Kansas City Royals: 2020 MLB Mock Draft 1.0

#32 draft pick overall – Ryan Hagenow Starting Pitcher (pick value $2,257,300)

Ryan Hagenow is an 18-year-old, 6’5”, 195 lb., right-handed starting pitcher out of Farragut High School in Tennessee. Hagenow is committed to Kentucky University and the Royals may need to exceed the draft allotment value in order to be signed.

According to the Draft Prospect Rankings at mlb.com, Hagenow has future value of 50 (out of 80), with the following future tool grades:

• Overall: 50
• Fastball: 55
• Slider: 55
• Changeup: 55
• Control: 50

According to the scouting report on Hagenow at mlb.com;

"“Hagenow already shows the makings of three solid or better pitches, starting with an 88-93 mph fastball that runs and sinks and should add more velocity as he fills out his 6-foot-5 frame. His slider should get quicker as well, and it’s already effective at 78-83 mph. He also has advanced feel for using a changeup with similar velocity as well as some fade and sink.”"

According to the scouting report on Hagenow at perfectgame.org;

"“Ryan Hagenow is a 2020 RHP with a 6-5 200 lb. frame from Knoxville, TN who attends Farragut. Long and athletic build with extreme projectability remaining. Fairly up tempo delivery coming to and extended 3/4’s arm slot, short stride out front, multiple checkpoints in his mechanics but he works through them well and creates deception, very good extension to the plate. Fastball topped out at 92 mph, more velocity in there with physical maturity, fastball has plenty of run and sink. Change up was an outstanding pitch with hard late sinking action. Short and tight slider. Mixes his pitches, tunnels them very well and fills up the lower part of the zone, hitters don’t see the ball at all. Struck out all six hitters he faced in a dominant outing. Very good student, verbal commitment to Kentucky. Named to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic.”"

The folks over at fangraphs.com had this to say about Hagenow;

"“Lower-slot righty is young for the class, is super projectable with a low-effort delivery and three pitches that flash above average at times. Some similarities to Brady Singer at the same stage, who didn’t sign as a 2nd rounder out of high school, then went in the first round after shoving for three years at Florida.”"

Watching video of Hagenow gives you the sense he has an easy, low stress, repeatable delivery. He’s able to produce velocity and movement on his fastball without much exertion. There isn’t much head snap and his follow thru transfers his momentum to reduce the stress on his elbow. He gets on top of the ball quite well and commands his pitches low in the zone as well as on the corners.

There is a chance for stuff (fastball, slider, curveball, change-up) to each be plus pitch offerings. The movement and velocity on his pitches will increase as he matures. His stuff can blow hitters away as well as produce weak contact.

Hagenow has lots of room to grow with his 6’5”, 195 pound frame. When he starts to physically develop in the Royals farm system, the sky could be the limit.

There is a chance Hagenow could be the best pitcher and best player selected in the 2020 draft. If he is able to maintain his flexibility and low effort mechanics along the way in his physical maturation, he should be able to avoid injury. For a high school pitching prospect, this is as good as it gets.

Since the shutdown of sports across the country due to the coronavirus, it is hard to tell how many opportunities the Royals had to scout high school players such as Hagenow. Taking this into account, selecting Hagenow early comes with an enormous amount of risk.

If the Royals believe in his projectability then he’s an outstanding choice.