Mason Barnett

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #7 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Barnett took a big step forward in his first full season after the Royals drafted him out of Auburn in the third round in 2022. He turned in a strong season split between High-A Quad Cities and Double-A northwest Arkansas in 2023, winning the organization’s Paul Splittorff pitcher of the year award. Barnett’s fastball also was credited as the best in the system. He showed no signs of struggling to adjust to Double-A after an early-August promotion and finished the year with a combined 3.30 ERA and 28.8% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.
  
  Scouting Report: Barnett has a solid four-pitch mix, highlighted by his fastball and changeup. Both pitches flash as plus offerings, and he’s an effective strike-thrower. Barnett’s 94-98 mph fastball has good weight to it, and he has good feel for his 86-87 mph changeup that is effective against lefthanded batters. A key performance goal for Barnett is to get more separation between his two breaking pitches, a curveball at 80-83 mph with 12-to-6 break and an above-average slider at 86-87 mph. When they run together, he loses confidence in the pitches. He uses all four of his pitches in good pitcher’s counts, and he cut his walk rates during the season when he started attacking hitters more aggressively. Barnett effectively repeats his three-quarters arm slot. His arm stroke gets long and off line on the back end, but he gets out of it in the finish.
  
  The Future: With improvement to his four-pitch mix and an ability to go deeper in his starts, Barnett projects as a no. 4 or 5 starter. His fastball and changeup combo also would allow him to thrive in a multi-inning relief role.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55
• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #20 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Barnett pitched three seasons at Auburn, but it wasn't until his junior year that he saw significant action when he pitched in 19 games and struck out 83 in 63.2 innings. Part of his improvement during his college years was thanks to working with former big league ace Tim Hudson--a volunteer assistant pitching coach at his alma mater. Barnett saved one of his best college outings for the NCAA regional tournament, when he pitched 5.1 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to beat a tough UCLA team. The Royals selected him in the third round in 2022 (87th overall), and signed him for $697,500.
  
  Scouting Report: Barnett delivers an above-average fastball that sits 95 mph and is up to 98 from a flat approach angle. His best secondary pitch is an average or better mid-80s slider with bite that he locates well. Rounding out the repertoire, Barnett has feel for an average changeup at 85 mph that is best against lefthanded hitters. He could use the changeup more often, and also has a fringy 76-mph curveball with depth that needs more refinement. He projects to have average command and control, which will be the determining factor as to whether he's a starter or a reliever long-term.
  
  The Future: Despite getting into just four games after signing, look for Barnett to start 2023 at High-A Quad Cities considering his previous SEC experience. After rarely throwing more than 80 pitches per game in college, he'll need to be built up for a starter role, though his fastball/slider combo could also be effective in a bullpen.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55. Curveball: 45. Slider: 50. Changeup: 50. Control: 50

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #383 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Auburn Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21.7
  Barnett has spent the past two seasons in Auburn’s rotation and the junior made the start in the Tigers’ loss to Arkansas in Omaha, but he’s not a pitch-efficient innings eater. In 14 starts, he never made it through the sixth inning, as the Tigers usually pulled him by the time he’d reached 80 or so pitches. He has a solid assortment of pitches to go with average control. Barnett does have the stuff to likely make the transition to being a late-inning or multi-inning reliever in pro ball with an above-average 93-95 mph fastball from a flat approach angle. He also has an average 82-84 mph slider that he locates well. His fringe-average low-80s changeup gives lefties something else to worry about and he has a slower, bigger fringe-average curveball.
• Ranked #250 prospect in 2019 draft
  A 6-foot-1, 205-pound righthander who attends the same school as 2018 first round catcher Anthony Seigler, Barnett is a pro prospect in his own right, if not at the same level as Seigler, who he worked out with regularly. A shorter righthanded pitcher, Barnett doesn't have a ton of projection left, but he has a strong arm and can generate good fastball velocity, getting up as high as 95 mph, though throughout this spring he sat more in the 89-93 mph range. In addition to the fastball, Barnett has a solid-average changeup that has solid sinking and running life, and a breaking ball that shows sharp tilt at times, but needs more consistency and can back up on him. Barnett is still learning how to get his lower half completely in his delivery. He'll try to be too perfect in the zone, which leads to walks (as does a long arm stroke with slight wrist wrap) but scouts believe in his strike throwing ability in the future. Barnett is committed to Auburn.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Barnett pitched three seasons at Auburn, but it wasn't until his junior year that he saw significant action when he pitched in 19 games and struck out 83 in 63.2 innings. Part of his improvement during his college years was thanks to working with former big league ace Tim Hudson--a volunteer assistant pitching coach at his alma mater. Barnett saved one of his best college outings for the NCAA regional tournament, when he pitched 5.1 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to beat a tough UCLA team. The Royals selected him in the third round in 2022 (87th overall), and signed him for $697,500.
  
