10 July 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals have another catcher in the pipeline.
With the eighth overall pick, the Royals took Blake Mitchell, a high school catcher out of Sinton, Texas.
Mitchell is committed to LSU and led his high school team to the Texas 4A title as a junior and won Gatorade Texas Player of the Year in the past two seasons.
This past season, he hit .452 with 41 RBIs and an OPS of 1.497.
The 18-year-old also played for the USA junior team the last two summers and won gold at the 18-and-under World Cup, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings against Taiwan in September.
Yes, Mitchell can pitch as well as catch with a fastball reaching as high as 97 mph.
The pick value for eighth overall is $5.98 million.