 15 walks, against 34 strikeouts, over 41 innings. That worked itself out to a 5.49 ERA, a 1.63 WHIP and a .313 batting average against. The 22-year-old will need to show more if he has any chance to make good on his eighth-round selection.