Kansas City Royals: Diving into each of draft picks

The Kansas City Royals 2020 draft class has a lot of potential difference-makers already. But how do they truly fit within the organization’s future plans?

Going into the 2020 draft, we all thought we knew who the first three picks were going to go. Detroit was going to take Spencer Torkelson, Baltimore was going to take Austin Martin, and Miami was going to take Asa Lacy.

Of course though, after the first pick where Detroit took Torkelson, everyone had to tear up their mock drafts since both Baltimore and Miami went in a different direction than originally thought. This turned out to be a dream scenario for the Royals.

Due to this draft being just five rounds, a lot of MLB front-office execs also had to be strategic on who they took. “Reaching” for players wasn’t as prevalent with the record number of college players taken.

Front-offices also have a new component to the draft they need to prepare for because players who normally would have been drafted are now undrafted free agents and every team has a chance for him. In fact, the Royals’ last pick was one that many teams believed they could have gotten in free agency, which could result in the Royals stealing one from other teams.

Now that the draft is over, we can start looking at how each of the newly drafted Royals’ fits within the team’s future, and play the dangerous game on “MLB Comps”.

With the 4th Pick, LHP Asa Lacy

Martin and Lacy both fell to Kansas City, which was a dream scenario no one thought would happen. However, it was one Dayton Moore and the other front office members seemed to get information on a couple of hours before the draft, causing them to change directions. Moore said they were fully ready to take a position player before they received this intel information, causing them to have conversations on what they would do if this happened.

In an interview with Royals MLB beat reporter, Jeffrey Flanagan, assistant general manager Lonnie Goldberg said:

“We made the advance decision,” Goldberg said, “that if that scenario happened, we would take Asa Lacy. … There just aren’t that many [people] on this earth with his kind of talent.

What are they getting with Asa Lacy?

To put it simply, the Royals are getting a workhorse. He’s a power pitcher who will eat innings and could easily dominate hitters. He has a fastball that touches mid-to-upper 90s, a hard slider and curve in the low-to-mid 80s, and his favorite pitch an above-average changeup. All four of his pitches are solid pitches as well.

During the shortened season, Lacy posting a 0.75 ERA over 24.0 innings with 46 strikeouts and just 8 walks. Probably more impressive than that is the fact that he allowed just nine hits. Meaning only 17 hitters reached base, resulting in his .0708 WHIP. That is impressive.

But Lacy hasn’t been good for just one year. Over Lacy’s three years at Texas A&M, he posted a 2.07 ERA over 152.0 innings. He struck out 224 hitters and walked just 68 hitters. He’s sporting a career 1.013 WHIP, 13.3 SO/9, a 4.0 BB9, and a 5.1 H9 as well.

Why you should be excited

When looking at what Lacy brings to the big-league level, he has a couple of comparisons. One, Clayton Kershaw. Another is Blake Snell.

Lacy grew up idolizing Kershaw, which would make sense as to why he has some similarities to Kershaw. While Snell had an off-year last year, his 2018 season was a very impressive season, resulting in him winning the American League Cy Young.

Lacy has the makings of leading an already impressive pitching wave while moving quickly through the system.

With the 32nd pick, SS Nick Loftin

This is another great pick for the Royals. Nick Loftin is the definition of a versatile player. While playing with Team USA, Loftin played second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and right field. While his primary, and probably best position, is shortstop, this is an intriguing find for the Royals.

Where does Nick Loftin fit?

That is a fair question to ask. In 2019, the Royals used their No.2 overall pick on shortstop Bobby Witt Jr, then used their next pick on Florida shortstop Brady McConnell. While they eventually moved McConnell to the outfield, Witt Jr stayed at shortstop. However, looking at the big league level, the Royals have Adalberto Mondesi holding down the shortstop position. So where does Loftin fit?

The first option would be to give him the Whit Merrifield treatment and move him all over the place, giving players a rest day when needed.

A second option requires some movement to happen, assuming all things go right with player development. The Royals would need to move Witt Jr to third base and Mondesi to centerfield. This would allow Nicky Lopez to stay at his natural position of second base and Loftin to play his better position of shortstop.

Obviously other options can happen, and players develop differently over time. With Loftin’s versatility though, anything could be possible.

What Nick Loftin brings to the Royals

As mentioned above, Loftin brings defensive versatility and has great range defensively with an above-average arm. He won’t hit with a lot of power, hitting just 8 triples and 17 homeruns through 180 college and summer league games, but he could develop into a gap hitter as his slugging percentage increased every year.

Interestingly enough, Loftin and Merrifield do have similarities. Both had minimal power numbers in college and both can play multiple positions at a high level. If Merrifield’s increase in power is an indicator or what Loftin can achieve, the Royals have a franchise player in Loftin.

