Major League Baseball completed its 2020 amateur draft on Thursday night. The spread of the novel coronavirus required the draft to be held virtually instead of in Omaha, Nebraska alongside the College World Series. The owners' desire to slash costs, meanwhile, led to the draft being shortened from 40 rounds to five.
The Kansas City Royals selected left-hander Asa Lacy out of Texas A&M with the No. 4 overall pick. He was the No. 3 prospect on R.J. Anderson's big board. The Royals also added shortstop Nick Loftin out of Baylor and earned an A grade from CBS Sports experts. Here's how we assessed their class:
Asa Lacy, the top pitcher in the draft class, slipped out of the top three and into the Royals' lap with the No. 4 pick. That's a huge win. Kansas City then added maybe the best true shortstop in the draft class in Nick Loftin in Competitive Balance Round B, and second rounder Ben Hernandez might have the best changeup among high school pitchers in the draft class. Outfielder Tyler Gentry was a nice get in the third round too. Lacy makes this an A all by himself. Adding Loftin and Hernandez (and Gentry) on top of him is icing on the cake.
Below you'll find a full list of Royals' draft picks.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | School | Top 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Asa Lacy | LHP | Texas A&M | No. 3 |
| Comp Round A | 32 | Nick Loftin | SS | Baylor | No. 29 |
2 | 41 | Ben Hernandez | RHP | De La Salle Institute (IL) | N/A |
3 | 76 | Tyler Gentry | OF | Alabama | N/A |
4 | 105 | Christian Chamberlain | P | Oregon State | N/A |
5 | 135 | Will Klein | P | Eastern Illinois | N/A |
