Having reached AA in 2018, could the Kansas City Royals outfield prospect be the leader of their rebuild?
With each of our top 10 prospect lists this offseason, we will have a scouting report on one player from that organization’s top 10 list. With today’s review of the Kansas City Royals, we will take a look at outfielder Khalil Lee, the Royals #3 prospect.
Player Profile
Originally born in Delaware, Khalil Lee was drafted out of high school in Virginia in the 3rd round in 2016 by the Kansas City Royals.
His draft season drew some notice, as he hit .269/.396/.484 in the Arizona Rookie League in 49 games, with 9 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs, and 8 stolen bases. What was most impressive about his pro debut was 14.9% walk rate for a player who was considered “raw” coming into the draft as he had not decided between the mound and hitting at the time of his drafting.
The solid walk rate continued into low-A in 2017, but his first full season left a lot of positives as well as a lot of questions. Lee hit .237/.344/.430 with 24 doubles, 6 triples, 17 home runs, and 20 steals. He was also caught stealing 18 times and struck out at a 32% clip. The power and speed combo did get noticed, though, and many began to jot Lee’s name down in their notebooks as a player to watch.
When healthy in 2018, Lee fulfilled that promise, hitting .263/.382/.390 with 18 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs, and 16 steals. While those stats don’t blow anyone away, he was able to improve in two key areas.
First, he was 16/21 (76.2%) in stolen base attempts. For a player who had been 28/50 (56%) coming into the season, that was a drastic improvement.
Lee also saw his walk and strikeout rates both take positive strides in 2018. His walk rate went from 12.2% in 2017 to 14.1% in 2018. Conversely, his strikeout rate dropped from 32.1% in 2017 to 24.6% in 2018.
Let’s dig deeper into his profile…