The Royals had plenty of eyebrows raised last summer when they used back-to-back premium picks on prep position players. Josh Hammond and Sean Gamble were both viewed as high-end talents in the draft class, but taking them at 28th and 23rd, respectively, still felt like a gamble.
Hammond has mostly answered the early questions. Gamble, on the other hand, was the one drawing the skepticism. That’s what makes his recent stretch in Low-A Columbia worth paying attention to: after a rough start, the Iowa native is starting to look more like the player Kansas City bet on.
For much of the season’s first few months, Gamble’s numbers were hard to defend. The IMG Academy product entered June with a .149/.251/.223 line and a 26.4% strikeout rate.
He was already known more for versatility and a gap-to-gap approach than for loud hit or power tools, but that kind of production was still a problem. Even so, the Fireflies kept running him out there, and he did show flashes of what he can bring on the bases and at the plate.
June has been a different story.
Over 21 games this month, Gamble has posted a 122 wRC+, hitting .260/.389/.384 with a .772 OPS. He’s added 10 stolen bases in that stretch, pushing his season total to 19. His plate discipline has also tightened up: he walked in 14.4% of his plate appearances in June and struck out only 20% of the time.
That steady run also included a 12-game hitting streak that ran from June 10-25. He still wasn’t driving the ball with much authority, but he was consistently putting the bat on it, striking out only nine times while drawing six walks during that span.
His .123 ISO in June is an improvement on his .089 season mark, though power remains the biggest area for growth. Still, there have been enough signs to suggest the bat can play.
Gamble also flashed that upside on June 7, when Columbia’s social media account highlighted a three-run homer to jump-start the game.
MLB Pipeline has Gamble ranked as Kansas City’s fifth-best prospect, behind Hammond, who sits third. Gamble has already checked boxes on the basepaths and in the field, where he’s mostly played center field for the Fireflies after working all over the diamond before the draft.
There’s still a long way to go, and plenty for the 19-year-old to clean up as the season goes on. But after an ugly start, June gave the Royals a much better reason to feel good about their first-round faith in Gamble.
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This Royals Draft Target Feels Like A Perfect Fit For KC
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What makes Booth especially intriguing for Kansas City is that the fit goes beyond raw tools. The one question hanging over his profile is how much power he can unlock once his swing is refined, and that kind of development curve is exactly what can separate a good prospect from a great one. The Royals evidently see the appeal, even if their current lean suggests they still have another name in mind at the top of the board. [Read more 🡒]
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Royals May Be Headed For A Deadline Gut Punch
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The most familiar names in that discussion are pitchers Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha, both of whom would draw attention if Kansas City put them in play. Bubic has already surfaced in speculative trade talk, while Wachas profile makes him the sort of veteran contender could circle if it decides to reinforce the rotation. A reunion with San Diego has at least been part of the conversation, and that alone says plenty about where this deadline might be headed for the Royals. [Read more 🡒]