Hope may be lost for former Royals first-round pick as his injury nightmare continues

The focus among the Kansas City Royals fanbase in recent days has revolved around their start to the 2026 major league campaign.

However, between action going on among the other 29 teams as well as the start of the minor league season, there's plenty of other things that the Royals faithful can focus on.

And last week Royals fans got to see their first minor league roster when the Triple-A Omaha Strom Chasers released their Opening Day roster.

But the Royals sphere also learned of which prospects and farmhands would be starting the season on the injured list and to no ones surprise, Asa Lacy found himself back on the shelf.

Former Royals first-rounder, Asa Lacy lands on injured list to start 2026 season

The move appeared to fly under the radar as it officially occurred on March 17 according to his MLB.com player profile, but many Royals fans learned of Lacy's status right before the season got underway.

At this point the exact ailment Lacy is suffering from this time around appears unknown, but between a previous Tommy John surgery and multiple instances of back problems, there's plenty of assumptions to be made on what could be the culprit.

Whatever it is though, it's bad enough for the Royals' Double-A affiliate in Northwest Arkansas to place him on 60-day IL.

The now 26-year-old was a top five selection in the 2020 MLB Draft with Kansas City picking him at No. 4 overall. And there was plenty of reason for fans to be hyped about the Texas A&M product, as the southpaw ranked amongst the Top 30 prospects in baseball according to MLB Pipeline back in 2021.

However, given all of his injuries, he's gone from potential frontline starter to many likely wondering if he'll ever pitch again. He hasn't pitched in affiliated ball since 2022, has never appeared above Double-A and has just 80.0 combined minor league innings in his professional career.

It's not as if the Royals must patiently wait for Lacy's return either. Their MLB rotation is currently a strength and the farm system, while not overly exciting in comparison to rest of the league, has been replenished with plenty of promising names on the mound.

This could go down as the saddest story in Royals prospect history. The once draft steal with ace potential arguably now becoming the biggest draft bust in Royals franchise history.

All the Royals can do now is play the all too familiar waiting game with Lacy and hope that perhaps one day he can return to the mound.