Royals No. 5 prospect Hammond clobbers homer, extends 7-game hit streak

Josh Hammond is on fire in his first professional season.

The Royals’ No. 5 prospect is riding a seven-game hitting streak, going for three more hits -- including a long home run -- Wednesday for Single-A Columbia in a 6-2 win over Augusta. Hammond now has multiple hits in three straight games and in five of 16 total games played.

Selected by the Royals with the 28th overall pick last summer, Hammond began his day with a first-inning walk. He then led off the third inning by pouncing on a hanging offspeed pitch and sent it 410 feet to left-center field at 108 mph. It was the second home run of the season for the shortstop, breaking a 2-2 tie in Wednesday’s game.

Hammond then singled in the fifth and doubled in the seventh, coming around to score the Fireflies’ sixth and final run of the night.

The Royals received the 28th pick through the Prospect Promotion Incentive program, thanks to Bobby Witt Jr.’s runner-up finish in the 2024 MVP race. They might have landed a big hit with the selection. The 19-year-old Hammond is now up to a .355/.420/.597 slash line.