KC Royals: Sean Manaea Expected To Become Minors K King

MLB.com analyst Jim Callis picked Kansas City Royals prospect Sean Manaea as the pitcher most likely to lead the minors in strikeouts in 2015.

Manaea is a 6’5″ left-hander whom the Royals took as a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds in the 2013 draft. Manaea (who is Samoan) throws a mid-90’s heater that plays up due to his arm length, a nasty slider, and a developing change-up. See a scouting report on Manaea here.

More from Kansas City Royals

While Callis also considered Pirates prospect Tyler Glasnow a strong candidate for minor-league K King, he chose Royals lefty Manaea as the prospect most able to miss bats next season. Though, one of the reasons Callis favors Manaea over Glasnow, is he thinks Glasnow could force his way onto the Pittsburgh roster by mid-season.

Even so, Callis’ nod is a strong endorsement of Manaea—and Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore’s unusual draft gambit in 2013.

Leading up to the draft, Manaea had been considered a top 5 prospect after striking out 85 batters in 52 innings while playing in the elite Cape Cod summer league in 2012. However, Manaea suffered a hip injury the following college season for Indiana State, causing his velocity to drop to the mid-80’s in the spring of 2013.

The Royals held the 8th and 34th picks in the 2013 Rule 5 draft. When Manaea fell due to injury concerns, they took Hunter Dozier at no. 8—which was way ahead of where anyone had rated him.

Kansas City’s strategy became clear when they then selected Manaea at no. 34. In short, Dayton Moore picked a guy that would sign below slot at no. 8, in the hope that he could land both Dozier and Sean Manaea while fitting them under their draft cap.

Dozier signed for a below-slot $2.2 million bonus, freeing the Royals to offer Manaea enough money to prevent him from returning to college and re-entering the draft in 2014.

Manaea missed the 2013 short-season while recovering from hip surgery, but then dominated in High A Wilmington in 2014 with 146 strikeouts in 121.2 innings pitched and a 3.11 ERA.

Sean Manaea looks like a draft steal, especially when you consider that Hunter Dozier has also performed well. Dozier has smacked a solid .784 on base plus slugging (OPS) in his two minor-league seasons, and advanced from rookie league to AA.

Meanwhile, Manaea is pitching like the top 5 pick he was expected to be before his injury. He’s part of a strong pipeline of lefty starters in the KC system that includes 2014 no. 1 pick Brandon Finnegan, Manaea, no. 2 2014 pick Foster Griffin, recently acquired Brian Flynn, and the recovering John Lamb.

If everything goes right, either Manaea, or oft-injured top prospect Kyle Zimmer, will be ready for a rotation spot in Kansas City when Jeremy Guthrie‘s contract runs out in 2016.

Next: KC Royals: Bring on 2015

More from KC Kingdom

Home/Kansas City Royals