Nick Pratto’s homer in Kansas City Royals’ spring opener a reminder he’s on the doorstep
The Kansas City Royals certainly have several options at first base, but it won’t take much for fans to imagine prospect Nick Pratto grabbing that spot and holding onto it for years the way Eric Hosmer did from 2011-17.
Pratto didn’t do much to dash those dreams in the Royals’ Cactus League opener on Friday against the Texas Rangers. Pratto came off the bench and went 2 for 2 with a two-run home run, a walk and flashed some leather on a smash down the first-base line.
The two-run home run came against last year’s No. 2 overall draft pick and former college baseball sensation Jack Leiter. Pratto took him to deep center field after Leiter had retired five of the first six batters he faced before Pratto, including four strikeouts.
“At that point, Leiter was kind of mowing through guys and Pratto puts together a good at-bat and you’re homer, walk, walk,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said, acknowledging how Pratto’s at-bat immediately changed the complexion of the game.
The three-run inning sparked by Pratto led to the game ending in a 5-5 tie.
“I was just looking to get a good pitch to hit,” Pratto said. “He ended up making a mistake late in the count after some good pitches. So I just didn’t miss it.”
A California kid with a left-handed swing and a glove like fly paper, Pratto joined the club’s 40-man roster this winter.
While Pratto hadn’t previously been on the club’s 40-man roster, he’d gotten spring training at-bats in Cactus League games dating back to 2018.
“For me, I try to take those pretty seriously out on the field,” Pratto said. “I’ll take my time out on the back fields and work counts and do all that and make sure I’m checking every box before I go compete.”
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound former first-round draft pick (14th overall in 2017) started knocking on the door of the majors last season after bouncing back from a dreadful 2019 season at the plate.
In 2021, Pratto slashed .265/.385/.602 with 36 home runs and 98 RBIs in 124 games (61 at Double-A, 63 at Triple-A). He also earned Double-A Central postseason All-Star honors at first base. During the first half of the season while at Double-A.
He also earned a Minor League Gold Glove as the top defender at his position from across the 11 full-season leagues. Pratto registered 813 putouts and 64 assists in 879 total chances, and he committed just two errors in 955 2/3 innings at first base (113 total games). His .998 fielding percentage was the highest among the nine minor-league Gold Glove winners.
Baseball America rated Pratto the “Best Defensive Infielder” in the Royals’ farm system. At season’s end, he’d been named the Best Defensive First Baseman in the Double-A Central league as well as a member of the MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America All-Prospect teams.
The Royals have veteran switch hitter Carlos Santana, a former All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner, as their returning starter at first base in the final year of a two-year contract. Hunter Dozier may also figure into the equation at first base, but Dozier could also see time in the outfield.
Pratto entered this spring ranked the No. 78 overall prospect by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, No. 62 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 43 by Baseball America.
For now, he’s being careful not to get too far ahead of himself as far as potentially being the first baseman of the future.
“I had goals I’d set for myself, mostly just areas that I would like to improve,” Pratto said of his approach to camp this year. “I’d like to kind of grow in some areas. But as far as coming into the clubhouse, just one step at a time. I can only control where I’m at that time, what I’m doing. So I think I’ve done a good job of that and kind of dominating my process every day.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Nick Pratto’s homer in Kansas City Royals’ spring opener a reminder he’s on the doorstep."
