Royals: 5 prospects who could join big league club in 2020

There is another University of Florida hurler that could potentially receive service time in the big leagues in 2020.

A college teammate of Singer’s, Jackson Kowar is 6-foot, 5-inch dominating presence on the mound.  Kowar was also selected in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft, coming in at #33.

While his record his last year at Florida dropped from 12-1 the 2017 season to 10-5, all of his important metrics improved.  His strikeouts per nine innings exploded from 7.0 to 9.2, his WHIP dropped .20 points, and the hits per nine innings decreased by 1.6.

Assigned to the Lexington Legends that summer Kowar made nine starts with relatively short stints and continued to improve on the numbers he produced in college.  In 2019 he gave an equal amount of starts to both Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas.  His performance with the Blue Rocks earned him a Mid-Season All-Star bid.

https://twitter.com/WilmBlueRocks/status/1141146479471599616

Paired with his college teammate was beneficial to both players as they adapted to the grind of a full minor league season.  Even though his winning percentage went from .625 to .222 with the jump from Advanced-A to Double-AA, he pitched better than at the beginning of the year.

The shakiness of the Kansas City Royals pitching staff could easily create an opportunity for Kowar to make his way to Kauffman Stadium in 2020.  Having just turned 23 and with a year and a half of profession ball under his belt already, he has a chance to handle the duties.