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Watch: Royals' Drew Waters Robs White Sox Pollock of Potential Home Run

Originally posted on FanNation Fastball | By Jack Vita | Last updated 9/1/22

Kansas City Royals' right fielder Drew Waters made a spectacular catch at the warning track Thursday afternoon, robbing Chicago White Sox' centerfielder A.J. Pollock of a hit and what could have been a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning.

With two outs, Pollock smoked a ball to right-center that Waters covered a lot of ground to get to. Waters jumped on the run, and stole a hit from Pollock. The ball may have cleared the wall if it weren't for Pollock.

The Royals acquired Waters from the Atlanta Braves in July. He was the Braves' no. 1 overall prospect in 2021, according to MLB.com's prospect rankings.

In addition to Waters, the Royals added pitching prospect Andrew Hoffmann and third base prospect CJ Alexander in the trade, in exchange for the 35th overall pick of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.

With the 35th overall pick, the Braves selected 19-year-old pitcher JR Ritchie out of Bainbridge High School in Washington.

Ritchie made his minor league debut August 13. Over 8.1 innings in the minors this season, Ritchie has yet to allow a run.

Waters had a down year in Triple-A Gwinnett last season, slashing .240/.329/.710 to go with 11 home runs, 37 RBI and 28 stolen bases. Waters has shown significant improvement in 2022 though, and on August 22, he received a promotion to the Royals' Major League roster.

After going a combined 0-for-6 in his first two Major League games, Waters seems to have adjusted to big league pitching. He entered play Thursday slashing .294/.400/.753 over his last five games. Thursday, he showed what he is capable of in the field, dazzling with one of baseball's best defensive plays of the week.

This article first appeared on FanNation Fastball and was syndicated with permission.

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