Bobby Witt Jr. earned the Royals this draft pick. Here’s who they selected with it
The Royals selected infielder Josh Hammond with their second pick, No. 28 overall, in the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday evening.
Hammond is the Royals’ Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) pick, awarded as a result of Bobby Witt Jr.’s second-place finish in the 2024 AL MVP voting.
The Royals drafted the 18-year-old from High Point, North Carolina as a shortstop, though he primarily played at third base throughout high school.
“We’ll give him a chance to play some shortstop,” said Royals head of scouting Brian Bridges late Sunday night. “He can really swing the bat. He has top-of-the-scale arm.”
Hammond attended Wesleyan Christian Academy where he hit .471 with six home runs, 28 RBIs and 40 hits in 29 games en route to a state title this spring. Hammond is currently committed to Wake Forest, but Bridges said there is no concern about Hammond committing to the organization.
“One thing that really kind of tripped it for me was his Team USA coach just gave him glowing reviews about his competitiveness,” said Bridges. He added that Hammond is a “team-first” guy.
Hammond also has experience on the mound. He logged 255 strikeouts in 155 1/3 innings pitched in high school and was the starting pitcher on Team USA’s 18U squad in the gold medal game against Panama last summer.
The Royals’ analytics department also liked Hammond’s ability to make contact in the zone on several different pitches.
Hammond is 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. Bridges said he expects Hammond will “probably fill out more,” though he is confident Hammond will tap into his full power regardless.
“The kid can hit a ball as far as anybody that I’ve scouted,” Bridges said. “I would rather him just worry about the contact.”
The common denominator that Bridges and his staff looked for across the board were players with a “like mindset” that are “driven to win.” Bridges said all five of the Royals’ picks Sunday meet that standard.
“You draft enough winning players that are like-minded, you will win,” Bridges said.
PPI picks were born out of the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement. They are designed to encourage teams to promote their best young players to the majors as soon as they are ready.
MLB’s description of how teams can earn a PPI pick is as follows: “If a player who was rated as a preseason Top 100 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and/or ESPN (at least two of the three) and was on his team’s opening day roster goes on to win the Rookie of the Year Award or place in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting prior to qualifying for arbitration, the club is awarded a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick after the first round.”
The Seattle Mariners were awarded the first PPI pick for the 2023 draft after Julio Rodríguez won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2022.
Hammond is the fourth PPI pick in MLB history and the earliest PPI pick to date. The Mariners picked 29th in 2023 while the Diamondbacks and Orioles picked 31st and 32nd, respectively, in 2024.
The Royals drafted Sean Gamble, a Des Moines, Iowa native who attended IMG Academy in Florida, as the 23rd overall pick shortly before selecting Hammond.
Interesting enough, the Royals secured their first two players before the Yankees, Mets or Dodgers made their first selection. Those teams faced 10-pick penalties for going over the the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax. The Mets, Yankees and Dodgers picked 38th, 39th and 40th in this year’s draft.
This story was originally published July 13, 2025 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Bobby Witt Jr. earned the Royals this draft pick. Here’s who they selected with it."
