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ROYALS SPRING REPORT #1
Former first-round picks impress

By 3Bplay
02/25/2026

Mozzicato impresses in spring debut: In the Royals' spring opener against their Surprise 'roommates' in the Rangers, 2021 first-round pick Frank Mozzicato was given the honors of taking the hill, impressing with five strikeouts to just one walk and no hits over 2 2/3 innings as the Royals won 2-1 to open the spring. It was a chance to see Mozzicato in live action for the first time since last season, showing off the work he had put in Driveline Baseball over the offseason, which was well-documented over the winter.

With the help of Driveline (and the support of the Royals' coaching staff), some adjustments to his mechanics unlocked a different level of velocity on his fastball as he's now sitting from 92-94, getting as high as 96 on the gun on a few occasions. The jump in velocity also makes his off-speed stuff more dangerous, as the added velo has sharpened his curveball and added some additional bite to his changeup. He also added ten pounds over the winter, something that was a goal of the minor league development team with him.

"He looks like a completely different pitcher," said JJ Picollo, who was one of the driving forces behind the Royals taking Mozzicato when they did back in 2021. "When he first started out, he was a skinny kid from Connecticut who had a legitimate curveball and changeup, but needed a lot of work with his strength and conditioning. To see where he's at now is remarkable."

Royals deal Blanco to New York: The Royals have made another trade, this time sending reserve outfielder Dairon Blanco to the Yankees for minor league outfielder Jace Avina. Blanco, who will be entering his age-33 season, didn't make any appearances through the first three games of Spring Training before getting shipped off. It's a likely signal that the Yankees plan on keeping top prospect Spencer Jones in Triple-A to begin the 2026 campaign, and also gives the Bombers some additional speed and defense off the bench.

In Avina, the Royals are getting a pretty good young prospect -- while not in the top group of their prospects, Avina should move up after a solid 2025 season in which he hit a combined twenty-six homeruns over three different levels. Since being drafted in the 14th round back in 2021, he's only posted one season with a OPS below .800, and even that season he was still a slightly above-average player in the South Atlantic League for the Yankees' High-A affiliate Hudson Valley in 2024 (.716 OPS, 102 OPS+).

Every other stop, however, he's posted absurd minor league numbers with a career minor league OPS+ of 140 (wRC+ 134) through the 2025 season. His Achilles heel so far has been strikeouts, as he's fanned nearly 30% of the time since breaking into pro ball. However, it's not necessarily only due to poor swing decisions as his chase rate is about 28%; not a great rate in the minors, but combined with an 11% walk rate, suggests that some more aggression earlier in counts may help as he has tended to hit more than half of his plate appearances in either an 0-2 or 1-2 hole.

For example, he hit six homeruns in just sixty-one plate appearances in a cup of coffee with Triple-A Scranton last season, but struck out twenty-three times with seven walks before getting sent back down to finish the season in Double-A. JJ Picollo mentioned that he'd likely start out with Double-A NW Arkansas to begin the season.

"The power is definitely there, and we feel there's a lot of room to improve in other facets of his game still," Picollo said. "He's reported to spring camp, but it's likely that he'll be sent to minor league camp in a few weeks to get more consistent at-bats as the regular season here ramps up."

Former top pick returns to the mound: He hasn't seen a professional mound in a live game since 2022. He hasn't even been on a mound in any capacity since late last season, when he was returning from an injury in his lower back suffered a year prior to that. But Asa Lacy, the fourth-overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Royals, continues to persevere.

He made his first Spring Training appearance on Monday, a 1-0 loss to the Cubs. While he largely wasn't facing guys who are locks to make their Opening Day rosters, to see him back on the mound and pitching well has to be encouraging to the team that he could eventually see his way back to finding some kind of role in the majors, even if it's not with the Royals as he's down to his final year of eligibility until free agency.

Pitching the eighth and ninth innings, Lacy allowed just one hit, no walks, and fanned three in a tidy two-dozen pitches. Talking with reporters after the game, he said that "he's pain-free", and that he's ready to "get back to doing what he loves".

"It's pretty remarkable the road that he's traveled," said GM JJ Picollo. "He just started throwing again late last season, and he's managed to stay injury-free since then, so we're hopeful that the worst is behind him and we can really get a good, long look at him going forward. What we saw on Monday is very, very heartening."

Manager Matt Quatraro mentioned that he'll continue to get regular work in the spring, but it's unlikely that he'll break camp with the Royals even if he continues to pitch well.

"We're encouraged by what we've seen so far of him, but there's still work to do," he said. "It's now about building him back up, and bringing him along slowly and not trying to push him too much too early. You can still tell, despite all of the struggles he's been through with his health, the stuff is still just jumping out at you."