Kansas City Royals: Minor league players of the year, Part II

Texas League (AA):

Although he has been with the Royals for four years, #4 prospect Khalil Lee (CF) is still just 21 years old having been drafted in the third round out of high school in 2016. After struggling a bit in a 29 game stint with the Naturals in ’18, Lee really blossomed this season producing a .264/.363/.372 slash. His speed exploded as shown by the 53 stolen bags (besting his career-high by 33) and only being caught 12 times.

Even though not a large part of his game, it would be nice to see a bit more pop out of Lee but a start in Omaha seems almost guaranteed next season.

The second pitcher from “The Draft” on this list, Brady Singer did not disappoint in 2019. The 6’5″ right-hander was given the summer off after Kansas City selected him in the first round in ’18 to prevent arm fatigue. He performed very well with the Legends to begin this year and earned a promotion to Northwest Arkansas mid-season.

His numbers against AA batters were not as dominate as the lower level but for a first-year pro, they were very good. He posted a 7-3 record in 16 starts, struck out 85 over 90 plus frames while only walking 26. His last 10 games should give Royals fans reasons to be very excited as his ERA was only 2.18 with a WHIP of 1.00.

To show what a quality person he is, Singer had a Twitter post that documents when he gave his parents a letter on Christmas Day 2018.  It reads that with his signing bonus he was paying off the debt they had accumulated while supporting him throughout his amateur baseball playing days. It is an extremely touching moment and speaks to the heart this young man has. The #2 prospect will hopefully be a mainstay in the Kansas City clubhouse for years to come.