***Official 2022 Royals Season Repository Thread***

[ChiefsCountry]

For all things Royals in 2022. #3 minor league system according to Baseball America. The Bobby Witt era should begin this year. Will Salvy still be the homerun king? How does the glut of infield players work out? Will the young pitchers take the next step?

Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Zack Greinke, P
Amir Garrett, P
Taylor Clarke, P

Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Bobby Witt, SS
2. Asa Lacy, P
3. MJ Melendez, C
4. Nick Pratto, 1B
5. Jackson Kowar, P
6. Kyle Isabel, OF
7. Frank Mozzicato, P
8. Ben Kudrna, P
9. Jonathan Bowlan, P
10. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B

Duncan's Top Royals Prospects

Spoiler!

1. Bobby Witt, Jr., SS. MLB.
This status lasts about another 4 weeks, but let’s take a moment to appreciate having the top guy in the minor league prospects lists for at least a little while longer. Witt has prodigious ability and the question is really just IF he can meet it. They have not had a prospect like this in my lifetime, and really probably ever. Combine insane raw physical skills (right there with Adalberto Mondesi and Willie Wilson in the ranks right behind Bo Jackson) with unbelievable work ethic, a humble-but-confident nature, and already having shown he can struggle and overcome to achieve big success, and you have the tools for a show-stopping centerpiece. Oh, and throw in the former-player’s kid aspect on it on top of things, and there is every reason to believe he’s going to succeed and succeed big.
2. M.J. Melendez, C, AAA Omaha.
I was early on putting him in this slot last year, and I don’t regret it. The power, the ability to be a good defender behind the dish as well as having the athletic ability to play 3B or LF, too, and you have a really valuable overall piece and FANTASTIC understudy for Salvador Perez.
3. Asa Lacy, LHP. AA Northwest Arkansas
Whoa, let’s get crazy again. Lacy has outstanding stuff. Top of the system. He got hurt and lost his command during COVID times, but appears to be back on track so far this spring. If his command sticks, this is a guy who can move quickly. And his ceiling is really second to nobody in the minor league pitching ranks.
4. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B. AA Northwest Arkansas
Vinnie starts the season back at AA due to the guy who follows him on the list here. He just hits, folks. I love his combination of contact, loud contact, plate discipline, and lack of strikeouts. The Billy Butler comparisons are annoying (in that I will NEVER refer to this man as Italian Breakfast except in the instance that just occurred), but the Billy Butler comparisons are also fairly apt… if you made Butler a lefthanded hitter, AND improved his body/athleticism from a 20 to a 40, AND if you added that little extra touch of power we all wished Butler could consistently find.
5. Nick Pratto, 1B, AAA Omaha.
Hey, let’s stay at 1B. Pratto has flashy power and I love his batting eye AND his hand-eye coordination. The hair he’s been rocking this spring is also pretty sweet. I slot him just behind Pasquantino simply because I think his bat profile is more volatile. The glove and arm are sweet/plus for 1B, though.
6. Jonathan Bowlan, RHP, AAA Omaha
Bowlan is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and this ranking is assuming that recovering is successful. If it his, you’re talking about a big, consistent SP who throws hard enough and has enough of a repertoire to really make things happen. If the recovery goes well, he may be shuttling to the majors in July to reinforce the rotation.
7. Nick Loftin, CF, AA Omaha.
Loftin is a guy who has really grown on me. I saw him as a quasi super-utility guy when the Royals drafted him, The full-time shift to CF (which means they think he has the speed and the overall defensive ability to handle CF in Kansas City) adds a lot of value here. The ultimate positive offensive upside is similar to peak Whit Merrifield, maybe with a touch more early power.
8. Michael Massey, 2B, AA Northwest Arkansas.
Massey was an absolute revelation last year, hitting for power and average and keeping his K rate down while playing a really strong 2B. He has a very sweet, short lefthanded stroke. This is another aggressive rating, but Massey has proven himself through a tough minor league assignment already, and the arrow is pointed up.
9. Ben Kudrna, RHP, Rookie Ball
Kudrna is a big, physical specimen with a lot of upside and potential. The fastball and slider are already nearly MLB-level in terms of velocity and movement (command needs work). Kudrna is a guy who, with luck, and health, and good development, could ascend to the top of a rotation.
10. Frank Mozzicato, LHP, Rookie Ball.
Mozzicato has a curveball that suggests he has a feel for spin. If you want to dream, you hope that the next 2-3 years turn the 175 he weighed when drafted into a rock-solid 220/225 and carries with it an increase in fastball velocity from 90-91, sitting 87-88, to 96-97, sitting 93-94. You pair his ability to spin the ball (which also suggests he should be able to easily master a sweeper slider) with that type of fastball velo and a changeup he already has a feel for, and it’s an exciting profile.

