Royals receive rave reviews for amateur draft

Things couldn't have gone much better for the Kansas City Royals in Wednesday's 2020 Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Selecting fourth overall in the first round, Kansas City nabbed hard-throwing Texas A&M southpaw Asa Lacy, considered by most the top pitching prospect in the draft.

Kansas City's front office, including General Manager Dayton Moore, coveted Lacy above all others.

Slightly complicating the decision to select Lacy was Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin, who was still on the board. Martin entered the draft as the consensus No. 2 overall prospect, having mashed to the tune of a .368 batting average through three collegiate seasons.

After the Royals passed on Martin, Toronto pounced with the fifth pick.

With their second selection of the draft, in what's termed the "competitive balance" round, the Royals tapped Baylor University shortstop Nick Loftin with the 32nd overall pick.

CBS Sports said Loftin is "maybe the best true shortstop in the class."

With their actual second-round selection Kansas City took Ben Hernandez with the 41st pick. A right-handed pitcher, Hernandez is a highly regarded prep prospect out of Chicago.

CBS Sports noted that Hernandez may have the best change-up among all high school prospects in the class.

In the third round, with the 76th pick, Kansas City selected University of Alabama right fielder Tyler Gentry.

As a sophomore in 2019, Gentry led the Crimson Tide in batting average (.310), hits (65), runs (37), home runs (12) and RBI (42). This spring, during the shortened season, Gentry accumulated 24 RBI on 21 hits, to go along with four round-trippers.

CBS Sports graded out the Royals first four selections as an "A."

"Asa Lacy, the top pitcher in the draft class, slipped out of the top three and into the Royals' lap with the No. 4 pick. That's a huge win," the CBS Sports write-up said. "Lacy makes this an A all by himself. Adding Loftin, Hernandez, and Gentry on top of him is icing on the cake."

After Gentry the Royals added a pair of right handed pitching prospects, taking Oregon State's Christian Chamberlain in the fourth round, and Eastern Illinois product Will Klein in the fifth.

Asa Lacy

CBS Sports reporter RJ Anderson thinks Lacy is a definite ace in the making.

"Over the last three seasons, six left-handed starters have averaged 150 innings and more than a strikeout per inning: Chris Sale, Robbie Ray, Patrick Corbin, Eduardo Rodriguez, Clayton Kershaw, and Matthew Boyd," began Anderson in a recent scouting report column. "Lacy, who struck out 46 batters in 24 innings this season, seems primed to join that group in the coming years. At a minimum, he has the highest upside and the best shot at realizing it among the pitchers in the class.

The 6-foot-4 Lacy touches 97 MPH with his fastball. Anderson noted in his column that Lacy's fastball and slider each grade out as "elite offerings."

"He also has the frame and demeanor scouts seek in their top-of-the-rotation prospects," the column said.

"The major (and arguably only) flaw in his game is his command: even though he walked three batters per nine in this abbreviated season, he still finished his Aggies career having walked four per nine. If Lacy can improve in that regard, he has the weaponry to become a frontline starter."