Not sure you can rush him at this point unless he's simply not getting it done at a particular level. He's a college arm at age 22 (will turn 23 in August). At this point, he continues to move up as determined by his mastery at each level. No reason to hold him back if he's performing (unless they have an inning limit on him for this year).

Usually college arms advance quickly, the issue though is if they are significantly ahead of the bats that could turn into a real problem.

This is a different situation than 2011-12, though, when the Royals has basically no young position players outside Butler and Gordon up and ready.

Mondesi, Lopez, Merrifield, Dozier, and Perez should all be productive players for a few more years, particularly Mondesi and Lopez.

Khalil Lee is in line with Singer and Lynch and etc., too. I don’t know that he’ll be a big power hitter, but I can still see someone who plays excellent RF defense and is a David DeJesus type offensive player (more speed, less contact, more walks).

Here’s a good read from MLB on Witt.

https://www.mlb.com/news/bobby-witt-...-draft-history

Interesting - and exciting - stuff. Compares him favorably to Manny Machado, others. Best SS prospect in draft since Alex Rodriguez...

Ruschmans college stats are absurd. 1.34 OPS this year I think I read

So there are two players with superstar potential in the draft...

A man among boys in local HS play. And it's not like there aren't good players that he plays against in their district/region.

https://www.fishstripes.com/2019/4/2...ort-highlights

At 6’1”, 185 pounds, Witt is an athletic, tall prospect with good strength and still has room to grow. He is a rare potential five-tool prospect out of the high school level. One of the fastest prospects in the 2019 MLB Draft as he’s been clocked running a 6.40 60 yard dash, he has outstanding tools on defense and has a future at the shortstop position. Witt is very smooth on defense with his soft, quick hands, excellent footwork and a strong arm. He has been clocked at 92 mph from across the diamond. At the plate, Witt has the tools to be the best hitter in his draft class. He can hit the ball for both average and power. His exit velocity as reaches in the triple digits and can really drive the ball to all fields.

Strengths
Big power
Strong arm
Elite speed
Plays with high energy
Exciting prospect
Smooth defensively
Raw bat speed
Loose, quick hands

Weaknesses
Drops back shoulder when trying to go the other way
Needs to bulk up to add more power

Pro Comparison: Carlos Correa

Projection: Top 10 pick

Is he as big of a douche as Manny though?

The biggest concern I have with Witt is that he’s 19 - actually older than Bubba Starling was when he was drafted.

That adds a little bit of a bust rate. Hopefully his instincts and pedigree and exposure/competition help him overcome the troubles older players sometimes have.

Witt will be older on draft day than A-Rod when he debuted.

Now, you COULD argue that will help him move fast. He’s a baseball rat who grew up around the game and has premium bloodlines. If any HS player should move quickly, it’s him.

I’d like to see the Royals challenge him with single A rather than rookie league if he’s the pick and signs quickly. Or at least be open to it if he demolishes rookie ball for a few weeks.

It’s encouraging he made the updates and changes to his swing he did over the offseason. Handled many of the questions about his hit tool. That type of adjustment ability is critical to success as a pro.

I could see a development curve for Witt that looks like this:

2020: Single Season A, High A
2021: High A, AA
2022: AAA, MLB

The age thing doesn't concern me as much when he has a bloodline like that with a father he's likely leaned on forever that played in the MLB for 20 years.

If he hadn’t shown the progression from reports last year to this year’s reports, I’d be more concerned with it.

There’s a lot of data that suggest advanced age guys should typically be red flags, though.

If you were quantifying "bust probability" in a simple percentage: what is Witt's % and what's Rutschmann's?

*** Official 2019 Kansas City Royals Repository ***
 

Well, that’s hard. If I could place odds on things like that, I’d probably be running a scouting department somewhere...

Witt has a higher ceiling because he plays a more important position and is a plus runner. Rutschman has a higher floor because of what he has proven so far in college.

If guessing, I’d say Rutschman’s is about 20 percent bust, 20 percent ceiling (GG catcher who posts .280/.400/.550), rest in between (solid to good MLB starter).