He has a little more to go in terms of growing into that projectability than Kudrna, which is why he slots right behind him.
11. Alec Marsh, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Marsh missed a lot of 2021 to injury, but the hard-throwing righthander is another guy who could move quickly once the minor league season starts. He’s undeniably got the stuff of a quality major-league pitcher. The question is if he can master enough command to cash it in. This guy is a great example of TINSTAAPP.
12. Angel Zerpa, LHP, AAA Omaha
Zerpa might quickly outperform this slot. His stuff ticked up in 21 and he ended the season making a start in the majors. He’s nice depth to have, and honestly, I’m a big fan of just throwing numbers at pitching. Zerpa definitely helps create the depth you need to generate a top-notch and reliable home-grown rotation.
13. Maikel Garcia, SS, AA Northwest Arkansas
Garcia is a really intriguing hitter, a righthanded hitter who has a nice combination of contact skills and control of the strike zone (this cousin of Alcides Escobar is less savvy with the glove and more savvy at the plate). The Royals protected him for a reason (he’s on the 40-man).
14. Carter Jensen, C, A ??
Jensen is a local product whose bat will probably push him off C (as well as the Royals depth at that spot throughout the organization). This is a future 1B profile, and a nice one. He makes a lot of loud contact and shows an ability to lift the ball. Should be fun to watch this year.
15. Ben Hernandez, RHP, A+ Quad Rivers
Hernandez missed a good part of 2021 but still has that butterfly changeup and a classic pitcher’s profile. He’ll need to find a reliable swing-and-miss secondary to make it in the bigs, but if not, the fastball velocity and changeup should make him a quality high-leverage reliver.
16. Dylan Coleman, RHP, AAA Omaha
Speaking of relievers, Coleman is a hard-throwing righthander who probably spends most of 22 in the Royals’ pen. ½ of the compensation for the Rosenthal trade a few years back, Coleman has a big fastball and nasty breaking ball.
17. Will Klein, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Speaking of relivers, everything I just said about Coleman? Yeah, you can say it about Klein, too. Klein regularly toyed with hitters at high A last year, striking out 121 hitters in just 70 1/3 innings pitched. For those counting at home, that’s a 15.5 K/9 rate. Yep. That’ll play.
18. Anthony Veneziano, LHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Here’s another big, power arm. Veneziano hasn’t been relegated to bullpen only yet, though. His fastball bumped into the high 90s last year on a starter’s workload. He’s still looking for a changeup, but if he doesn’t find it, you’re looking at a really promising future bullpen fireballer.
19. Erick Pena, OF, A ?
Pena did… not have a strong 2021 full season debut. His struggles look a lot like those of Pratto and Melendez in 2019. Pena has the same type of raw toolkit to work from as those two, with great hands and natural power. He needs to fix a hitch in his swing and calm it down, but so did Melendez. Of this second ten grouping, Pena has the highest upside and could jump right into the top 5 of the org ranks.
20. Darryl Collins, OF, A+
Collins is an international signing out of Europe. I like the hitting package here – good eye and contact skills. He needs to make more loud contact, but if he can, really a nice guy.

Overall takeaways:
This is a system with a lot of depth. We could go another 10-12 deep and still be talking about guys with a good shot to make the majors. The changes to the organization’s approach are bearing fruit, as even less-heralded draftees are stepping forward.

