KC Royals Wish List: Second wave of pitching prospects

The debut of two starters in 2020 went very well, and we hope the KC Royals will call on more prospects to take the mound next season.

Happy Holidays and welcome back to Kings of Kauffman’s “KC Royals Wish List” series. For the 12 days leading up to Christmas, our writers are sharing their holiday wishes for the Royals. Whether they’re more offseason improvements, success in 2021, or hope for the future, anything could be in store. Today, our wish is for the second wave of pitching prospects.

KC Royals fans hoped the much-heralded draft class of 2018 was going to propel the team to greater heights. Until the rubber meets the road, you never know for sure how things will turn out, but Kris Bubic and Brady Singer met expectations and more during the 2020 season.

With those two young arms established in the Kansas City rotation, we look forward to seeing even more positive results from others. Two pitchers knocking on the door are Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch.  Both were rumored to be very close to seeing big league action last season.

Someone who could force his way into the conversation and appear on the roster more quickly than expected is the fourth overall pick in 2002, Asa Lacy. He has great stuff, but a full season in the minors is probably in the plans.

Two other potential stars on the mound are Daniel Tillo and Jonathan Bowlan. They both put up fine seasons in 2019; although Tillo had Tommy John surgery in August and will probably miss all of 2021, the Royals recently added him to the 40-man roster, so he’s smoothing a path to an eventual major league call-up.

The signing of Mike Minor could slow down the potential debut of any of these young hurlers. It was refreshing to see the club put Brady Singer and Kris Bubic in position to show their stuff. Hopefully, the Royals allow more pitching prospects to make their big league debuts in 2021.