The Royals selected the top prep player in the country and a player rated the top shortstop prospect in decades when they drafted Colleyville Heritage High Schools Bobby Witt Jr. with the No. 2 overall pick on Monday night.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman first overall.
Witt Jr., who has already graduated from high school, is in the middle of the state playoffs in Texas. Hell turn 19 on June 14. Hes the son of former major league pitcher Bobby Witt Sr.
Witt Sr., who the Texas Rangers drafted No. 3 overall in 1985 out of the University of Oklahoma, pitched for 16 years in the majors and started 397 games (430 total appearances).
A resident of Colleyville Texas, the 6-foot, 180-pound Witt Jr. was selected as the 2018-19 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year. A right-handed hitter, he went into this past weekend with a .515 batting average with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, eight triples and 54 RBIs. He also had a .579 on-base percentage and 17 stolen bases.
In 2018, he won the High School Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star Game as well as MVP honors at the Under Armour All-America Game, the States Play Series and the U18 Pan American Championships.
Baseball America and Perfect Game ranked Witt Jr., who signed to play college baseball for Oklahoma, as the top prep prospect in the nation.
Witt Jr. is viewed as a five-tool player MLB.com, citing a survey of several scouts, rated Witt Jr. as the second-best shortstop prospect ever behind Alex Rodriguez and ahead of Chipper Jones.
The Royals went pitching heavy in last years draft and used their first five picks on college pitchers in Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar, Kris Bubic and Jonathan Bowlan.
Royals top-5 picks in the past 15 years include outfielder Chris Lubanski (fifth, 2003), third baseman Alex Gordon (second, 2005), Luke Hochevar (first, 2006), shortstop Mike Moustakas (second, 2007), first baseman Eric Hosmer (third, 2008), shortstop Christian Colon (fourth, 2010), outfielder Bubba Starling (fifth, 2011) and pitcher Kyle Zimmer (fifth, 2012).