The combination of upside (Witt, Melendez, Lacy), depth, and guys you can dream on is fun. It may not produce quite as much as the 2011 group did, but it does offer a more sustainable system, less reliant on a few big-ticket guys.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

The Royals clearly have a system wide deficiency in developing pitchers, specifically in the control department. And I am sure he is loving struggling like this. But yes, go ahead and give a 23 year old kid one of your juvenile nicknames. Punching down is unbecoming.

Don’t feel bad for him, he got paid $7M to do nothing

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Mathney and Eldred are gone because of what happened in the first 54.

That, and less than 20,000 in attendance on a Saturday night. Demonstrates how the fans feel about the likeability of the team that was assembled in April, and their confidence level in the current regime.

[KChiefs1]

David Lesky: Weekend In Review: A Crowded Roster, a Very Rookie Weekend and a Seven Home Game Week

The weekend started with a slight thud, but then featured two of the most fun wins of the year.

Spoiler!

Don’t be too obvious, but if you look around, you can start to see some optimism. After trading Carlos Santana in June and then Andrew Benintendi and Whit Merrifield around the deadline, the Royals have stocked their roster with young players almost exclusively. Only three players are getting regular playing time who are older than 27 years old. Heck, only four are older than 25. You wanted the Baby Royals, well you got them. And then when you add in what we’ve seen from Brady Singer, Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch, well, it’s easy to get a little lost in the moment and think about what could be in the very near future with this group.

Sure, it’s only been a few games since the deadline, but in six games, the Royals have averaged 5.3 runs per game. They’ve hit .255/.315/.454 with a walk rate of 8.2 percent. A lot of that came from yesterday’s outstanding game, which I’ll, of course, get to, but 60.7 percent of these plate appearances have come from rookies. If you want to argue the pitching isn’t going to be enough as currently constructed, I’m not going to argue with you because you’re almost assuredly right. But these young bats are a whole lot of fun to watch. There are going to be valleys throughout this, but I think we’ve seen enough from so many of these players that they have the ability to adjust and figure out what they need to do to succeed. I think we can all agree that watching this iteration of the Royals, win or lose, is a lot more fun than what they were running out earlier this season with lineups that were far more veteran-heavy.

The Battle for Playing Time

With all those young players, the Royals have a bit of a problem on their hands, but it’s a good one and it’s a lot of players needing playing time. Of the 13 position players they’re carrying, 11 of them are going to play regularly, with only Sebastian Rivero and Ryan O’Hearn on the bench. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why they’re intent on a third catcher, but I also don’t know that complicating the playing rotation makes things any easier to call someone up like the newly acquired Brent Rooker.

Let’s take a look at the 11 players and where they can play:

Catcher

Salvador Perez
MJ Melendez

First Base

Vinnie Pasquantino
Nick Pratto
Hunter Dozier

Second Base

Michael Massey
Nicky Lopez

Third Base

Bobby Witt Jr.
Nate Eaton
Dozier
Massey
Lopez

Shortstop

Witt
Lopez

Left Field

Melendez
Dozier
Pratto
Kyle Isbel

Center Field

Michael A. Taylor
Isbel
Eaton

Right Field

Isbel
Eaton
Pratto
Melendez
Dozier

There is obviously also a designated hitter spot available for any, but that will likely be filled by Pasquantino most days and Perez on days he doesn’t catch. So the reality is that there are going to be days when someone doesn’t play. Actually, where two someones don’t play. I think the general rule will be that Melendez, Witt and Perez play essentially every day. There’ll be the occasional day off for all of them (well, maybe not Perez), but they’re going to be in there basically every single game.

