The Kansas City Royals were ecstatic to come away with two young, high-octane arms in the 2023 draft. The front office acquired RHP Blake Wolters with the 44th overall pick. They followed that selection by selecting RHP Hiro Wyatt to open their draft on day two. Wolters agreed to a $2.8 million signing bonus. Wyatt came in at $1.49 million. In all, Kansas City took a $12,313,500 draft pool into last summer’s draft. The team spent nearly 35% of that draft pool on the duo of prep arms. Now just over a year later, those two young arms represent the future for the Royals.
Royals Senior Director of Pitching Performance, Paul Gibson, called the two arms “a big part of our future.” He feels they’re well-positioned to take off next season. Now well into their first professional campaign, both arms have made their way to Low-A Columbia. Wolters started his season with the Fireflies and has made 14 starts in 2024. Across 55.2 IP, the Mahomet-Seymour High School prospect owns a 4.20 ERA with 46 strikeouts. Wyatt, on the other hand, made his way to Columbia later into the season, spending the season’s first half in the Arizona Complex League. He made his first start for the Fireflies on July 25 and has an impressive 31.4% strikeout rate over his first two starts. Now well into 2024, what does the immediate future hold for each arm?
The Royals have controlled the workload for Wolters, will continue to work in Arizona
Wolters debuted in 2024 touching 98 mph on the bump. This came after he drew rave reviews prior to the season, touching triple digits in camp. There was talk that his fastball was perhaps the best in the entire farm system already. With all that hype and the fastball immediately on display for the Fireflies, it seemed like Wolters was on the fast track to true top-prospect status. The 19-year-old quickly settled in. Over his next three starts following his season debut, he looked impressive. In that span, Wolters pitched to a 2.02 ERA with a 30.8% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate.
After that fourth start of the season on May 3, Wolters wouldn’t pitch again until May 15. From there, he pitched every sixth day until early July. Wolters had eight days between starts on July 3 and July 11, before he quietly “exited” the Fireflies rotation, of sorts. That’s to say, Wolters hasn’t pitched in a game since July 11. He wasn’t injured and was placed on the Development List on Wednesday. The Royals had an innings limit in mind for Wolters in his first professional season, and that usage pattern was a result of managing those innings.
The team also noticed a slight dip in velocity as the season went on and chose to “err on the side of caution” with their young starter. That dip in velocity was noticeable, as Wolters started to settle in at 93-95mph as the season went on. Some of that is to be expected from a young arm, and the Royals have done a great job managing his workload to help him continue building his arm strength. Wolters is still not quite to that designated innings limit the team envisioned, but will likely spend the remainder of his 2024 season working in Arizona.
Wyatt has been “a pleasant surprise,” showcasing improvements to his arsenal already
Hiro Wyatt was seen as a two-pitch arm by many when drafted in the third round last summer. Despite just the two offerings, it was true high-octane stuff. Wyatt has a wipeout slider with excellent spin rates and a fastball that can work into the upper 90s at times. He started his season in Arizona, finding mixed results in the Complex League. He went 0-3 across 12 appearances, pitching to a 4.81 ERA for the Surprise Royals. Still, the Royals saw enough from him to move him up a level in early July and he’s flourished since.
In two starts for Low-A Columbia this season, Wyatt has a 2.83 FIP. He has 11 strikeouts in nine innings of work. Perhaps even more impressive from such a young arm has been the noticeable improvements in his pitch arsenal. Wyatt has already turned his changeup into a true weapon. That changeup was on display in his last start back on July 31 when he punched out a season-high six batters. The Royals plan to keep Wyatt on a tight leash for the rest of this season as well. He’s done a great job putting in the work this season, and it’s paid off in a big way between his arsenal and his physical development as a pitcher. Both arms should be positioned nicely to finish this season in the Instructional League before returning to Columbia next season and potentially finding their way up a level by mid-season.