Royals add another quality righty in Watson
KANSAS CITY -- The Royals selected right-hander Nolan Watson from Lawrence North (Ind.) High School with the 33rd pick overall on Monday night in the 2015 MLB Draft.
The Royals received the pick as compensation for James Shields' signing with the Padres as a free agent this past offseason. Kansas City will select once more on Day 1 with the 64th overall pick.
The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. The MLB.com preview show begins at 11:30 a.m. CT, with exclusive coverage of Rounds 3-10 beginning at noon.
Earlier in the first round, Kansas City selected right-hander Ashe Russell with the 22nd overall pick. Russell and Watson both played against each other in high school.
"Outside of baseball, we're good friends, and now we're clearly good friends," Russell said. "We text almost every single day, and we have the past two months talking about the Draft and where he wants to go. We actually made a joke during the season: 'How sick would it be if we got drafted by the same team?' And now it has happened."
In high school, Watson went 5-1 with 0.63 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings. He is currently committed to Vanderbilt University.
"Both are high-quality right-handed high school pitchers," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "We saw both of these pitchers a little over a week ago, and they're throwing the ball very well. They fit the profile, and we're proud to have them."