Royals Notes: Lacy, Brentz, Long
Royals left-hander Asa Lacy announced on Instagram that he’ll miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’ll likely be sidelined into the early portion of the 2025 campaign.
Lacy, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft after a standout college career at Texas A&M, ranked as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects in the year following that selection but has seen injuries and shaky performance tank his stock. Shoulder and back injuries have hobbled the lefty to this point in his pro career. He didn’t throw a pitch for a Royals affiliate in 2023 and will now also miss the ’24 campaign. Overall, Lacy has just 80 innings pitched since being drafted, and he’s posted a 7.09 ERA with a 21.3% walk rate in that time.
Lacy won’t turn 25 until June. There’s still time for him to eventually get back to full strength and resume the once-promising trajectory that made him a slam-dunk first-round pick and had him in the conversation for the No. 1 overall selection at times heading into that 2020 draft. As it stands, Lacy is one of several high-profile college arms around whom the Royals structured their most recent rebuilding efforts — an endeavor that simply hasn’t panned out.
Lacy, Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch IV, Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar and Alec Marsh are among the names the club envisioned filling out a pipeline of young pitching. Singer has at times looked like a high-end starter but has lacked consistency. The others have yet to establish themselves in the majors. Stalled development among that group of college arms has been one of the key reasons for the Royals’ struggles in recent years and was surely a driving factor behind the team’s decision to spend a combined $77MM to sign Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha in free agency this winter.
Kansas City will also be without lefty Jake Brentz for a decent chunk of time. The 29-year-old reliever has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will miss at least six weeks of action, manager Matt Quatraro announced to the team’s beat this week (X link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com).
Brentz was a solid member of the K.C. bullpen back in 2021, tossing 64 innings with a 3.66 ERA, 15 holds and a pair of saves. His 13.3% walk rate was an obvious reason for concern, but Brentz helped to mitigate his sub-par command with a hearty 27.3% strikeout rate and strong 49% ground-ball rate. Injuries have taken their toll on the southpaw over the past several years, however. He dealt with a shoulder impingement late in that 2021 season and saw his 2022 campaign almost entirely wiped out by a flexor strain and a subsequent UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery.
Brentz inked a two-year, $1.9MM deal with the Royals covering the 2023-24 seasons, with the clear hope that he’d be at full strength again this year and serve as a key member of the bullpen. But a lat strain (coupled with that Tommy John rehab) limited him to just 2 2/3 minor league frames last year. He’s struggled mightily this spring, walking 11 of his 32 opponents and yielding a whopping 14 runs in just 5 1/3 innings of Cactus League action. When healthy, Brentz averaged 97 mph with his heater, missed bats in droves and kept the ball on the ground nicely. It’s been three years since we’ve seen that version of the lefty, but he’ll have the rest of this season and potentially another two years of arbitration eligibility with the Royals to get back on track.
The injury to Brentz thins out the competition for the final couple bullpen spots in Kansas City. One name that’s impressed the club thus far in camp, writes Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star, is left-hander Sam Long. In camp as a non-roster invitee, the former A’s and Giants hurler has tossed 7 1/3 frames and held opponents to one run on five hits and a walk with 13 punchouts.
Long, 28, signed a minor league deal back in December. He’s pitched in the majors in each of the past three seasons, logging 128 innings between MLB’s two Bay Area clubs. In that time, Long has pitched to a 4.92 ERA with an 18.5% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate. He’s at 1.160 years of big league service time, so if he wins a spot in Kansas City’s bullpen and can cement himself as a consistent option, they’d be able to control him for as many as five seasons.
AL Notes: Royals, Boone, Yankees, Tigers, Hernandez
Many of the Royals‘ best pitching prospects are returning from injury-shortened seasons, yet as MLB.com’s Anne Rogers writes, most of these young arms are back at the club’s minor league camp in good health. The most prominent of these names is Asa Lacy, the fourth overall pick of the 2020 draft and a consensus top-40 prospect heading into the 2021 season, though Lacy’s stock has dropped a bit after a rough debut year.
