The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has signed first-round Draft choice Nick Pratto, the 14th overall selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft.<o:p>
Pratto, 18, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound first baseman from Huntington Beach, Calif., batted .318 with seven homers and 19 RBI during his senior season at Huntington Beach High School. He was rated as the "Best High School Hitter" in this year's draft by Baseball America. He was also a Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team All-American as well as a California All-Region First Team selection this year. Pratto has played for the USA Baseball U-18 National Team the past two summers, while he burst onto the national stage in 2011 when he collected the game-winning RBI in the championship round of the Little League World Series. He was one of 12 high school players drafted in the first round this season and just the third high school first baseman selected in the first 15 picks since 2009.