https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/royals-release-former-first-round-draft-pick-asa-lacy
Quote:
KANSAS CITY -- The Royals released former first-round MLB Draft pick Asa Lacy on Monday, ending the 26-year-old's tenure in the organization after six injury-riddled years and just 80 career innings of affiliated baseball.
Lacy, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, came to the Kansas City organization as a highly touted left-handed pitcher from Texas A&M who, on stuff alone, showed the potential of a frontline starter. The Royals gave him a $6.67 million signing bonus, a franchise record for a drafted pitcher. He was ranked as high as No. 30 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list in 2021, his first full season in professional baseball.
But Lacy never found the command to allow him to take a step forward in his early seasons, and then injuries took over, including a lat/shoulder injury in 2021, a back injury in '22 and '23 and two Tommy John surgeries -- one in the offseason after the '23 season and one in '25. He's still rehabbing from the second one.
Lacy hasn't pitched in an affiliated game since Aug. 18, 2022, with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He ends his Royals Minor League career with a 7.09 ERA across 80 innings and 29 games (19 starts).
