The Kansas City Royals selected left-handed pitcher Asa Lacy, regarded by many as the top pitching prospect in this year’s Major League Baseball draft, with the fourth overall pick.
They also picked up Baylor University shortstop Nick Loftin with the No. 32 pick. Loftin earned Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year recognition this spring.
The Detroit Tigers selected Arizona State first baseman/third baseman Spencer Torkelson No. 1 overall Wednesday evening. The Baltimore Orioles picked University of Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad second. The Miami Marlins then selected Minnesota right-handed pitcher Max Meyer with the third pick to set the table for the Royals.
Vanderbilt infielder/outfielder Austin Martin and Lacy were each available at No. 4. Both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked Martin and Lacy the second-best and third-best prospects, respectively, going into the draft.
Royals assistant GM/amateur scouting Lonnie Goldberg and Royals general manager Dayton Moore made a decision earlier in the day what they’d do in that situation, but still weren’t necessarily expecting it.
“We had already been through that,” Moore said. “It wasn’t a surprise to us. When we had to make the decision, we’d already made the decision. We just didn’t think it was going to happen.”
Roughly an hour and a half before the draft, Goldberg shared with Moore that maneuvering at the top of the draft might lead to that very scenario.
“That was something that we were ahead of,” Goldberg said. “We’d already decided it. We didn’t know it was going to come down that way, but we’d made an advance decision. …
“We were fortunate it happened. I mean, we didn’t go to bed last night thinking Asa Lacy might be there at the fourth overall pick. To the credit of all the guys and all the work that they did — the job that Chris Reitsma and the guys have done, our cross-checkers — we were prepared for it and ready for it if it happened.”
A 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior out of Texas A&M with a fastball reaching 98 mph, Lacy becomes the Aggies’ highest baseball draft pick ever (Jeff Granger, fifth overall in 1993).
He’s also the highest-drafted Royals pitcher since Luke Hochevar was selected No. 1 overall in 2006. Mike Stodolka was picked No. 4 overall by the Royals in 2000.
His performance early this season, which included three double-digit strikeout performances in four starts, made him undoubtedly the top pitcher in the draft in the Royals’ estimation.
“The thing that separated him is, obviously, he’s left-handed, but last year he had a plus changeup,” Goldberg said. “This year, he has a plus changeup, has his plus slider and he’s throwing anywhere from 92 to 98, and his strikes were better. He was better composed. He just kind of blew past everybody. His stuff is crisp. It’s no-hitter type stuff. He’s got a chance every night he goes out with that kind of stuff.”
Lacy, 21, went 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA (2.0 earned runs in 24 innings) with 46 strikeouts, 8 walks and a .111 opponents’ batting average in four starts this spring before the COVID-19 coronavirus forced the suspension of the college season.
As a sophomore, Lacy held opponents to a .162 batting average.