With the 41st pick, RHP Ben Hernandez

In the second round, they took their one and only high schooler, pitcher Ben Hernandez. He has a dominant changeup, which is considered the best changeup of the draft and comparable to Hall of Fame closer, Trevor Hoffman (wow).

He pairs his low-80s changeup with an above-average fastball that hits the mid-90s. He’s consistent with his fastball, which paired with his changeup could be a devastating duo for hitters.

He also has a curveball that’s in the mid-70s as a third pitch. It’s not as sharp as his fastball and changeup, but for an 18-year-old who is able to repeat his pitching motion consistently, he has a lot of upsides.

Where he fits with the Royals

He may be further away from the big leagues than the tsunami coming through the system right now, but that could be a benefit for the Royals. Having a pitcher like Hernandez, paired with Yefri Del Rosario and Yohanse Morel, who is a bit further away, could help the Royals continue a wave of pitching success instead of it being a one wave event.

With the 76th pick, OF Tyler Gentry

The Royals took their second position play of four picks, taking Tyler Gentry from Alabama. The one thing that stands out is something MLB Prospect Pipeline wrote.

He shows the ability to hit for both average and power if he maintains his plate discipline.

The Royals have not been a team known for its power. Gentry is thought to have some raw power to his swing while having a solid swing rating.

As a freshman at Walters State Community College, Gentry hit .379/.472/.729 with 32 extra-base hits, including 18 homeruns. This caught the eye of Alabama and Gentry transferred for his sophomore year. His continued success against the SEC, which is considered one of the best, if not the best, baseball conference, isn’t something to take lightly.

Even though it was an abbreviated season, he increased his slugging percentage from .552 to .750 and improved his plate discipline, drawing 10 walks compared to just 10 strikeouts over 17 games.

Why you should be excited about Tyler Gentry

In an interview with Alec Lewis of The Athletic, Royals’ area scout Travis Ezi acknowledged the power potential that Gentry has. He said that watching him hit and seeing his power reminds him of former big-leaguer Jason Bay. When you look at Bay’s career numbers, he hit .266/.360/.481 with 240 doubles, 30 triples, and 222 homeruns over his 11 years.

However, if you look at his “prime” six years splits, Bay hit .280/.375/.519 with 186 doubles, 22 triples, and 181 homeruns. He also nearly had five years of at least 25 doubles and 25 homeruns. If Ezi is right and the Royals go another Jason Bay, then the Royals’ will get great value for a third-round pick.

With the 105th pick, LHP Christian Chamberlain

Christian Chamberlain was taken in the 4th round at pick No.105 and is probably a bullpen arm, rather than a starter. With the ability to ramp a fastball up the mid-90s, paired with a 12-6 curveball and a solid changeup, Chamberlain has a chance to be a solid bullpen piece, if not a back-end rotational arm.

According to Alec Lewis of The Athletic, assistant scouting director Dan Ontiveros sees a lot of similarities between Chamberlain and former Royals’ Tim Collins and Brandon Finnegan. While Collins and Finnegan don’t have great career numbers, while in Kansas City they weren’t too bad. Collins had a 3.54 ERA and a 9.4 SO9 and 220 strikeouts over 211.0 innings. Finnegan, who went from pitching in the 2014 College World Series at TCU to helping the Royals in the 2014 playoff run, posted a career 2.59 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 31.1 innings and 21 games.

Chamberlain has improved every year, finishing his time at Oregon State with a 0.82 ERA over 22.0 innings and four starts. His WHIP dropped from 1.276 his sophomore year to 0.773 his junior year, allowing just six hits and 11 walks. He also struck out 34 hitters.

While he spent more time as a bullpen pitcher, appearing in 47 games and making just 10 starts, he showed scouts and the Royals that he could be a back-end starter, or potentially make a spot start if needed at the big-league level.

With the 135th pick, RHP Will Klein

Pitcher Will Klein is the last pick for the Royals at No.135 and he might be a steal considering the number of rumors that teams were going to try and get him in undrafted free agent pool, instead of in the draft. He has a great SO9 percentage over his career (12.8 SO9), however, he gives up a lot of base hits and walks a lot of batters in comparison to how many innings he’s actually pitched.

One of the enticing things about Klein though is the gas he throws. He’s been clocked at 98mph with his fastball, and it has some life to it. Based on what we have seen from pitchers who have been recently drafted by the Royals too, all have increased their fastball velocity as soon as the coaches started working with them.

If the coaching staff can help Klein get more command of his pitches, and he increases his velocity to be in the high 90s consistently, with the occasional triple-digit fastball, Klein could easily find his way into the Royals bullpen.