And the rest are going to move around a bit. You might argue that Dozier shouldn’t play or maybe even Taylor, and that’s fine. I don’t even disagree with that sentiment, but it doesn’t matter what any of us think because this is the way it’s likely going to be. I think part of it is that there’s a slight concern for balance in the lineup. Pratto, Massey, Isbel, Pasquantino, Lopez and Melendez are all lefty bats. It does set the team up for some situations where a lefty reliever could have their way with them. We saw it in Chicago last week when it was four lefties from six through nine and then Melendez at the top of the order. So that’s five straight lefties. I believe that’s where we’ll see some of Taylor and Dozier come in to break that up. Of course, yesterday, Dozier hit fourth and was the third straight righty, but it worked because Taylor and Eaton were in there as well.

The nice thing here is that with eight players for six spots and all of them somewhat versatile, it allows for almost every day at bats for all of them. I want to see Massey in there every single day just like I want to see Pratto and Pasquantino and all of that, but with 53 games left, I’d bet they all play 45 or more of them. There are just going to be days where one or two aren’t there. There have been at least five rookies in every lineup since the trade deadline and that will likely continue the rest of the season. The Baby Royals are here and that’s a good thing.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KChiefs1]

Craig Brown: For the Royals, the future is now

The Royals opened the weekend by celebrating the past but the present is all about the future. And from here, it looks very bright.

Spoiler!

The series with the Red Sox opened with a trip down memory lane as the Royals welcomed back one of their championship heroes. It was fitting that Salvy Perez provided the big hits on Thursday. However, it concluded with the focus firmly on the future as the rookies took charge and led the way to three victories in the four games.

The youth movement was underfoot when the season opened, but with moves to remove some of the veterans from the roster in order to open spots for the rookies, the Baby Royals have arrived. It’s their team now. New leaders are emerging. There will be bumps and bruises along the way, but it feels like there’s a new energy around this club. Something that was absent before is present in abundance.

This team is fun.

Yeah, it’s great when you’re winning. Taking three of four from the Red Sox will make anyone feel good about themselves. Yet you get the feeling this Royals team is just getting started. They’re not overmatched in any facet of the game. They may take their licks, but they dust themselves off and keep pushing ahead. It doesn’t always work, but when it does…It’s something.

The Baby Royals are here to stay. The future is now.

✓
In the 17 games ahead of the All-Star break, the Royals were 8-9. It was, up to that point, their best stretch of the season. In the 17 games since the break, the Royals are…8-9. Perhaps you see that as maintaining the status quo, but the record after the break comes as the Royals dealt away their best all-around player in 2022 in Andrew Benintendi and Whit Merrifield. They’ve fully committed to their young bats and they haven’t lost a step. The numbers may be the same, but the record after the break is much more exciting than how they performed before.

It’s baseball worth watching.


Before the Royals could fully turn the focus to the future, they needed to pay homage to the past. The opening of the series was all about the return of Eric Hosmer to Kansas City and The K for the first time since he left after the 2017 season. You have to feel for the guy…He was shipped to Boston at the trade deadline in a salary dump by the Padres. It was a contract San Diego seemed to regret from almost the moment they signed him.

Conventional wisdom at the time had the Royals as the runners-up in the Hosmer sweepstakes. Can you imagine the state of this team had Hosmer decided to stay in Kansas City? Obviously, some of the other contract extensions wouldn’t have been done, but that contract would’ve really boxed in the Royals. Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you are prevented from making.

Still, it was good to see Hosmer back in Kansas City. Nostalgia can be healthy sometimes and with the Royals finally moving forward after what has been several seasons where they’ve been stuck in neutral, it was a good time to celebrate their former first baseman.

This was MJ Melendez depositing the first pitch of Saturday’s game over the fence in right-center.

The nadir of Melendez’s season was, coincidentally or not, just before the Royals departed for their series in Toronto. The series Melendez missed due to his vaccination status. At that time, he was hitting .217/.309/.406 with a wRC+ of 101. That’s ok. Could’ve been better. Could’ve been worse.

Since then, however…He’s been on some kind of heater. Entering play Sunday, Melendez has hit .279/.353/.508 in 68 plate appearances. That’s good for a 143 wRC+. Much, much better.

There will be more Melendez info to come.