Witt’s bust potential is probably 10 percent higher, at least, and the ceiling is more like 10 percent, with a 30ish percent outcome of util infielder, 30ish percent outcome of solid to good starter.

His ceiling would be something like .300/.400/.550, flirting with 30-30, with above-average D at SS.

In theory, you'd be running a scouting department if you batted 1.000 on saying "this guy is a bust, those guys are career Omaha Stormchasers and that guy will be a guaranteed 3+ WAR guy for a decade once he reaches the majors" for each and every prospect class.

Witt has Brandon Wood tattooed across his forehead.


However if we take him, we deserve another Whitt. (Merrifield)

Definitely a potential comp. Witt is a much better athlete though.

Brandon Wood was the best minor league player I ever seen play not named Alex Gordon. Damn he was good. I saw him hit a moon shot at Hammons Field.

There is no reason Gore should be on the roster. None.

Gore's going to get cut. Although at this point he's going to have to accept a minor league assignment somewhere.

Yup.

Gore is completely ****ing worthless at this point. He’s been caught stealing 5 times now. If he can’t get you a guaranteed SB in a clutch situation, no reason to keep him.

Can’t hit, can’t defend particularly well (doesn’t read ball off bat well), weak arm, just nothing.

Bring up Bubba. Give him a shot.

Or if they’re not ready to do that quite yet, I imagine they’ll outright him when Duda (why?) is eligible to come off the DL soon . . . .

This team is actually worse than they were last year.

I know it's probably Witt this year...is there a generational talent projected next year so we can at least enjoy this crap festival and look forward to getting a superstar?

Fangraphs thinks the Royals should take Andrew Vaughn..yeah ok.

What exactly happened to that guy? I’d read he was the next Ripken, next thing he’s bouncing around as a bench player then cut

I think so. I feel like Bobby Witt Jr has a big bust rate. I hope Orioles take Witt or Vaughn so we can get Ruschman but Vaughn looks to be a legit bat who can help us 3 years quicker than Witt. Just kind low value to draft a 1B as a #2 overall pick who can't play anywhere else.

I just want to say I really appreciate your baseball takes; I really don't understand or appreciate the sport enough, and you seem pretty keyed in...

Thank you sir

If the Orioles take Vaughn, the Royals would still take Witt over Rutschman based on what’s being chatted about in the prospect community.

I don’t agree with it, but they’re in love with Witt. They’d take him 1-1 if they had the top pick, according to Twitter.


It’s hard to explain. His K rate wasn’t that bad in the minors. Just couldn’t hit major league pitching well enough.

Vaughn is short for a first baseman. That's a major red flag.

Spencer Torkelson from Arizona State would be a great option. Kid is a hitting machine.

I watched Joakim Soria pitch against the Angels in the 9th tonight. Predict his outcome.
Soria gets the first two outs in the inning and then does he?

A. Allow La Stella to single, bringing up Mike Trout
B. Walk Trout
C. Throw a wild pitch
D. Allow Ohtani to single, driving in two runs
E. All of the Above

I know he got a hard time in his second stint with KC, but woof, that inning brought up an all too real recurring horror while he was here.

If there was that type of talent in next year’s draft, we’d know more about him right now.

But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a Casey Mize or Rutschman/Vaughn.

There are a few college arms from UGA/UF and Torkelson that will be projected at the top of the draft. Lot can change between now and then.

Can't embed on my phone (for whatever reason), but here's that beautiful first pitch in case you missed it ROFL

https://mobile.twitter.com/FSKansasC...0%2Fframe.html

Torkelson is yet another first baseman.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Let&#39;s just say there was some shaky command on tonight&#39;s ceremonial first pitch at Guaranteed Rate Field.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhiteSox?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhiteSox</a> <a href="https://t.co/c3YT5YsH3o">pic.twitter.com/c3YT5YsH3o</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FSKansasCity/status/1133519624220291072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And we still "trail" those pesky O's by a game and a half in the standings this morning.

He might - might - be able to play some LF in the bigs. He isn’t as slow as Andrew Vaughn (who is slow, probably Billy Butler slow).

He has a basically 1:1 BB:K ratio, which is encouraging, and he set Arizona State’s freshman Hr record last year (25), breaking the mark set by a name you might recognize...