  Scouting Report: Barnett delivers an above-average fastball that sits 95 mph and is up to 98 from a flat approach angle. His best secondary pitch is an average or better mid-80s slider with bite that he locates well. Rounding out the repertoire, Barnett has feel for an average changeup at 85 mph that is best against lefthanded hitters. He could use the changeup more often, and also has a fringy 76-mph curveball with depth that needs more refinement. He projects to have average command and control, which will be the determining factor as to whether he's a starter or a reliever long-term.
  
  The Future: Despite getting into just four games after signing, look for Barnett to start 2023 at High-A Quad Cities considering his previous SEC experience. After rarely throwing more than 80 pitches per game in college, he'll need to be built up for a starter role, though his fastball/slider combo could also be effective in a bullpen.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55. Curveball: 45. Slider: 50. Changeup: 50. Control: 50
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Barnett pitched three seasons at Auburn, but it wasn't until his junior year that he saw significant action when he pitched in 19 games and struck out 83 in 63.2 innings. Part of his improvement during his college years was thanks to working with former big league ace Tim Hudson--a volunteer assistant pitching coach at his alma mater. Barnett saved one of his best college outings for the NCAA regional tournament, when he pitched 5.1 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to beat a tough UCLA team. The Royals selected him in the third round in 2022 (87th overall), and signed him for $697,500.
  
  Scouting Report: Barnett delivers an above-average fastball that sits 95 mph and is up to 98 from a flat approach angle. His best secondary pitch is an average or better mid-80s slider with bite that he locates well. Rounding out the repertoire, Barnett has feel for an average changeup at 85 mph that is best against lefthanded hitters. He could use the changeup more often, and also has a fringy 76-mph curveball with depth that needs more refinement. He projects to have average command and control, which will be the determining factor as to whether he's a starter or a reliever long-term.
  
  The Future: Despite getting into just four games after signing, look for Barnett to start 2023 at High-A Quad Cities considering his previous SEC experience. After rarely throwing more than 80 pitches per game in college, he'll need to be built up for a starter role, though his fastball/slider combo could also be effective in a bullpen.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55. Curveball: 45. Slider: 50. Changeup: 50. Control: 50
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 40/High
  
  August Update: Barnett has spent the past two seasons in Auburn&#39s rotation and the junior made the start in the Tigers&#39 loss to Arkansas in Omaha, but he&#39s not a pitch-efficient innings eater. In 14 starts, he never made it through the sixth inning, as the Tigers usually pulled him by the time he&#39d reached 80 or so pitches. He has a solid assortment of pitches to go with average control. Barnett does have the stuff to likely make the transition to being a late-inning or multi-inning reliever in pro ball with an above-average 93-95 mph fastball from a flat approach angle. He also has an average 82-84 mph slider that he locates well. His fringe-average low-80s changeup gives lefties something else to worry about and he has a slower, bigger fringe-average curveball.
• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  A 6-foot-1, 205-pound righthander who attends the same school as 2018 first round catcher Anthony Seigler, Barnett is a pro prospect in his own right, if not at the same level as Seigler, who he worked out with regularly. A shorter righthanded pitcher, Barnett doesn't have a ton of projection left, but he has a strong arm and can generate good fastball velocity, getting up as high as 95 mph, though throughout this spring he sat more in the 89-93 mph range. In addition to the fastball, Barnett has a solid-average changeup that has solid sinking and running life, and a breaking ball that shows sharp tilt at times, but needs more consistency and can back up on him. Barnett is still learning how to get his lower half completely in his delivery. He'll try to be too perfect in the zone, which leads to walks (as does a long arm stroke with slight wrist wrap) but scouts believe in his strike throwing ability in the future. Barnett is committed to Auburn.