What is there left to say about these kids the Royals have in their system? On the same day that Bobby Witt Jr. hits a go-ahead double in the 8th inning of his major league debut for his first hit in the big leagues, Nick Pratto homers twice in two games for the Royals AAA affiliate. You cannot make this kind of stuff up, man. A lot of you were excited about the idea that Pratto could force the Royals hand sooner rather than later, and I agree with the sentiment, but it really sucks that the big league club currently has its hands tied with perennial stars like *checks notes* Carlos Santana (who missed an easy pick on a double play yesterday), Hunter Dozier (who tried to effing bunt yesterday), and Ryan O’…never mind.
Yesterday I wrote about some of the top college prospects that could be available for the Royals with the 9th overall pick this summer. I’m gonna enjoy this draft cycle because it might be the last top-10 pick that the Royals have for a while.
This will also be the last time Jung appears on this list because he has also hit his way into probably a top-5 pick.Literally five minutes after I wrote that sentence, Baseball America dropped their second mock draft of the year with Jace Jung to the Royals at #9. I cannot tell you how excited I would be to have him in Royal blue.
It sounds like Brady Singer will be mostly working out of the bullpen early on for the Royals.
Singer, a first round pick out of the University of Florida in 2018, has made 39 starts over the last two seasons with a 4.62 ERA but a 4.05 FIP and 192 strikeouts in 192 2⁄3 innings. The 25-year old right-hander had some bad luck last year with a .350 BABIP but had the third-best called strike rate in the majors with a terrific slider and a solid sinking fastball. The Royals have tried to get him to work in a change up more often, a pitch he threw just 89 times last year.
Be sure to check out our predictions thread with the staff over at Royals Review.
AL Central: White Sox 77.2%, Royals 11.1%, Twins 8.0%, Guardians 2.8%, Tigers 1.0%
AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (2-1)
The Storm Chasers split a double header in Indianapolis last night, but most of the attention was centered around a couple of nuclear missiles that Nick Pratto launched over the fence. Austin Cox threw well, Foster Griffin threw well, Jon Heasley was awesome, Vinnie Pasquantino doubled…great night overall on the farm.
Box Score:
– Clay Dungan: 0-6, 2 BB
– Nick Pratto: 3-8, 2 HR, 3 K
– Vinnie Pasquantino: 3-6, 2B, BB
– MJ Melendez: 0-3, BB
– Emmanuel Rivera: 0-1, 2 BB
– Brewer Hicklen: 2-6
– Austin Cox: 4 IP, 4 ER, 4 K, 0 BB
– Foster Griffin: 2 IP, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB
– Jon Heasley: 3 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB
– Colten Brewer: 1 IP, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB
Royals Farm Report 