Kansas City Royals: Prospect rewind and interview, Alec Marsh

Drafted in the second round of the 2019 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals, Alec Marsh put together a solid season with Idaho Falls.

It’s easy to see why the Kansas City Royals liked the Arizona State hurler, enough to select him with their Competitive Balance pick in the second round. Alec Marsh put up terrific numbers in his final season with the Sun Devils, tossing 96.2 innings with 92 strikeouts and a 3.17 ERA. He limited opponents to a 0.241 batting average but he also walked 33 batters.

Once signed, the 21-year-old was assigned to Idaho Falls, where he made 13 starts to close out the regular season. In those starts, Marsh tossed 33.1 innings with 38 strikeouts while allowing just 4 free passes and an opponents’ batting average of 0.238. We had the chance to catch up with him about the draft and his time with the Royals thus far.

Q: Coming out of Arizona State, what was the draft process like for you and had you met with anyone from the Royals prior to being selected? After the draft, can you walk us through how the Royals determined that Idaho Falls would be the best place to start?

A: The draft process was stressful, to say the least. Being a prospect going through my junior year it was all about winning for me especially the first half of the season. As it got closer to the draft, the pressure started to kick in but I loved it. I love being in high-pressure situations and I think the draft always was in the back of my mind as it is everyone’s but learning to cope with that made me such a better player because I was able to put it in the back of my mind and focus on the task at hand.

Before the draft, I met with Kenneth Munoz who is a scout for the Royals and it was great talking to him. We spoke briefly but the Royals were not a team that showed the most interest going into the draft so it was a big surprise when it happened. After the draft, we reported to the Surprise Stadium and did all of our physical testing and what not and they asked me how my body felt and arm after throwing 105 innings for ASU that year and I said great I was pretty much ready to rock and get back on the field.

We had a brief meeting and they said I was going to go to Idaho Falls to start the short season and I was very excited because there was some speculation that I might have been shut down due to what they have done in the past with some higher draft pitchers. I was sent off the next day and drove by myself to start a day later for the Chukars. Not nervous at all just ready to play baseball and help a team win once again. After a disappointing postseason with ASU, winning a championship for Idaho Falls was much needed.