Kansas City Royals: Every First Round Pick Since 2000

Every Royals first-round draft pick since 2000: Colt Griffin (2001)

Ahhh, the legendary Colt Griffin out of Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas. Griffin was known for his ability to throw a ridiculously fast fastball down the plate, once clocking in at 101 miles per hour on the radar gun. He also struck out 15 batters in that same game.

For that alone, the Royals made Griffin their ninth overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft and would live to regret that decision.

Griffin never made it to the majors, as he struggled with control at the plate. Any time a guy has the ability to throw that hard and that fast, he’s going to have issues with getting everything to work in unison once he faces tougher hitters.

His career ERA while in the minor leagues was a 4.79 in 124 games and 57 starts. He walked 278 guys over that span while striking out 271 batters and his WHIP was 1.616.

Near the end of his season, Colt Griffin struggled with staying healthy and opted to retire from baseball after 2005 rather than trying to come back from his shoulder surgery.

Per The Longview News Journal,

"“Colt tried everything he could this spring to bounce back,” said Royals senior director of minor-league operations Shaun McGinn in Wednesday’s online edition of The Kansas City Star. “But his fastball and his velocity just weren’t coming back. He started making hints that he was leaning toward retiring during the spring, and then he just wanted to try going another direction with his life other than baseball.”"

When bringing up former first-round busts in KC Royals history, Colt Griffin is a name that comes up frequently. Had he been able to manage his control issues on the mound, the kid could have turned into something special. Instead, he became yet another bad first-round pick.