The left-hander posted a 5.19 ERA over 52 innings in high-A ball, with a strong 33.3% strikeout rate but also a garish 17.3% walk rate. Discomfort in his throwing shoulder sidelined Lacy for a good chunk of the season, though he felt well enough to pitch 7 2/3 more frames during Arizona Fall League action, with mixed results. Lacy delivered a 2.35 ERA and 15 strikeouts over that smaller sample size, but still issued six walks. It isn’t uncommon for players (even those without injury concerns) to have some trouble adjusting to their first taste of minor league ball, and both Lacy and the Royals are hopeful this was just a bump in the road of Lacy’s development.
Some other items from around the American League…
- The Yankees and manager Aaron Boone are still looking at candidates to become the club’s third hitting coach, Joel Sherman of The New York Post writes. When last we heard of the Yankees’ search, the Bronx Bombers were hoping to land a former MLB player in the role — neither hitting coach Dillon Lawson and assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes played pro ball. (Eric Chavez was initially hired for the job but then headed crosstown to become the Mets’ new hitting coach.) How close the Yankees might be to finding that new coach is unknown, as Sherman indicated that a hire could come this week, or the team might just stick with two hitting coaches if they can’t find a good fit for that third position. The hitting coach search is just of several topics broached within a wide-ranging interview with Boone about the manager’s tenure in the Bronx, the challenges of the lockout, and keeping the staff prepared for what might be a rushed Spring Training.
- Wilkel Hernandez threw his first bullpen session at the Tigers‘ minor league minicamp Sunday, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Fress Press writes. The right-handed prospect hasn’t pitched since 2019 due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and then Tommy John surgery in October 2020. Even despite this missed time, Hernandez (who turns 23 in April) still has four years of pro experience, after joining the Angels as an international signing in 2015. Hernandez came to Detroit’s organization in December 2017, as one of two minors pitchers acquired from the Angels in exchange for Ian Kinsler.
Royals Add Asa Lacy, Carlos Hernandez To Player Pool
The Royals have added left-hander Asa Lacy and right-hander Carlos Hernandez to their 60-man player pool and assigned the pair to their alternate training site, per a club announcement.
Lacy is the bigger name of the two, having been selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2020 draft. Though he was the second pitcher taken — Miami selected University of Minnesota righty Max Meyer one pick earlier — Lacy was considered by many to be the top overall pitching prospect in the draft. The Texas A&M ace overwhelmed SEC hitters during his NCAA career, pitching to a cumulative 2.07 ERA with 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Lacy was off to a blazing start in 2020, having pitched to a 0.75 ERA with an outrageous 46-to-8 K/BB ratio in just 24 innings when the season came to a halt (17.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9).
Given his status as an elite college arm, there might be some fans who hope to see him in the big leagues as soon as 2020, although that still seems decidedly improbable. He’s a huge part of the Royals’ future and immediately became one of the organization’s top three prospects upon signing, but this is quite likely a developmental assignment for the 21-year-old. Kansas City has several prominent pitching prospects who are closer to the big leagues but have yet to receive their first promotion — most notably Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch. Top prospects Brady Singer and Kris Bubic have already debuted in 2020.
Hernandez, 23, is already on the Royals’ 40-man roster, so there’s a bit more of a chance that he’d see the big leagues this season, although that’s also a long shot. He’s never pitched above A-ball and has just 36 innings of experience at that level, although they were sharp ones. Hernandez missed a big chunk of last season while waiting on a fractured rib to mend, but once healthy he turned in a 3.50 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9 and a 39.1 percent grounder rate in the Class-A South Atlantic League. MLB.com ranks him 12th among K.C. farmhands, noting that his velocity jumped into the upper 90s last season and also praising his potentially above-average curveball. The alternate camp assignment will give him some additional developmental time in the absence of a traditional minor league season in 2020.
Royals Sign Asa Lacy & Rest Of Draft Class
7:09pm: Lacy signed for $6.67MM, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.
2:13pm: The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve officially signed left-hander Asa Lacy. The former Texas A&M ace was the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft after compiling a career 2.07 ERA with 13.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 152 total innings of college ball (21 starts, 21 relief appearances). He’s the highest pick to come to terms so far, and while his bonus figure wasn’t announced by the club, the No. 4 slot comes with a $6.664MM value.
The Kansas City organization didn’t stop there. It also added shortstop Nick Loftin on a $3MM bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports on Twitter. That’s a far sight higher than the $2,257,300 allocation that came with the competitive balance round A selection with which he was chosen. Loftin decided to go pro rather than returning for another year at Baylor.