Saturday’s contest was a see-saw affair where both starting pitchers never seemed content to hold a lead. After the Royals and Melendez ambushed Red Sox starter Nate Eovaldi in the first, they taxed Daniel Lynch for a run in the second, coming on an error from Bobby Witt, Jr. at short.

If I’m being honest here (and that’s kind of the point of this entire enterprise, you know) I have to say I’m completely underwhelmed by Witt at shortstop. Well…that’s probably not entirely honest. Sorry! He’s capable of making the amazing, jaw-dropping, highlight-reel play from time to time. He’s also capable of kicking it around. The error Saturday came when Witt tried to play a short hop on high chopper. Not an easy play, but one that really…should’ve been made.

The 2022 Royals were supposed to have a good team defense. That hasn’t happened. Witt at short has been part of the problem. According to The Fielding Bible, he’s been worth -17 Defensive Runs Saved, which ranks dead last among the 35 shortstops who have qualified. To take it a bit further, his -17 DRS is one of two shortstops greater than -7 DRS. (Luis Garcia in Washington is at -13 DRS.)

Witt fares better with Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average, but only just. He’s currently at -5 OAA, third from the bottom. Garcia is the worst at -10 OAA while Geraldo Perdomo in Arizona has -6 OAA.

Look, I’m not trying to tear Witt down. The numbers (and the eye test) are what they are. While he’s capable of the sublime, overall he’s just not playing a good shortstop this year. Maybe the Royals need to move him off the spot permanently, pushing him over to third. They have a high-caliber defender in Nicky Lopez who can step in for the rest of this year. He could play there next year as well. (I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Adalberto Mondesi—remember him?—won’t be on the roster in 2023.) Plus, with Witt’s bat, he could most definitely provide value at the hot corner. It’s fine. The Royals need to seriously be considering making this a full-time move.

You see, it was Witt who untied the game in the Royals half of the third, lining a cement mixing slider into center to plate two runs. Yeah, the bat will play anywhere.

I’ve written this several times this year, and it remains true. If you have to bring a run home and could pick any Royal to hit with runners on base, you’d choose Witt. (Assuming Salvy is unavailable, naturally.) Witt is driving home 17 percent of all runners on base. The league average is just over 13 percent. (For the record, Perez is driving home a whopping 19 percent of baserunners. The man is amazing.)

Witt scuffled a bit at the start of the month, but overall, his second half is off to a strong start. He owns a 122 wRC+ since the break and has generally stayed hot.

Basically, since his rough start out of the gate, Witt has been rolling with a wRC+ anywhere from 115 to 125. He’s been consistently above average since those first couple weeks of the season.

He’s going to be a good one.

Unfortunately, Lynch couldn’t hold the lead. The Red Sox did their fourth inning damage with two outs. A Christian Arroyo single was followed by a Bobby Dalbec dinger. Lynch hung a slider and Dalbec didn’t miss.

The slider wasn’t a good pitch for Lynch on Saturday. According to Baseball Savant, it was averaging 100 RPMs fewer than his norm. When the pitch averages around 2,000 RPMs, losing that much amount to a five percent decrease. That’s substantial. The result was a pitch with less vertical drop than normal which meant Lynch’s slider was catching far too much of the zone.

If the slider is going to work, he has to be locating it low and in to right-handed batters. There’s just so much in the above pitch plot that’s just hanging in the meaty part of the zone. Red Sox hitters only put five sliders in play. Four were hit with an exit velocity greater than 95 MPH. Two–including Dalbec’s homer in the fourth—left the yard.

After the teams traded solo home runs—Kyle Isbel in the fifth and Alex Verdugo on a first-pitch slider leading off the sixth—the bullpens held the offenses at bay for the remainder of the game.

When I write “bullpens” for the Sox, that meant just Garrett Whitlock. He cruised through the seventh and eighth innings, retiring all six batters he faced. He also set down the first two hitters he faced in the ninth. Of the eight outs Whitlock recorded, only a Lopez ground ball was hit harder than 92 MPH.

Up came Nick Pratto.

