With the draft coming up next week, the Royals will have a chance to upgrade a very thin system of pitchers. Dayton Moore once said that “pitching is the currency of baseball”, but the franchise has struggled to develop starting pitching under his tenure. That could lead them to look for a few college arms in the draft to quickly alleviate this shortage.
The Royals have taken a few college pitchers early, although they have either been traded away (Sean Manaea, Brandon Finnegan), or have been plagued by injuries (Kyle Zimmer). Auburn’s Casey Mize seems likely to be the #1 overall pick and Florida right-hander Brady Singer and South Florida lefty Shane McClanahan seem like good bets to be taken in the first ten picks.