It’s now a matter of days before the Kansas City Royals are on the clock in the 2026 MLB Draft. Selecting sixth overall on Saturday, there have been numerous names floated about the Royals pick leaving some reason to interpret what exactly J.J. Picollo and the front office’s first round strategy might be. However, perhaps Keith Law of The Athletic might’ve hinted at one way Kansas City might be enticed to lean towards on draft day.
In his latest mock this past Monday, Law projected the Royals to select left-handed pitcher Mason Edwards, a college junior out of USC, with the sixth pick. His decision to place Edwards here is reportedly based off a long-standing rumor that the Royals “would love to get a college pitcher here” and save some money for over slotting high school talents later on, perhaps with their two other picks in the Top 60 – they pick at 30 and 56 as well.
“They can grab several higher-upside high school picks later on, especially since scouting director Brian Bridges appears to have hit already on recent high school picks Josh Hammond and David Shields,” Law wrote.
While Edwards may not have the ceiling that other names Law mentioned in Jacob Lombard or Eric Booth Jr., nor does he initially rank as a Top 10 prospect, with MLB Pipeline ranking him as the 36th best draft prospect, he certainly has immense talent.
This season at USC, he threw to a 2.07 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and .157 BAA in 95.2 innings pitched. According to Pipeline, the southpaw features a 60 grade curveball and 55 grade changeup to accompany a fastball that can touch 95 on his best day.
Mason Edwards would solve a key issue facing the Royals’ farm system
Law is certainly onto something when it comes to having the Royals select a high profile collegiate arm like Edwards. Like he alluded to earlier, the Royals top half of their system is loaded with prior high school talent. From a pitching standpoint, along with Shields, Kendry Chourio ranks in the top five at No. 1. And of all KC prospects, six of their Top 10 are 20 years of age or younger.
Edwards, or Logan Reddemann or Liam Peterson like Law also mentioned, would offer the Royals the means to potentially add some more older talent to their system. This route might not be as dangerous as drafting for major league need like one of Baseball America’s recent mock drafts insinuated, but there’s no denying that the Royals’ system could use more potential fast-risers like Justin Lamkin.
With the sixth overall selection, the Royals likely can’t go too wrong with this pick so long as their scouting proves on point. However, there are countless routes they can go on Saturday. Fans will just have to wait and see what Picollo and Co. have up their sleeves.
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