Royals Assess LHP Brandon Finnegan

The Royals first-round draft pick (17th overall), LHP Brandon Finnegan from TCU, was the topic of discussion on a recent Omaha Storm Chasers pre-game show. Mike Arbuckle, senior advisor to the general manager of the Royals, was broadcaster Mark Nasser's guest and he spoke about what the Royals liked about Finnegan.

"We got a guy who we feel like can move through the system fairly quickly and give us a chance to get us some return in Kansas City," Arbuckle said.

Nasser asked Arbuckle if Finnegan could help the big league club this season if his performance is high enough.

"You never rule anything out," Arbuckle said. "The odds are not great that that would happen. I view a fast mover as two years. Most of the college kids are three years and the high school kids are at least four."

The 21-year-old was 9-3 for TCU this season with a 2.04 ERA in 17 starts. He had an outstanding 4.62-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio and a 1.02 WHIP.

"He throws strikes with three pitches," Arbuckle said. "We've seen all three of those pitches as pluses at different times over the course of the year. Obviously, any lefthander who touches the mid- to upper 90s, there aren't that many of them running around. But he also has a real plus slider he can use to get lefties out and then he can also bury it pretty well on the back foot of right-handed hitters as an out pitch. And at times he's shown a plus change-up."