introducing: The 2025 Draft Class By John Kocsis Jr.
Next, KC added to their organizational catching depth that includes two MLB top-100 prospects and two additional organizational top 30 prospects. They selected Brooks Bryan out of Troy. In 2024, Bryan had a school-record 85 RBI for Troy and MLB.com had him being drafted as high as the fourth round in some mocks. He’s a bat-first catcher that could see as many as 20 homers a year as the 21-year-old grows into his frame. In the ninth, the Royals went for some projectibility. They selected Shane Van Dam out of NC State. The wolf pack reliever didn’t make an appearance until May and only worked eight innings in 2025. In 2024, the 6’6” righty had a 4.58 ERA and about one strikeout per inning in 37.1 innings. To close out the first half of the draft, the Royals nabbed reliever Max Martin out of University of Cal – Irvine. He finished the year tied for the fourth-most saves in the NCAA (14). He induces a ton of ground balls with a 97 MPH sinker and uses a slider to get swings and misses. After that, there were two players in the final 10 rounds who were signed to drastically above the slot bonuses. First was 14th rounder JC Vanek. Vanek attended Chipola College in Florida who has one of the better contact traits in this year’s draft. Vanek clubbed .395 this spring and he can play first and both corner outfield spots defensively. The big question scouts have is how much power he can offer, but if he can continue to set the table, he can climb through the Royals system. In the 18th round, Kansas City selected Grayson Boles from St. Augustine High School in Florida. In the first round, a lot of people speculated that the Royals might select Kruz Schoolcraft, a 6-8 lefty prep pitcher from Oregon. They didn’t go that route, but they did pick up a prep pitcher from the right side who stands at 6’5” and can throw in the mid-90s. Reports state that he mostly sat in the low-90s this year and that his best pitch is a slider that sits in the low-80s.
The Royals first pick was outfielder Sean Gamble, who went to high school with current Fireflies player, Stone Russell at IMG. Gamble was committed to go to Vanderbilt before signing with Kansas City and has drawn comparisons to Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott. Kansas City used their next pick on shortstop Josh Hammond went to Wesleyan Christian Academy. Hammond was a two-way player that most teams thought fit better as a pitcher, but Hammond wants to play everyday and has selected to go through the draft process as an infielder. MLB. com says that he has great gap-to-gap power and should fill out to become a 20-25 homer a season type of player. . After that, the Royals selected three-consecutive college pitchers. First it was another two-way player, Michael Lombardi out of Tulane. Lombardi has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and induced 15.6 K/9 last season. After that, they selected Justin Lampkin out of Texas A&M. Fans might remember Lampkin’s 21 strikeout seven-inning no-hitter in 2022. Analysts compared him to current Royal Kris Bubic, but there was no signing him away from the Aggies. His best pitch is a slider and he exits this class as one of the top college lefties available. Next, KC took Cameron Millar, who has a fastball in the upper 90s and is the second player ever drafted out of Alhambra High School—joining Robert Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds. The Royals have already assigned their fourth rounder, Nolan Sailors, an outfielder out of Creighton, to Quad Cities, after that, they picked up Arkansas reliever Aiden Jimenez. Jimenez was a redshirt sophomore with 40 strikeouts over 42.1 innings in the SEC. Then things got interesting, the Royals continued their pipeline through the Netherlands by selecting Tyriq Kemp out of Baylor. Kemp was born in the Netherlands and would join Darryl Collins as the second Fireflies player since 2020 out of the Netherlands if he’s assigned to the club. Kemp hit .358 with seven homers to earn All-Big 12 First Team Honors this year. In the seventh round, the Royals selected pitcher Bryson Dudley out of Texas State. Dudley was placed on the Sun Belt Conference All Tournament Team after tossing a complete game shutout with a season-best 10 strikeouts against Appalachian State May 20. He allowed only two hits in the contest. . The Fireflies are headed to the postseason for the first time in team history and traditionally, the draft gives teams in the Carolina League a late push. Here’s a look at the players the Royals selected in the 2025 draft that might be coming to Segra Park prior to the end of the season. After a pitcher-heavy 2024 draft, the Royals selected nine hitters and 13 pitchers in their 2025 class. Kansas City started things out with a pair of prep bats. The Royals owned the 23rd and 28th pick in this year’s class thanks to the new prospect promotion incentive pick. Because Bobby Witt Jr. finished in the MVP race last year, the Royals got an extra selection this season.
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