Kansas City Royals: Debuts to be excited about in 2020
By Cody Rickman
Kansas City Royals debuts to get excited about – Number 3: Tyler Zuber
Tyler Zuber was a sixth round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft out of Arkansas State and looks to be on his way to a reliever role for the Royals. He had a 1.79 ERA between two different minor league teams in 2019 and should make his MLB debut in the shortened 2020 season.
He consistently throws a 96-mph fastball with some riding movement and a disgusting breaking ball that can best be described as a mix between a slider and curveball (slurve). Zuber’s breaking ball has outstanding horizontal and vertical movement when he has the feel for the pitch.
Zuber looked fantastic in spring training and he could settle into a first guy up bullpen role for the Royals in 2020. He has nasty closer-type stuff and has the potential to be dominant high leverage arm.
Kansas City Royals debuts to get excited about – Number 2: MJ Melendez
MJ Melendez impressed me a lot this spring and he is continuing that pattern in summer camp. He’s currently the 13th best prospect in the Royals’ farm system and could see himself propelled into making his MLB debut due to COVID-19 and injuries.
With the catcher position being the most vulnerable position on the field, the risk of injury is always present and adding the coronavirus variable could open up the possibility of an above-average number of teams running out their third or fourth catcher on the depth chart.
With the current state of the Royals catching situation uncertain, Melendez could be getting his chance much earlier than expected.
With all three catchers on the Royals' 40-man unavailable, expect Mike Matheny and his staff will get a long look at prospect MJ Melendez this camp. Melendez has not disappointed. He's put on some bulk and driving the ball.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 11, 2020
Melendez looks significantly improved in his plate approach. There is still some swing and miss to his approach, but he appears to have a plan and is driving up pitch counts. He has some impressive power in his bat and is not shy to unleash that power to all fields.
Melendez excels defensively with good receiving skills, a cannon for an arm, and an off the charts pop-time. I’m buying into a .250/.320/.460 debut slash-line with outstanding defense for 2020.