Top 3 Day Two Royals MLB Draft Picks That Stood Out
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The 2022 MLB Draft is in full swing and on Tuesday, the festivities wrap up with rounds 11-20. For the Kansas City Royals, they've gotten off to a good start by selecting nothing but college players thus far with all 10 of their initial picks. After rolling with the duo of Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross and Arkansas third baseman Cayden Wallace in rounds one and two, the club got back to work on Monday and stocked up on more talent.
Of the Royals' day two haul, there was a mixed bag of selections mixed in. Some players are coming off injuries, others are buy-low underperforming candidates and there are even a few players with intriguing upside near the end of the list. With that in mind, let's take a look at three mid-round picks who stood out from the middle of the draft.
Hunter Patteson — LHP, Central Florida
With their fifth-round pick, No. 145 overall, the Royals went with left-handed pitcher Hunter Patteson. The UCF product is a 6-foot-5 southpaw who was previously a 35th-round selection by the Chicago Cubs back in 2019. After tossing 182/3 innings with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Summer League to the tune of a 4.34 ERA last summer, Patteson returned to school for another year. He was dominant in his first seven starts of the season, recording a 12.4 K/9 to just 1.5 BB/9 while posting a 0.910 WHIP.
Patteson's 1.82 ERA through just under 30 innings was phenomenal but unfortunately for him and his draft stock, he became yet another 2022 college arm to suffer an injury and underwent Tommy John surgery in April. In terms of raw stuff and projectability, Patteson's profile bodes well and he could be a player that teams look back at and regret passing on him multiple times. This is a high-risk selection by Kansas City but if Patteson can work his way back from injury and maintain the velocity he had in his final year at UCF, the return on investment could be tremendous.
Wesley Scott — RHP, Walters State Community College
At pick No. 235, an eighth-round selection, the Royals elected to welcome Walters State Community College arm Wesley Scott to the organization. A transfer from the University of Arizona and then San Jacinto College, the 21-year-old righty tossed 75 innings across 18 appearances (15 starts) for the Senators in 2022 and posted a 3.60 ERA. Going 9-2 in those outings, Scott struck out a whopping 118 hitters (an average of 14.16 per game) while opponents hit just .235 against him.
The major knock for Scott is going to be the level of competition he faced in college, as there are many other players from either highly-ranked prep schools or Division I, II or III colleges who may present better profiles. Coming from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to Major League Baseball will prove to be a challenge, but Scott's high strikeout numbers suggest that he may be able to rise to the occasion in due time. He's worth monitoring as a lottery ticket prospect.
Levi Usher — OF, Louisville
Speaking of lottery tickets, there may be no greater one in the Royals' haul thus far than outfielder Levi Usher from Louisville. The recently-turned 22-year-old had a tale of two years between 2021 and 2022, posting OPS totals of .664 and .553 at school and over the summer in the New England Collegiate League before coming back and slashing .285/.362/.455 (.818 OPS) in 64 games this season with the Cardinals. Kansas City's 10th-round pick — No. 295 overall — has major questions about how legitimate his hit tool is, but there's still a ton to like about his game.
In the outfield, Usher makes use of his elite speed to cover a ton of ground. He projects as a true center field prospect and should be able to stay there throughout his minor league career if the Royals' affiliates allow him to. With that said, he does have experience in both of the corner outfield spots as well. Usher's speed also plays extremely well on the basepaths, as he logged 26 stolen bases last season at Louisville before recording 36 this year. One of the more impressive baseball prospects from the ACC in 2022, the Royals will hope for that version of him rather than the one who was a relative non-prospect the year prior.
