Kansas City Royals: Daniel Tillo heads strong Iowa draft class

Baseball is hard to play, harder to play when it’s cold, and even harder when it snows a lot. Northern states have it rough. Iowa Western Community College finds a way, and so does Daniel Tillo.

We know where the talent is usually found. California, Florida, other winter-less states. Florida State University had nine players drafted this week. The state of Iowa had a banner year and produced 13 notable draftees. The player taken highest among them was lefty Daniel Tillo by the Kansas City Royals.

Sometimes it’s just plain beat-to-death opening an article with statements about a state or region, but, unfortunately, it is the nature of all this. Scouting is regional. How does a Division I powerhouse win when they can’t collect the best players on their own block? Does it not make sense for a professional baseball team to have a greater understanding of the prospects playing it all out just a couple hours from them?

The Kansas City Royals had an idea who Daniel Tillo was. When the third round came around and the number-81 draft prospect was available for the 90th pick, K.C. jumped.

The left-hander is a bit under-rated, even for a top-100 draft prospect. His athleticism and determination to give time to two different sports is rare anymore. Tillo was Iowa’s Mr. Basketball in 2015. His mileage is considerably lower than that of his peers among the top 100. A born-and-raised northern arm whose first sport was basketball is not to be ignored.

According to Andy Hamilton of the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s Mr. Basketball had originally committed to Kentucky with thoughts of playing both basketball and baseball at Iowa Western, just under two hours south of his home town of Sioux City.

Tillo projects to be a back-of-the-rotation type or reliever. He has some room to best that ceiling. At 6’5″ and 215, he has the size to stand the grind of 30 starts a year. He sits low/mid-90s with the ability to run the gun up to 97. His slider appears to be an above-average offering, with MLB Pipeline believing it could become a plus pitch with refinement. Tillo also shows an average changeup.

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Following Daniel Tillo is John Swanda, a prep pitcher out of Roosevelt High School. Swanda, a right-hander, was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth round with the 115th pick. A bit of a surprise here as he was considered by Baseball America to be the 398th best prospect. It’s not like L.A. hasn’t pulled this sort of thing before. Maybe they know what they’re doing here, too.

The nation’s home run leader was the next Iowa-linked talent taken. The Houston Astros selected the first baseman they needed in Jake Adams in the sixth round. The Iowa Hawkeye slugged 29 home runs, besting the next in line by 10. A .335 average showed he didn’t just offer right-handed power. Adams’ hitting profile matches up well with Houston’s offensive focus of tolerating strikeouts for power. He recently signed right on slot value at $249,600.

Rounding out the Iowa prospects in Baseball America‘s top 500 is Jake Adams’ teammate and go-to pitcher Nick Gallagher, who was also a second-day selection. The Cleveland Indians selected the right-handed pitcher in the 16th round. This is where a college junior’s signability comes into question, but according to Jeff Johnson of The Gazette, now was the time.

“It was a really, really tough decision. Going back to Iowa, I know this has been the best three years of my life. Playing for the University of Iowa was a dream come true. Either way this week, we kept telling ourselves we were in a great situation. It was a win-win. I either go back to Iowa, or I get to start my professional career. That was the thing we kind of hung our hat on this whole week.

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Gallagher’s 95.2 innings pitched was second among Big Ten pitchers, and his 87 strikeouts were fifth in the conference. His 27 K’s looking ranks second. Gallagher was originally a walk-on, and not even the best pitcher on his Iowa City West High School team.