Kansas City Royals: 2020 Final Mock Draft
By Cody Rickman
The 2020 MLB Draft is nearly here. These are my final predictions on who the Kansas City Royals will select in the draft.
The upcoming MLB amateur draft will have five rounds and the Kansas City Royals will get six picks to bolster their prospect talent with picks 4, 32, 41, 76, 105, and 135. After the five-round draft, an unlimited number of undrafted amateur free agents can be signed for $20,000 or less.
The Royals have the following picks (pick value):
- 1st Round (#4 overall) – $6,664,000
- 1st Round Supplemental (#32 overall) – $2,257,300
- 2nd Round (#41 overall) – $1,813,500
- 3rd Round (#76 overall) – $818,200
- 4th Round (#105 overall) – $554,300
- 5th Round (#135 overall) – $414,000
Previous Mock Drafts:
The Royals could employ the following strategy of selecting a mixture of high floor and high ceiling prospects:
Kansas City Royals Mock Draft – Round 1, Pick 4: Asa Lacy, Starting Pitcher (LHP)
Asa Lacy is a 6’4”, 215 lb., left-handed starting pitcher out of Texas A&M University. Lacy is the best pitcher available in the 2020 MLB Draft and he just turned 21-years-old prior to the draft.
- 2019 (NCAA): 2.13 ERA, 1.038 WHIP, 130 K, 43 BB, 6 HR allowed in 88.2 innings
- 2020 (NCAA): 0.75 ERA, 0.708 WHIP, 46 K, 8 BB, 0 HR allowed in 24.0 innings
According to the Draft Prospect Rankings at mlb.com, Lacy has the following future tool grades:
- Overall: 60
- Fastball: 60 (92 – 97 mph)
- Curveball: 55 (upper 70s mph)
- Slider: 60 (low 80s mph)
- Changeup: 60 (mid 80s mph)
- Control: 50
According to the scouting report on Lacy at mlb.com;
"“Lacy’s biggest need is to improve his command and control. There’s some effort in his three-quarters delivery and he’s still learning to harness his overpowering stuff, so he can’t always locate his pitches where he wants. Even without precise placement, he’s a left-hander who can get swings and misses with four different offerings.”"
According to the scouting report on Lacy at fangraphs.com;
"“Lacy presents scouts with a non-traditional mechanical look which makes his delivery look pretty violent about his head and shoulder, even though he has less of a head whack now than he did in high school and as an underclassman. While his delivery creates some visual relief risk, there is none regarding the pitch mix.”"
My draft analysis on Lacy in Mock Draft 2.0;
"“Lacy has four above-average pitch offerings with his fastball, slider, and change-up all grading as plus pitches. His 11 to 5 curveball and sinking/fading change-up work well tunneling off of his fastball velocity (92 – 97 mph).”"
There is a good chance the first three picks of the draft are all bats (Spencer Torkelson, Austin Martin, Nick Gonzales, and even Zac Veen getting notice). Lacy excelled in one of the best college baseball conferences (SEC) in the NCAA.
He has pitched against JJ Bleday, Justin Foscue, Nick Gonzales, Austin Martin, Kameron Misner, Andrew Vaughn, and Jordan Westburg in college. The seven hitters (all first round talents) were a combined 1 for 17, with 0 XBH, and a .259 OPS, and a 30.0 K%, 15.0 BB%.
Lacy is a high ceiling/high floor-type prospect, projecting to be a number 3 type starter (3.30 FIP). The ceiling is high enough to project Lacy as an ace-type pitcher in most MLB rotations. Lacy would become the Royals best prospect in the system after the draft and has a chance to progress quickly through the system.
Other possibilities: Austin Martin, Nick Gonzales, Zac Veen, and Emerson Hancock.