In the small sample of 17 big league games to that point, Pratto has been pretty much as advertised. He walks quite a bit, hits for some power and has plenty of swing and miss. He’s had some tough matchups that have resulted in some tough plate appearances (that have generally ended in strikeouts)

When Pratto isn’t overmatched though, the plate appearances are fun to track. He has a keen eye and strike zone judgment and is adjusting to what I’m sure is a bit of a different zone (and an obvious enhanced quality of pitching as well). The plate appearance against Whitlock was a prime example of the best of Pratto. He spit on early inside sinkers and when he missed on a change to even the count at 2-2, he went into protect mode, fouling off a couple of tough pitches—a change on the outer edge and a high, inside sinker. After watching a change outside, the count was pushed to 3-2.

At this point, the likeliest outcome was probably either a walk or strikeout. Almost half of Pratto’s plate appearances end that way.

But Pratto got a hanging change and squared it up. Walkoff. Ballgame.

There are moments where Pratto is absolutely elevating going around the bases. I can’t imagine many moments with a better feeling that launching a walk-off dinger.

So if you were paying attention to the previous section, there’s a gif at the open and another gif at the close. Saturday was just the second time in franchise history that the Royals opened the game with a home run and walked it off the same way.

What I love about this is it was Freddie Patek who hit 41 home runs in his career who started things off. He did it against Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. Paul Schaal actually hit two home runs in this game. He was the Royals’ regular third baseman before George Brett arrived for good in May of 1974.


Sunday’s game was devoid of drama, yet completely satisfying. When the Royals win, it’s going to be because of the rookies (or Salvy, of course). That’s just basic math. On a given day, they are rolling with six or seven rookies in the lineup. They had six on the field Sunday. They accounted for all the runs driven in and nine of the 11 hits. They scored 11 of the 13 runs. (Kyle Isbel is still a rookie.)

Still, when these Baby Royals curb stomp a team that, while in the process of disintegrating, had eyes set on October at the start of the season, that’s something to behold.

Melendez alone drove in six with two hits (including a three-run home run) and a pair of sacrifice flies. Nate Eaton and Isbel hit back-to-back triples to open the seventh. They batted around in the eighth with all six rookies either scoring or driving in a run (or both!). It was a complete offensive performance. It was an afternoon that could make one giddy about the future.

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[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

He's pushing for that status for sure.

Jeff Granger and Jeff Austin also in consideration at this point.

I don't know why the Royals decided to start him back at AA, when he's struggled so much with injuries and control. Even for them, that's hard to understand.

Y'all took a kid who threw 101 in High School back when throwing 100 was still impressive. Colt Griffin? He was a top 10 guy, IIRC - but wasn't a top 3.

Not sure he ever made it to AA.

I didn't realize Lacy was 3rd overall though - yeeikes. That stings. Though if it makes you feel any better, it's looking like the 2020 draft may be a pile of crap. Hassell is really the only guy who was reasonably in the top 5 pick discussion who appears like he may amount to something special. Then there's Walker, but you can't bag on anyone for not taking Walker in the top 10 - nobody had him there.

[Prison Bitch]

He doesn’t just lack command. Walks are one thing, but it’s all the hit batters that’s so alarming. Might be another Ankiel, altho at least he had one dominant MLB season

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by poolboy

you really dont know how it works, do you?
Winning games is good...losing games is bad

Winning games right now is not good. Wtf does it get us?

You're such a clueless idiot, I'm surprised you can even read.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by poolboy

all i keep hearing is fire some guys, keep some guys and hire some guys
what about sign some guys?
Cardinals fans trying to fix our franchise dont have a clue

Who is saying we should keep anyone? Who should we sign? We sure as shit shouldn't be signing any hitters. So what pitchers?

Wtf are you talking about Cardinals fans trying to fix our franchise? You really are reeruned, huh?

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Y'all took a kid who threw 101 in High School back when throwing 100 was still impressive. Colt Griffin? He was a top 10 guy, IIRC - but wasn't a top 3.

Not sure he ever made it to AA.

