Kansas City Royals should select Emerson Hancock fourth overall
Emerson Hancock would be a good choice for the Kansas City Royals at pick number four in the 2020 MLB Draft.
The 2020 MLB Draft begins on Wednesday and the Kansas City Royals will be on the clock early, as they hold the fourth overall pick.
Names like Spencer Torkelson and Austin Martin probably won’t be in play for the Royals with the fourth pick, but Emerson Hancock should most certainly be available when it’s time for them to make their selection.
Why would Emerson Hancock be the right choice for the Kansas City Royals?
To be perfectly honest, Hancock is a fairly safe pick and that could be what pushes the Royals to take him fourth overall. Zac Veen is a high school prospect, who honestly reminds me a lot of Bubba Starling (and we all know how that’s gone) while Asa Lacy might not be on the board and Nick Gonzales played in a smaller conference.
Hancock, on the other hand, played against the best competition there is in college baseball, having pitched at Georgia and going up against some of the best teams in the entire country. He had a 3.75 ERA through four starts and 24 innings while recording 34 strikeouts to only three walks in four starts and 24 innings pitched.
Emerson Hancock’s best season came the season prior where he started 14 games and had a shiny 1.99 ERA by season’s end through 90.1 innings of work. He went 8-3 while recording 97 strikeouts and just 18 walks. It was a solid season for the Bulldog pitcher and one that certainly put him on the map. Sadly he wasn’t eligible to enter the draft at that point or he’d have definitely been a top five pick.
While Hancock appears like the safe pick on paper, there are concerns about injuries with him. If he is their pick, however, he’d be their second best prospect behind Bobby Witt Jr. and at 21 years old, he’d have a few years to mature in the majors before making his debut in the big leagues.
The Kansas City Royals have a tough decision to make on Wednesday about who is going to be the next first round pick for the organization. Emerson Hancock, out of all of the prospects linked to the Royals, is the one most likely to be sitting there when pick four rolls around, and that could be something that sways them into picking him.
If they do select him fourth overall, look for 2022 to be when the Georgia pitcher makes his Royals debut.