If not for an injury suffered midseason, it could have very well been David Sandlin — not Mason Barnett — that led the Royals farm system in strikeouts last season. Sandlin burst onto the scene in what was his very first full professional season. He has started to make a name for himself as a power pitcher, earning heavy strikeout totals while dominating opposing hitters with his fastball.

Season Stats:

2023 (Low-A): 12 GS, 58.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 33.5% K%, 5.5% BB%

2023 (High-A): 2 GS, 8.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 5.38 FIP, 22.9% K%, 14.3% BB%

David Sandlin’s 28.0% K-BB% this season for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies was otherworldly. He simply did not belong in Low-A as long as he was there. Opposing hitters stood no chance. He bullied them inside the zone with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball. By the end of his Low-A stint, it had become a rather simple recipe on the mound: here’s my fastball, you can’t hit it anyway.

Sandlin was promoted to High-A midway through the season but only lasted two starts before an injury would sideline him for the rest of the year. Among all Royals MiLB pitchers with at least 50 IP in 2023, Sandlin ranked third with an obscene 32.1% K%. His 25.5% K-BB% was the best among starters in the farm system and he generated a healthy 14.5% swinging strike rate. Many of the advanced metrics point to Sandlin becoming one of the premier pitching prospects in the system if he can return from injury the same as he was last season.

Scouting Grades:

Fastball: 55/60

Slider: 50/55

Splitter: 50/55

Command: 50/55

Best Case Scenario:

What would Chris Paddack be if he had stayed healthy throughout his career? That’s about what I expect the best-case scenario to look like for David Sandlin. Sandlin has a frontline starter upside thanks to how good his fastball is and how well he can command it. All three of his pitches are at least average right now, and his command is excellent to go with it. There’s a lot to like here and plenty of ceiling to uncover.

Worst Case Scenario:

David Sandlin hasn’t pitched very long. In fact, 2022 for Oklahoma was his first full season as a pitcher in any capacity. As a result, he’s still rather raw in his ability compared to many other arms at his stage of development. The injury this season — along with that short track record of innings — gives some pause to Sandlin’s long-term prospects as a starter over a full season. I’ll believe in it until I’m shown otherwise, but even if it can’t work out, Sandlin could easily become a high-leverage reliever thanks to his raw stuff.