Kansas City Royals 2024 MLB Draft Review
Following the 2024 MLB Draft, we’re taking a deeper look at each individual draft class. Below, find one overarching takeaway from the draft, plus a full scouting report on the most interesting pick on days two and three. You can see all 30 draft reviews here.
Draft Theme: Standout Strike-throwers
After the Royals selected huge upside with Jac Caglianone at pick No. 6, they drafted a number of pitchers who stand out for their advanced control. High school LHP David Shields projects for above-average control, RHP Drew Beam managed a 6.4% walk rate in his Tennessee career, RHP AJ Causey managed a 5.9% walk rate in his college career and RHP Tanner Jones had a solid 8.6% walk rate this spring. That’s a solid group of command-oriented pitchers in a draft class that had plenty of erratic arms.
Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: RHP LP Langevin, 4th round
Langevin is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound righthander with some of the most intriguing fastball traits in the draft class. A Canadian native, Langevin spent two seasons with Wabash Valley (Ill.) JC before transferring to Louisiana-Lafayette for the 2024 season where he posted a 3.73 ERA over 62.2 innings in a multi-inning reliever role. Langevin sits in the 93-94 mph range and touches 96, but he has tremendous spin on the pitch as well as a devastating combination of both riding life and armside run that overwhelms hitters. In addition to that, he throws from a low attack angle and creates a flat plane for the pitch which makes it a lethal offering at the top of the zone—where he did an excellent job spotting the pitch. He generated a 46% miss rate on the fastball this spring which is an absurd whiff rate for a fastball and better than either his mid-80s slider or mid-80s changeup. Unsurprisingly, Langevin pitches off his fastball at a heavy clip—roughly 80% of the time this spring—and will need to improve his secondaries in the future to avoid being a one-pitch pony. Regardless of his future role or the quality of his secondaries, the outlier traits of his fastball should make him a target for most teams on the second day of the draft.
Most Interesting Day 3 Pick: RHP Andrew Morones, 16th round
Morones is a 6-foot, 190-pound righthander who just finished his junior season with Cal State Fullerton but is old for his class and will already be 23 on draft day. He posted a 5.18 ERA over 33 innings this spring, with a 30.2% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate, but also pitched in the MLB Draft League after the season and managed a 17:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first 12 innings. Morones has unique release traits that could allow his 90-95 mph fastball play up thanks to its flat approach angle, and the pitch had above-average miss rates this spring. He also throws a cutter in the upper 80s, a curveball in the upper 70s and an occasional slider in the low 80s.
