Kansas City Royals: Sam McWilliams makes Spring Training debut

Kansas City Royals Rule 5 selection Sam McWilliams made his Spring Training debut against the Oakland Athletics.

There was a lot of anticipation for Sam McWilliams to throw in a Kansas City Royals uniform, and now he has. With his first outing out of the way it will be interesting to watch where he goes from here.

Not only did McWilliams make his debut, but for whatever it is worth he was the starting pitcher. He threw a scoreless first inning, giving up a single to Marcus Semien and striking Jurickson Profar. Things began to unravel as he strolled out there for second inning.

It started with McWilliams hitting Stephen Piscotty, who was then thrown out on the next play. That would be McWilliams last out of the day. He gave up singles to Mark Canha and Chad Pinder, then walked Dustin Fowler and Robbie Grossman. After that, Kyle Zimmer entered the game.

Takeaways

All things considered this was not a terrible outing. He did walk a pair, and give up a trio of hits and runs, but it was his first crack at big league Spring Training. His first inning was solid, then it seemed like nerves got to him.

The key will be to see how McWilliams is his next time out. Now that he has the first one out of the way, it should be less nerve-wracking whenever he gets another crack at it.

Some of the negative things are just simply not in his profile, so they are not worrisome yet. McWilliams’ control carries and average grade on MLB Pipeline. In his 403.1 innings in the minors, he’s hit a total of 17 batters with a K/BB ratio of 305/109. The point being that there is nothing of concern today, it all seems like just nerves.

Moving Forward

There is little doubt that McWilliams will have a spot on the roster come Opening Day. He is only 23 years old with a 6’7″ frame and could be a decent rotation piece when all is said and done. However, this is baseball and nothing is a sure thing.

The Kansas City Royals had the flexiblity to carry two Rule 5 picks last year, but it seems increasingly likely that the team will only carry one. We have yet to see Chris Ellis throw, but it should be coming soon.

With that appearing as a position battle, McWilliams’ next outing will be a big one. He needs to find a way to calm his nerves, especially if things start to go wrong. This time around, it is not a big deal. He showed promise.

The Kansas City Royals will be hoping that whichever, if either, Rule 5 pick is kept will take a Brad Keller like path to success. Of the two, McWilliams seems to be the more likely choice.