Royals hope they’ve picked another pitching diamond in the rough in Stephen Woods Jr.
The Kansas City Royals continue to use multiple venues as a means of bolstering a pitching staff that struggled mightily in 2019.
On Thursday, they used the fourth overall pick in the major-league phase of the Rule 5 draft to add right-handed pitcher Stephen Woods Jr. from the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.
Woods, 24, posted a 9-3 record with a 1.88 ERA in 18 games (12 starts) for the Rays’ High-A affiliate, the Charlotte Stone Crabs in the Florida State League. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Huntington, New York, was an eighth-round pick of the San Francisco Giants out of the University at Albany in 2016.
The Royals made just one selection from what was not considered a particularly deep crop in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, and they did not lose a player in either phase of the draft. Their had been some question whether recently signed shortstop Matt Reynolds might get taken from them. Reynolds signed a minor-league deal with Royals, but had garnered interest from several clubs.
The Royals have been fans of Woods since scouting him out of high school, and they’ve kept tabs on him through college and while in the minors.
He features a fastball ranging from 90-95 mph as well as a curveball the Royals really like and think allows him the flexibility to start or relieve.
“The primary secondary pitch that we liked was the curveball, which we think obviously can fit in a bullpen because it can generate swing and miss,” Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp said. “But we also like the idea that he has the flexibility to start. We’re just trying to add depth to the pitching staff.”
Baseball America ranked Woods the 25th-best prospect in the Giants’ farm system in 2017. Tampa Bay acquired him along with three others players in the trade that sent All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria from the Rays to the Giants in December 2017.
Woods missed the 2018 season because of a shoulder injury. He hasn’t pitched above Single-A since entering professional baseball in 2016. He’s made 53 appearances (45 starts) and pitched 231 1/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 229 strikeouts.
Control was a concern for Woods out of college and early on in his professional career, but Sharp pointed to recent results as a sign of his progress.
“If you look at his last 50 innings: 14 walks and 50 strikeouts in his last 50,” Sharp said. “His command is starting to come around a little bit. That was a little bit of knock on him early, but we feel like he’s starting to refine that and dialing that in a little bit.
“Again, with a curveball with spin, sometimes those command numbers can be a little deceiving because it’s a tough pitch to keep in the zone, but it can generate swing and miss.”
The Royals must keep Woods in the majors during the 2020 season or offer him back to Tampa Bay.
The Royals selected Brad Keller two years ago, and he went from the bullpen to the starting rotation by the end of 2018, and he was the opening day starter and one of the anchors of the rotation last season in 2019.
Current scout and former Royals Rule 5 selection Nate Adcock made the announcement of the club’s selection in a ballroom of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego on the final day of the MLB Winter Meetings.
Adcock, who the Royals selected from Pittsburgh Pirates farm system in 2010, stayed with the Royals until June 2013 when the club designated him for assignment and the Arizona Diamondbacks claimed him off waivers.
He went on to pitch in the majors for the Texas Rangers (2014) and Cincinnati Reds (2015). He spent 2016 and 2017 in the minors with the Baltimore Orioles before going into scouting. He spent last season working as a scout for the Miami Marlins.
