Kansas City Royals: Top prospects expected to start at Single-A

Kansas City Royals top prospects Bobby Witt Jr. and Brady McConnell are expected to begin the 2020 season with Single-A Lexington.

The Kansas City Royals could soon get a glimpse of their top prospect after playing the remainder of the 2019 season in Rookie League. Bobby Witt Jr. was selected with the second overall pick in June’s draft and was ranked as the best high school shortstop in the country. As noted, after being drafted, Witt was sent to Arizona to get his feet wet with professional baseball. He posted a respectable 0.262/0.317/0.354 line with 2 doubles, 5 triples, 1 home run, 27 RBI, and 9 stolen bases in 37 games.

Not long after hearing Witt’s name called, Brady McConnell was selected with the Royals’ second-round pick. He played his college ball at the University of Florida and required just 2 games in the Arizona Rookie League before being assigned to Idaho Falls. There, McConnell slashed 0.211/0.286/0.382 with 12 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, and 22 RBI’s in 38 games. Both he and Witt’s natural positions are at shortstop but McConnell was listed as an outfielder on the Instructional League roster.

Obviously, the Royals knew there was a log-jam not only within the lower levels of the minors but also at the big league level. But it appears they are going to keep Witt at shortstop and McConnell will have to be extremely versatile to get his playing time. In a sense, he reminds me a lot of Whit Merrifield, not just because of his versatility but also similar in stature.

Witt should soon begin tapping into the highly-regarded power and it will be on full display next season. With reports coming from the Instructional League indicating that his batting practice home runs have been traveling at least 460 feet, it’s not hard to get excited about what the future holds for him.

And not just him. McConnell seems like he can get overshadowed due to the nature of Witt being the second overall pick in the 2019 draft. However, with an impressive 0.332/0.385/0.576 line to go along with 15 bombs and 48 RBI’s as a sophomore, the dynamic of the Royals’ future lineup could consist of a ton of power.