Royals lose pitcher Noah Murdock in Rule 5 draft

The Royals don’t make a selection in the MLB portion.

The Royals did not make a selection in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft, and lost right-handed pitcher Noah Murdock to the Athletics. Murdock must remain on the Athletics’ roster or Injured List all season or be offered back to the Royals.

The 26-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Royals out of the University of Virginia in 2019. He battled inconsistency and injuries his first few seasons, and moved from a starting role to the bullpen in 2023. But this year he seemed to turn a corner, posting a 3.16 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings in 46 appearances across Double-A and Triple-A. His high walk rates remain an issue, however. Fangraphs ranked him as the #39 prospect in the organization last summer, writing that he “lacks any semblance of precision in his operation and his pure strike-throwing chops are volatile, likely limiting him to an up/down relief role.”

The Royals had two open spots on the 40-man roster, but with the team in “win-now” mode, it may not have made sense taking a gamble on an unproven player. The Royals did make two selections in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, which has no roster requirement.

They selected outfielder Bryan Gonzalez from the Red Sox and right-handed pitcher Landon Marceaux from the Mets. Gonzalez is a 23-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder who hit .272/.337/.508 with 20 home runs and 15 steals in 91 games at High-A. He has good power but was old for his level and strikes out a lot. Marceaux was drafted in the third round out of LSU by the Angels but went to the Mets in a trade for infielder Eduardo Escobar. He had a 2.98 ERA in 90.2 innings in 18 starts in High-A and Double-A in 2022, but struggled the next year and missed all of this year due to injury. The 25-year-old has low strikeout rates but was a strike-thrower when healthy.

Other Royals that were eligible to be selected in the MLB Rule 5 draft but went unselected include catcher Luca Tresh, infielders Cam Devanney and Tyler Tolbert, outfielder John Rave, and pitchers Chandler Champlain, Tyson Guerrero, Ben Hernandez, Anthony Simonelli, and Jacob Wallace.

Here are the results from the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft.

Round 1

1. White Sox: Shane Smith, RHP (from Brewers)

2. Marlins: Liam Hicks, C (Tigers)

3. Angels: Garrett McDaniels, LHP (Dodgers)

4. Athletics: Noah Murdock, RHP (Royals)

5. Nationals: Evan Reifert, RHP (Rays)

6. Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, RHP (Red Sox)

7. Reds: Cooper Bowman, 2B (A’s)

8. Rays: Nathan Lavender, LHP (Mets)

9. Twins: Eiberson Castellano, RHP (Phillies)

10. Cubs: Gage Workman, SS (Tigers)

11. Braves: Anderson Pillar, RHP (Marlins)

12. Padres: Juan Nunez, RHP (Orioles)

13. Brewers: Connor Thomas, LHP (Cardinals)

14. Phillies: Mike Vasil, RHP (Mets)

Round 2

15. Braves: Christian Cairo, SS (Guardians)