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Following the 2026 MLB Draft, were taking a quick look at each individual draft class.
Below you can find our theme of the draft, favorite selections, picks to move quickly to the majors and most exciting tools.
You can see all 30 draft reviews here.
You can also see our full draft tracker with scouting reports here.
The Theme: Speedsters & Southpaws.
Each of the first three hitters the Royals selected is a plus-or-better runner, and the team also drafted four lefthanded pitchers in the first 10 rounds.
Favorite Day 1 Pick: RHP Jack Slightom Slightom is a projectable righthander with a tall, 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame.
Hes trended in the right direction over the last year with his fastball, and was a helium prep arm in the spring after reaching back for 97-98 mph velocity at peak.
During the 2025 circuit, Slightom pitched in the low 90s and touched 95, but hes been consistently throwing the ball in the mid 90s during the spring for his Lyons High team in Illinois.
Slightom has thrown a slider and a curveball in the past, but of late he prefers a 78-82 mph slider with solid two-plane break and flashes of impressive biting action to his glove side.
It looks like an above-average breaking ball with a bit more power and consistency.
Slightom also throws a mid-80s changeup that could become a solid third piece with solid tumble at times.
Like most hard-throwing prep pitchers he doesnt use the changeup often.
Slightom has a high-waisted frame with solid strength and a quick arm, but still has room to add more strength and gain more power in the future.
He throws from a lower arm slot and is athletic enough to envision solid strike-throwing with more development.
Slightom played quarterback for his high school team and has basketball experience in the past, too.
Hes committed to Cincinnati.
Favorite Day 2 Pick: SS Camden Johnson Johnson is a standout athlete and speedster who spent two seasons with Wichita State before transferring to Oklahoma for 2026.
His early-season performance and toolset vaulted him up draft boards, and he finished the year with a .298/.403/.478 slash line, nine home runs and 31 stolen bases.
Johnson is a lean lefthanded hitter with a 6-foot, 175-pound frame and a hit-over-power offensive profile.
He employs a high handset and uses a level or downhill path that can lead to lots of groundballs, but that works for Johnson because hes a bursty 70-grade runner who accelerates rapidly out of the box.
He has below-average raw power and should get most of his extra-base hits by slapping balls into the gaps and legging out doubles and triples.
Johnson does need more reps against high-quality secondaries, however, and is more of a fastball hitter currently.
Johnsons speed is his best tool.
He went 31-for-34 (91%) on the bases in 2026 and should have the running ability to play any outfield position if he has to move from third base.
He has experience playing second base and shortstop as well and could simply have the athleticism and versatility to be used in a super-utility role in pro ball.
Johnson was a talented wide receiver in high school and comes from an athletic family.
His father, Keith, played rugby at Texas Tech; his uncle, Mark Johnson, is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and another uncle, Joe Driskill, played in the NFL.
Biggest Gamble: OF Zion Rose.
The Royals passed on consensus top-of-the-board high schoolers Eric Booth Jr.
and Jacob Lombard to take Rose at No.
6, who we ranked as the No.
23 player in the class.
Quickest To The Majors: RHP Taylor Rabe.
Rabe doesnt have a lengthy track record, but he does have a power mix and a career 4.4% walk rate.
Most Exciting Tool: SS Camden Johnsons athleticism.
Johnson is one of the most exciting players in the class to watch.
He comes from a hyper-athletic family and is a multi-sport athlete himself.
You can see that athleticism in how he moves around the field and in the batters box.
Kansas City Royals 2026 MLB Draft Results 1.17 Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech (46) PPI.28 Jack Radel, RHP, Notre Dame (37) 2.57 Wes Mendes, LHP, Florida State (64) 3.93 Keon Johnson, SS, First Presbyterian HS (118) 4.121 Kamden Durnin, SS, Missouri (318) 4C.133 Beau Peterson, IF, Mill Valley HS (122) 5.153 Gavin Eddy, RHP, California (455) 6.182 Michael Addari, RHP, Illinois State (178) 7.211 Bryan Carney, RHP, University of Olivet (NR) 8.241 Aaron Piasecki, SS, Troy (NR) 9.271 Ryan Pruitt, OF, South Florida (NR) 10.301 Tazwell Butler, RHP, Kansas State (NR) 11.331 Peyton Fiene, RHP, Odessa JC (NR) 12.361 Owen Nowak, OF, Middle Tennessee State (NR) 13.391 Jack Beck, SS, Columbia Central HS (313) 14.421 Brady Thomas, RHP, Jacksonville State (NR) 15.451 James Tronstein, SS, Harvard-Westlake HS (133) 16.481 Rashawn Galloway, C, Texas State (NR) 17.511 Ben Tryon, IF, Dallas Baptist (NR) 18.541 Petey Soto, SS, Utah Tech (NR) 19.571 Noah Miller, C, Michigan (NR) 20.601 Mick Uebelhor, RHP, Western Kentucky (NR) The post Kansas City Royals 2026 MLB Draft Review appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America .