Righty Ben Hernandez, an Illinois high-schooler chosen in the second round, agreed to a $1.45MM bonus. (Via Callis; Twitter links.) That freed up nearly $400K to help cover the amount due to Loftin. The Royals also saved a bit on third-rounder Tyler Gentry, an outfielder out of the University of Alabama, who inked for $750K ($818,200 slot value). The Royals also agreed to as-yet-unreported bonuses with Christian Chamberlain, LHP, Oregon State (4th round) and Will Klein, RHP, Eastern Illinois (5th round).
The Royals also announced seven undrafted player signings, rounding out a widely heralded incoming class of amateur talent:
- Saul Garza, C/1B, Louisiana State
- John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech
- A.J. Block, LHP, Washington State
- Tucker Bradley, OF, Georgia
- Matt Schmidt, INF, Michigan
- Kale Emshoff, C, Arkansas-Little Rock
- Chase Wallace, RHP, Tennessee
While there’s plenty of promise from multiple new prospects, Lacy remains the crown jewel. He was the consensus top pitcher available, which made it rather surprising to see him fall to the Royals at the fourth selection. Virtually all draft pundits graded him as one of the three best prospects up for grabs in 2020.
The Royals will be especially excited with Lacy because of the team’s long-stated intention to engineer a quick rebuild. Having gone heavy on advanced college pitching prospects in recent drafts, with promising early returns, the K.C. club can now look forward to another fast-rising youngster. Lacy possesses and commands an impressive four-pitch arsenal and has already proven himself against top college competition.
Amateur Draft Notes: Torkelson, Wilcox, Mock Drafts
The first round of the 2020 amateur draft begins on June 10, and the growing feeling is that the Tigers will take Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick. Torkelson comes into the draft on the heels of an outstanding college career, which Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill notes could have reached historic proportions had Torkelson’s 2020 campaign not been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The young slugger had a shot at breaking the NCAA record for walks in a season, and Torkelson sat just two home runs away from setting a new Arizona State school record for career homers (a record held by longtime Braves third baseman Bob Horner). Though Torkelson will miss out on these individual accomplishments and a shot at being part of a potential national championship contender, his Arizona State tenure has already been the stuff of legend, especially considering that Torkelson came to the program on a relatively low profile after not being drafted by a Major League team when coming out of high school.
Some more on the draft…
- The NCAA’s decision to give an extra year of eligibility to spring sports will give at least some players extra signing leverage in this abbreviated five-round draft. As The Athletic’s David O’Brien (subscription required) writes, right-hander Cole Wilcox has the option of returning to the University of Georgia for a do-over of his sophomore year if doesn’t receive a signing bonus to his liking, which “some in the industry believe” is a “top-half-of-first-round” asking price. (So, in the neighborhood of $4MM, based on the recommended slot prices.) It isn’t out of the question that the hard-throwing Wilcox is selected within the top 15 anyway based on his strong track record at Georgia, though many prognosticators have the righty in the bottom half of the first round.
- Speaking of prognostication, let’s give into some mock draft action! The latest projections are up from The Athletic’s Keith Law (subscription required), Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo, and MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, and all have identical top threes: Torkelson to the Tigers, Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin to the Orioles with the second overall pick, and Texas A&M southpaw Asa Lacy to the Marlins third overall. Assuming Detroit does take Torkelson, the O’s are favored to select Martin or at least another position player — Collazo and Callis note that Baltimore could opt to take New Mexico State infielder Nick Gonzales, while Law has heard “rumblings” that Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad could be the pick if the Orioles wanted to spread around their draft pool money.
- All three mock drafts are well worth a read, as Law, Collazo, and Callis share some reports and rumors about which prospects could be on various teams’ radars, and what particular teams may or may not be targeting on their draft boards. For instance, the Royals (who pick fourth overall) seem to be leaning towards picking a position player this after focusing on adding pitchers in recent drafts, which could lead them to Gonzales or Florida high school outfielder Zac Veen. Callis has K.C. taking Gonzales while Collazo and Law have the Royals taking Veen, with Law adding that he has “heard they’re cool on Gonzales.” Then again, a pitcher might not be out of the question either for Kansas City, as Collazo writes “lately, we’ve also heard Minnesota right-hander Max Meyer linked to this pick.” As for Wilcox’s placement, Callis projects the Mets (19th overall), Law projects the Nationals (22nd), and Collazo projects the Yankees (28th).