Barry Bonds.

2020 draft updates:

After some digging and reading through a really great post at Royals Curve, looks like this class will be headlined by:

Torkelson (better pure power than anyone in 2019 draft; less hit tool than Vaughn)

Emerson Hancock - RHP, UGA (would be #1 pitcher in this draft)

Cole Wilcox - RHP, UGA (tick below Hancock)

Pete Crow-Armstrong - CF, HS (speedy 4-tool Of, plus plus speed, plus hit tool, could develop plus power)

Crow-Armstrong is someone new-ish to me. Looks like a very Royals-ish player though. He’s a left/left hitter/thrower.

I could see that being KC’s choice if they aren’t in position for Hancock.

Singer is pitching Saturday night in Springfield for those in the area.

Royals have been incredibly disappointing this season. They're just brutal to watch.

If this team really hasn't tried to tank the past 2 seasons it says a hell of alot about Moore & Yost.

They're not as bad as their record. Their run differential isn't that bad. To me, the big disappointment is that all of our hitting prospects in A ball are no longer even legitimate prospects. Just brutal numbers.

I'm pretty happy that Dozier apparently is good. Mondesi is good. Whit maintaing. Need Junis and Keller to end up being legit back of the rotation guys, now.

Publicly they seem to have been no intentional tanking

Just a brutally bad team. Moore deserves to lose his job, but probably has a job for life with Mr Wal Mart at the helm.

Yep. Thankfully guys like Lopez, Merrifield, Mondesi, Dozier, etc. are already in the majors and either already established or showing promise. We have Jack shit for hitting talent in the minors other than maybe Isbel, Gigglioti (sp?), and not much else. Without the pitchers from the 2018 draft this would possibly be the worst farm system in MLB. The Wilmington trio is still young for their level so perhaps after spending 2-3 years there they might learn to at least hit their weight in BA, but it's not looking good. Moore had better get multiple picks right this year, we can't afford to shit the bed in the draft like Moore does in most years other than 2018.

Go ahead and point out which of the other 29 MLB teams have had runs as good or better than the 2012-2016 Royals in the amount of time Moore has been GM.

How much longer does that previous run excuse Moore from years of mostly bad drafting, trades, and FA signings since?

Even better outside of the two Missouri teams, when was the last time a team not located in a top 10 tv market won the World Series.

How much longer does the excuse that you don't actually know how mentally deficient you are have an application until it becomes a threat to public safety?

I'm guessing that sentence sounded a lot better in your head.

Good to know you feel the need to white knight a ****ing moron.

I'm certainly not doing that; I simply found your sentence structure here amusing.

He has been consistent with his Dayton Moore hate since 2008.

Moore’s drafting has to improve (he has been about MLB average over the past several years. That’s not good enough for a small market). I was confident it was on the upswing entering the year. The struggles of Pratto and Melendez at Wilmington are troubling.

Finding Kyle Isbel, Nicky Lopez, and Khalil Lee types in later rounds helps, but they need to hit at a better-than-average rate on the big acquisitions.

I sure wonder if they have the right people at A and A+ working with the hitters on development of their tools.

Lot of chatter several places the last 24 hours that Orioles may be leaning Witt over Adley. I’m wondering if it’s just media gossip or something to it?

I’m also wondering if the Royals would ultimately be better off if the O’s did take Witt Jr. and left them the choice of Adley or Vaughn?

Duncan, you hear anything about any of this and any legitimacy to it?? Just curious.

Nothing official. I’ve seen some chatter about the O’s looking at Witt or Vaughn but nothing concrete.

The Os May be overthinking and trying to save slot money at 1. That works great in deep drafts when you have a huge draft pool, but the DBacks have a bigger pool and at least 3, maybe 4 picks before the O’s pick again.

I’m good with Witt or Rutschman. Don’t be surprised if the Royals pass on Rutschman to take Witt if that option presents itself.

I'm a bit worried we don't have the coaching to develop Witt to his potential. Eh, hope I'm wrong.

Hot take alert ^^^^

That’s the concern for any team that takes one of these young, toolsy guys.

Sometimes guys just don’t develop.

