Q&A: Prospect Pratto on growth spurt, pro ball

SURPRISE, Ariz.-- The first thing that strikes you about Nick Pratto these days is his size.
When the Royals selected Pratto 14th overall in the 2017 Draft, he was listed at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds.
Pratto, a 20-year-old first baseman from Huntington Beach, Calif., has grown significantly since then.
"I put on quite a bit of weight, good weight," Pratto told MLB.com recently at the Royals' instructional league camp. "I'm closer to 6-2, 215 now."
And still growing?
"Hopefully," Pratto said, laughing. "My dad is about 6 feet 2 1/2, so hopefully I get at least there. Maybe more."

Pratto, the organization's No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is coming off his first full season of professional baseball at Class A Lexington, which won the South Atlantic League championship. Pratto had a productive season: .280 average, with a .343 on-base percentage, 14 home runs, 33 doubles and 62 RBIs.
MLB.com caught up with Pratto for a quick Q&A:
MLB.com: Take us through your first full season of pro ball.
Pratto: It was really just getting used to full-season ball, all the ups and downs you go through. You have to ride the wave. It was a long year, but having guys like MJ [Melendez] and Seuly [Matias]…we all just built off each other. It was a fantastic team.
MLB.com: Tell me about Matias (the Royals' No. 3 prospect who hit 31 home runs this season).
Pratto: He's an awesome kid. He's a great leader on the team. We all just loved him. We all just had fun. That whole team was just a bunch of best friends playing baseball. That's what made it so special.
MLB.com: There was a lot of buzz about that team and how it won the championship. What was that run like?
Pratto: That was my first taste of the playoffs. Obviously, you put expectations in your head, but at the beginning of the year, we all expected to win because of how talented we were. We really did. Going into the playoffs, we had played well against Rome, played well against Lakewood. We thought they were the two best teams, so we were pretty confident. And we had a huge second half, so we were really confident going into the playoffs. It was a lot of fun.

MLB.com: You had some ups and downs offensively this season
Pratto: I think overall it was a good year offensively. There were some areas I can work on like consistency and cutting down on the strikeouts (150 this season). It was a good year, and I just have to build off that.
MLB.com: But 14 homers, 33 doubles, that was not bad by any stretch.
Pratto: Yeah, I think so. Personally, it was good. I mean, I went two months without a home run and I still hit 14. That was a horrible stretch I had. That was the rock bottom of the season for me. But there's highs and lows in pro ball. The season's not over if you have a bad month or two. That's what you learn. Just keep grinding it out.
MLB.com: As you know, the Royals, maybe more so than other organizations, put a premium on defense. How did you do defensively?
Pratto: It was OK. I had to work on my throwing a little bit, on throws to second and to first. I changed my arm slot mid-year, and it really didn't help me out. So we went back to how I normally do it. Naturally, I'm in a lower slot, a little more sidearm. I've always been fine in terms of accuracy, but the infielders were complaining that my throws moved too much [like a two-seam fastball]. But hey (laughing), I never complain about their throws moving. So anyway, I went back to my normal slot and everything is fine.
MLB.com: There have been a lot of comparisons about you and Eric Hosmer, in terms of your agility and smoothness around the bag, your throws on the 3-1 and the 3-6-3 plays.

Pratto: Yeah, I've heard it. I honestly haven't watched too much video of him playing defense. But yeah, we're both left-handed and good around the bag, so you hear it a lot.
MLB.com: The Royals have been impressed with your ability to pick throws, which Hosmer excelled at. Analytics people often argue that a first baseman's range is more important than picking bad throws, but how would you rate your skill at picking?
Pratto: I think what I'm best at is picking balls in the dirt, like [Hosmer] did, and my agility around the bag. Picking balls and saving bad throws is huge. It's something you don't get much credit for, but we save a ton of runs for pitchers and a lot of extra pitches for them, too, when we pick bad throws. And we earn a lot of Gold Gloves for other infielders, too. I know my teammates think it's important.
MLB.com: You said you didn't see a lot of Hosmer, so who was your favorite first baseman to watch growing up?
Pratto:Joey Votto. I watched Anthony Rizzo a lot while in high school, but I really like Joey Votto's offensive approach at the plate. It's just solid. He gets the walks. He has the average, the on-base percentage, the slugging percentage. He doesn't strike out too much. That's what I'd like to be offensively.