Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for June 11, 2020

Welcome to Kansas City, Asa!

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jun 11, 2020, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for June 11, 2020

Scouting director Lonnie Goldberg talks about first-round pick Asa Lacy, as written by Lynn Worthy.

“The thing that separated him is, obviously, he’s left-handed, but last year he had a plus changeup,” Goldberg said. “This year, he has a plus changeup, has his plus slider and he’s throwing anywhere from 92 to 98, and his strikes were better. He was better composed. He just kind of blew past everybody. His stuff is crisp. It’s no-hitter type stuff. He’s got a chance every night he goes out with that kind of stuff.”

Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report gives his scouting report of Lacy.

Lacy is a top of the rotation left-handed pitcher. He could easily develop into an MLB ace and should fly through the lower levels of the minors. Lacy is a tremendous talent who will immediately be in the top echelon of any team’s minor league pitching staff.

Lonnie Goldberg and Dayton Moore said they made an advance decision to take Asa Lacy if he fell to No. 4, even if Austin Martin was there as well. In fact, Moore said if Lacy wasn't there, the Royals were debating between Martin and their No. 32 pick, Nick Loftin, at No. 4.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) June 11, 2020

Dayton says one thing they have shifted in recently is getting a lot of power pitching in the rotation. Says they need power pitching to win championships. Did also say that “if Asa Lacy wasn’t available at four we would have taken a position player”
— Cody Tapp (@codybtapp) June 11, 2020

The #Royals and #BlueJays selections from day one are hands down my favorite. Hard not to like what both clubs did tonight. Very excited to see how aggressive the #Orioles get tomorrow. Here's our best available board: https://t.co/GYsBPXczuk
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) June 11, 2020

Shawn Bauman of Kings of Kauffman has other reactions to the selection on Twitter.

Bubba Starling has advice for the newest draftees of the Royals.

“My advice I’d give to a new Royals draft pick is wake up every day and have fun with it,” Starling said. “Go out, be a great teammate, keep working hard, because it seems like just yesterday I was drafted and eight, nine years go by like that.

“Don’t take any day for granted. That’s some of the main things I would give to a new player. Listen to your coaches. Most of these coaches have been through the game of baseball and been in baseball many years, so take their advice and run with it.”

A breakdown of every first-round pick.

Baseball America ranks the best players available for day two of the draft, and MLB Pipeline does as well.

The Marlins already have a deal with third-overall pick Max Meyer.

The Red Sox pulled a draft-day shocker with a huge reach in the first round.

A look at the players who went straight from the draft to the big leagues.

Rob Manfred insists there will be baseball in 2020.

The owner of the Diamondbacks thinks baseball needs a salary cap.

MLBPA won’t let Scott Boras cover the salaries of minor leaguers.

Which teams have failed to sign the most talent?

Former big league outfielder Claudell Washington dies at the age of 65.

An NCAA ruling will give college baseball teams a bit more flexibility with their roster next spring.

The MLS will kick off the season with a tournament in Orlando without fans on July 8.