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Kansas City Royals: Every top five draft pick in Royals history

By Leigh Oleszczak

OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 7: Yamaico Navarro #24, Alcides Escobar #2, Brayan Pena #27, Eric Hosmer #35 and Mike Moustakas #8 of the Kansas City Royals joke around in the dugout prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 7, 2011 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Royals 7-0. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 7: Yamaico Navarro #24, Alcides Escobar #2, Brayan Pena #27, Eric Hosmer #35 and Mike Moustakas #8 of the Kansas City Royals joke around in the dugout prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 7, 2011 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Royals 7-0. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /
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KC Royals Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr.
West team shortstop Bobby Witt Jr (15) – Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

ROYALS TOP FIVE PICKS IN MLB DRAFT

2019 – BOBBY WITT JR. (SECOND OVERALL)

After making the most of their first-round picks from 2005-2010, the Royals made it to two World Series, winning one of them, and had five years of competitive baseball under their belts. When all of those talented players departed following the 2017 season, things went downhill fast for the boys in blue.

The Royals didn’t have a top-five pick for seven years, but they were so bad in 2018 that they landed the No. 2 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft where they took high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the consensus choice for that spot.

Witt was drafted by the Royals at the young age of 18 (he turned 19 shortly after), but already, the hype was through the roof with this kid. He was the first player born after 2000 to be drafted by the Royals, which made all of us feel old, but we knew he’d be around Kansas City for quite some time and would be a key contributor in their revival.

Witt hit .262 in 180 plate appearances in the Arizona League during his first year in the Royals’ system, which was definitely promising. There was no minor league season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Royals fans got a glimpse of Witt during the team’s summer camp ahead of the shortened season.

Witt hasn’t even turned 21 years old yet and there’s already chatter on if he could make his MLB debut this season. His debut will be just as big, if not bigger, than Hosmer’s back in 2011. Hopefully, we see similar results.

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