Who should Kansas City Royals select with fourth overall pick?
By Cody Rickman
Prospects at pick four for Kansas City Royals: Emerson Hancock, RHP Starting Pitcher
On April 27th, Jonathan Mayo at mlb.com, projected Emerson Hancock to the Royals at number four in his mock draft. The scouting report at mlb.com has this to say about Emerson Hancock:
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"Hancock shares a lot in common with Casey Mize, whom Detroit took with the top pick in 2018. They’re both Southeastern Conference right-handers with similar builds who pound the strike zone with a deep repertoire and missed some time during their sophomore seasons. His best offering is a fastball that sits at 94-97 mph and peaks at 99 with riding life, and all three of his secondary pitches grade as at least plus at their best."
Hancock’s K/9 rates (12.8 (2020), 9.7 (2019), and 8.7 (2018)) in the SEC conference, indicate he has some of the best stuff in college baseball.
The problem I have with taking Hancock over Lacy, Gonzales, and Veen is there are a lot of quality right-handed pitching prospects available in the 2020 draft. Hancock doesn’t stand head and shoulders above the other right-handed pitching prospects, so taking him this high would be unnecessary.
Hancock is a high ceiling/high floor-type prospect. I do have some health concerns about him and he hasn’t been unhittable, so I think the Royals would be smart to avoid taking him with the fourth overall selection.
Next. Royals Mock Draft 2.0. dark
Who would you take if you were the Kansas City Royals front office in the 2020 draft?
I’m leaning toward who is available amongst Asa Lacy and Nick Gonzales. Both Lacy and Gonzales could be perennial All-Stars for the Royals for the next decade.
What do you all think?