Bobby Witt Jr. is ranked as the 26th-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America, and will be present for Royals spring training during early July.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals didn’t make any completely shocking choices in who they will bring to Kansas City for the resumption of spring training this week, but the list did include top-rated prospect and 2019 first-round draft pick (No. 2 overall) Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt, a shortstop who was drafted out of high school last year, should still be in his first full season of professional baseball. He’s among the 28 position players included on the list.
Baseball America ranks Witt the 26th-best prospect in baseball in its latest top 100 (post draft).
The Royals announced their initial 60-player pool on Sunday evening, three days before players are scheduled to report to Kauffman Stadium. Teams had until 3 p.m. (CT) to submit their player pool. The club will hold its first organized team workout on Friday.
Four of the organization’s top five minor-league position players were selected with Khalil Lee, Kyle Isbel and Nick Pratto joining Witt.
Top pitching prospects Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Brady Singer were among the 32 pitchers included. Baseball America ranks Lynch the 42nd-best prospect and Kowar the 88th.
Other pitchers included in the 60-player pool include right-hander Chance Adams, right-hander Scott Barlow, right-hander Scott Blewett, left-hander Austin Cox, left-hander Danny Duffy, right-hander Heath Fillmyer, left-hander Foster Griffin, right-hander Jesse Hahn, left-hander Tim Hill, right-hander Greg Holland, right-hander Jakob Junis, right-hander Brad Keller, right-hander Ian Kennedy, right-hander Jorge López, left-hander Richard Lovelady, right-hander Kevin McCarthy, left-hander Mike Montgomery, right-hander Jake Newberry, left-hander Randy Rosario, right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, right-hander Braden Shipley, right-hander Glenn Sparkman, left-hander Gabe Speier, right-hander Josh Staumont, left-hander Daniel Tillo, right-hander Stephen Woods Jr., right-hander Kyle Zimmer and right-hander Tyler Zuber.
The position player group includes catchers Nick Dini, Cam Gallagher, MJ Melendez, Salvador Perez, Sebastian Rivero and Meibrys Viloria as well as infielders Humberto Arteaga, Maikel Franco, Kelvin Gutierrez, Jeison Guzmán, Nicky Lopez, Ryan McBroom, Adalberto Mondesi, Ryan O’Hearn, Pratto, Matt Reynolds and Witt.
The outfielders include Hunter Dozier, Alex Gordon, Nick Heath, Isbel, Lee, Seuly Matias, Erick Mejia, Whit Merrifield, Brett Phillips, Jorge Soler and Bubba Starling.
