The Royals selected right-handed pitcher Sam McWilliams from the Tampa Bay Rays with the second-overall selection in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday. The 23-year old had a 5.02 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings across High A and AA last season. They also acquired pitcher Chris Ellis from the Rangers, after Texas took him eighth from the Cardinals. The
Standing 6’7’’, McWilliams was originally an eighth-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014 out of high school in Tennessee. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016 and was dealt again last summer as the player to be named later in a three-team trade involving outfielder Stephen Souza, Jr.