I didn't realize Lacy was 3rd overall though - yeeikes. That stings. Though if it makes you feel any better, it's looking like the 2020 draft may be a pile of crap. Hassell is really the only guy who was reasonably in the top 5 pick discussion who appears like he may amount to something special. Then there's Walker, but you can't bag on anyone for not taking Walker in the top 10 - nobody had him there.

4th overall actually.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Y'all took a kid who threw 101 in High School back when throwing 100 was still impressive. Colt Griffin? He was a top 10 guy, IIRC - but wasn't a top 3.

Not sure he ever made it to AA.

I didn't realize Lacy was 3rd overall though - yeeikes. That stings. Though if it makes you feel any better, it's looking like the 2020 draft may be a pile of crap. Hassell is really the only guy who was reasonably in the top 5 pick discussion who appears like he may amount to something special. Then there's Walker, but you can't bag on anyone for not taking Walker in the top 10 - nobody had him there.

Lacy was 4th.

It helps that Austin Martin has been pretty meh, as that was the guy most were annoyed KC passed, but the Royals were also heavily connected to Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is a legit top 50 prospect. Both he and Hassell fit KC's profile well.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

Who is saying we should keep anyone? Who should we sign? We sure as shit shouldn't be signing any hitters. So what pitchers?

Wtf are you talking about Cardinals fans trying to fix our franchise? You really are reeruned, huh?

I believe we're being blamed for the incompetence of Mike Matheny somehow? Or having the temerity to point out same?

{shrug}

Been called out for worse...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Lacy was 4th.

It helps that Austin Martin has been pretty meh, as that was the guy most were annoyed KC passed, but the Royals were also heavily connected to Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is a legit top 50 prospect. Both he and Hassell fit KC's profile well.

Weren't there some real hit tool issues w/ PCA? Hard to keep track of these guys sometimes, but that was my memory as to the 'knock' on him coming out of the draft.

Then again - Royals don't seem to concern themselves with hit tool issues all that often.

I just remember seeing Hassell and thinking that was a DAMN polished hitter w/ 25+ homer upside. He seemed like a really really safe bet.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Weren't there some real hit tool issues w/ PCA? Hard to keep track of these guys sometimes, but that was my memory as to the 'knock' on him coming out of the draft.

Then again - Royals don't seem to concern themselves with hit tool issues all that often.

I just remember seeing Hassell and thinking that was a DAMN polished hitter w/ 25+ homer upside. He seemed like a really really safe bet.

He was a toolsy high-school hitter who had not been amazing in the HS season leading up to the draft.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Y'all took a kid who threw 101 in High School back when throwing 100 was still impressive. Colt Griffin? He was a top 10 guy, IIRC - but wasn't a top 3.

Not sure he ever made it to AA.

I didn't realize Lacy was 3rd overall though - yeeikes. That stings. Though if it makes you feel any better, it's looking like the 2020 draft may be a pile of crap. Hassell is really the only guy who was reasonably in the top 5 pick discussion who appears like he may amount to something special. Then there's Walker, but you can't bag on anyone for not taking Walker in the top 10 - nobody had him there.

Doesn’t work that way. Fans can and should bag on so-called “talent evaluators” who can’t do it. DM is paid to know Walker would be better than Lacy, and the excuse “well everyone in the industry thought….” is a cope.

Remember too that the next year, DM reached for Mozzicato at 7 instead of his projected 40ish. That is the only rebuttal needed to not excuse him for the Lacy disaster

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

You are terribly mistaken if you think that the developmental problems are specifically isolated to the majors. All of our prospects took longer than expected to reach the show despite being older draftees. And none of them achieved, let alone exceeded projections.

We've had absolutely no problem getting results from pitchers in the minors, especially since the 2018 draft. What prospects took too long to get here?

Bubic was 22 when he was called up and had 36 minor league starts.

Singer was 23 when he was called up and had 26 minor league starts.

Lynch and Kowar were 24 when they made their debut and if not for COVID, they may have been called up in 2020 depending on how they did in the minors.