Ex-Royals Utility Man Named Team's Best 2016 Draft Pick

The Kansas City Royals have struggled a bit this season and have come back down to earth after winning 86 games last season and securing an American League Wild Card berth.

The pitching staff has kept them afloat this season, but their offense has let them down.

One of the reasons Kansas City has found its way back to contention is because of some smart draft picks over the years. They've developed their players well and a lot of them have panned out as solid players in Major League Baseball.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report listed each team's best draft picks from 2016, and Nicky Lopez was the player listed for the Royals.

"A huge 2021 season was enough to make Nicky Lopez the clear choice for the Royals, though that has proven to be an outlier performance in the years since as he has settled in as a useful utility infielder," Reuter writes.

"During his peak season, he hit .300/.365/.378 for a 104 OPS+ with 29 extra-base hits and 22 steals while posting strong defensive metrics (1,233.2 innings, 3 DRS, 4.6 UZR/150) at shortstop on his way to a 4.4-WAR campaign."

Lopez is struggling this season with the Los Angeles Angels, slashing .042/.179/.042 with no home runs, just one RBI and a .220 OPS.

However, his 2021 season was a solid one while he was still with the Royals, so this pick ended up turning out just fine for Kansas City. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2023 after playing parts of five seasons in Kansas City.

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