Are the Twins bad at development because Buxton and Sano have been less than expected?

My friend who does scouting and video work made an interesting comparison last week that I think is a good way to approach baseball prospects:

Developing baseball players is as hard as developing a QB in the NFL. Many have the needed physical abilities to be good/great, but even good coaching doesn’t always unlock their potential.

It's definitely always a concern. I think my concerned is magnified a bit when considering our hitters recent struggles in the minors. In light of those concerns, I think I'd feel a bit more comfortable taking someone who was more polished out of the gate.

Witt's potential is very exciting. I think if we really want that blue chip "franchise player", it will require a risk like this in order to make it happen - but I'm still a bit worried in light of the struggles our prospects are having in the lower tiers of our system. At the end of the day, I'm a massive fan no matter who they select. We just really need to "hit" on the first picks of the next two drafts if we're going to be able to pull off rebuild 2.0.

Does Witt have the type of support around him to help him be successful if he goes to a team with less than adequate coaches in the minors?

I guess the good news is there are two potential all around superstars, one a little more polished than the other (college vs. HS) and an ELITE bat that will rake in the majors (Vaughn) and the Royals will get at least one of those three.

So be thankful we got at least a Top 3 pick this year.

Sparkman getting the start tonight. Maybe J Lopez to the pen.

No maybe. And likely permanent.

JFC:facepalm:

I don't really care who they draft. Wake me when they get called up. Anyone who really thinks they can look at the top 20 or so rated players and know who is going to be a star is full of it. The 1st round is full of busts and there's plenty of All Stars who weren't 1st rounders.

3 winning seasons in 13 years!

Back to back 100 loss seasons.

Two pennants and a championship ring.

But you're right Deberg. It would just be so much better if the Royals were the baseball equivalent of the Carl Peterson era Chiefs were they'd hover around .500 year in and year out with a slew of one and done wild card appearances and quick exists in the divisional round to show for it. :rolleyes:

Uh, ask any Mariners fan and I'm sure they'd take Jack Z's time with the M's over GMDM's time with the Royals 11 out of 10 times.

Yeah. They haven’t built sustained success (though 2013-2017 is one of the better 5-year runs for a small market team in recent history if you give points for actually winning playoff series and rings).

But the Royals have one of the most stacked decks against them in pro sports.

29/30 in market size in their league
Worst TV deal in league
No salary cap

Throw in MLB drastically changing draft rules (hard slot amateur draft, international free agency caps have both damaged the Royals significantly) that took away some of the talent acquisition advantages KC found early, and it gets worse.

There might be some NBA GMs with similar challenges (those small markets that can’t retain their best players, who run off to join super teams in bigger markets), but at least they have even salary rules and revenue sharing to shore up some of the differences.

Being an NFL GM is cake compared to an MLB GM.

Yeah. Just trying to add some top-down perspective.

Hitting on these premium picks this year and next will almost assuredly be the final determinant in how Moore’s tenure goes. Miss on these guys and you’re probably looking for a new GM in a few years and hoping you can find someone who can meet the challenges in KC.

The only other picks that were as important as this year and next were Hosmer and Moustakas. And he hit on those. Needs to do the same here.

He’s a baseball rat whose dad was the #3 pick in the draft and had a 10+ year major league career. His makeup and instincts are both raved about. Put those together with his physical tools and the only real thing to pick at is his age.

Speaking of baseball rat, wonder what Adam LaRoche's kid is up to.

The White Sox are in desperate need of his leadership.

So here’s something you don’t see every day: Glenn Sparkman just got ejected from the game for hitting a guy with a change up.

These umpires are ****ing dolts and have no idea how to delineate intent.

We'll have to see if the White Sox fire back.

Tough situation for Lopez here, coming in cold like this.

They fired first, in the previous half inning. Although their pitchers was also clearly unintentional.

Just another case of umpires trying to make themselves bigger than the game and sticking their .02 in where it doesn’t belong.

Lopez is 100% shit.

It feels like the 7th inning and it's still only the 4th.

Soler should have had two homers tonight if he didn't get robbed once. He's hitting them at a decent pace to hit 35-40 homers.