MLB Draft: Best pick for Kansas City Royals in first round
Who would be the best pick for the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft?
The 2020 MLB Draft begins on Wednesday and the Kansas City Royals hold the fourth overall pick.
The Royals have been on a downward spiral since winning the World Series in 2015, but that’s bound to happen when all of a team’s good players depart and sign elsewhere. Throw in that the Royals are a small market team and it makes it tough for them to get back to the top as quickly as a team like the Yankees.
The draft is the best way for the Royals to get back to their 2014 and 2015 form, but they have to nail their early round picks, which isn’t always easy.
Who should the Royals take fourth overall?
There are a few options in play here for the boys in blue, but obviously it all depends on how the first three picks play out. It’s a lock that Spencer Torkelson will go first overall to Detroit and that Austin Martin is likely going second to the Orioles.
The third pick on is where things could get a little more interesting. If the Marlins don’t take Asa Lacy third overall, then that’s who the Royals should zero in on. Lacy is a pitcher out of Texas A&M who had a 0.75 ERA in four starts this season before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the college baseball season.
The Royals made it a point to fixate on pitching when they took five collegiate pitchers with their first five picks in the 2018 MLB Draft and as of last season (since we don’t have much else to go on), all five of those pitchers could become a big part of the Kansas City Royals in the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, a lot of mock drafts have Lacy getting snatched up at pick number three, so if that’s what ends up happening, then the Royals should take infielder Nick Gonzales of New Mexico State. Gonzales’ bat is what is intriguing about him, but something that could be intimidating about him is that his competition level at New Mexico State wasn’t that of what other top collegiate prospects go up against.
Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com agreed with my sentiments in having the Royals go with Gonzales because “It’s been all about the bat here” and at that point, that’s the best option. The next best pitcher is Emerson Hancock, who wouldn’t be a bad option, but the best decision for Kansas City here is to find the best remaining bat.
Gonzales could, at best, be the Royals’ second baseman of the future and at worst could be a first baseman or an outfielder. His defense could use some help, but that’s what the minor leagues are for. It’s not an overwhelming concern for a 21-year-old college prospect.
The Kansas City Royals will have a tough decision to make when it comes to who to take fourth overall. Hopefully Asa Lacy is still on the board, but if not, Nick Gonzales is the pick the Royals should make when they’re on the clock.