Royals prospect a home run machine in Minors

This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In the month of August, there was only one player in all of Major League Baseball and its affiliates who hit 13 or more home runs: Royals prospect Spencer Nivens.

The High-A Quad Cities outfielder was on an absolute tear in August, slashing .352/.427/.806 with 13 home runs.

Nivens started off the month with home runs in back-to-back games. From Aug. 15-22, Nivens hit seven homers in seven games, with two coming on Aug. 20. He added his 12th homer on Friday night, and his 13th on Saturday.

At 33-26 in the second half (63-61 overall), the River Bandits have a half-game lead in first place in the Midwest League East, and Nivens is a big reason why they’re making a playoff push.

“The biggest part for me is right now we’re trying to make the playoffs,” Nivens said. “When your mind kind of shifts from maybe your own personal things or struggles to just trying to win games and make the playoffs, it’s pretty easy to get in a groove doing that. And we’ve been winning games, which makes coming to the field each day pretty fun.”

The Royals’ fifth-round MLB Draft pick in 2023 out of Missouri State, Nivens is somewhat of a local product growing up just two hours away from Kansas City in Columbia, Mo. Nivens went to Rock Bridge High School, and he often drove the two hours west and east on I-70 to watch Royals and Cardinals games while growing up.

“The Draft was definitely one of the more nerve-wracking days I’ve had in my life,” Nivens said. “But once I got drafted and it was the Royals, it was super awesome. I grew up going to their games, [I] was definitely a fan of theirs, [I] have family and friends that are huge fans of theirs. So it was just cool. The cooler part too, now, is that the affiliates are so close -- other than [Single-A] Columbia. So I’ve been close in Quad Cities, and it’s good for my family to be able to come up and see me play a few times. That’s probably my favorite part.”

In his first full pro season, Nivens is slashing .248/.342/.478 this year with 19 homers and 53 RBIs. He missed a few weeks in April with a hamstring injury, but since then, he’s been able to settle in and learn how to play every day.

“I think the big learning curve for me is just how easy it is to fall into a groove playing every day, whether that is good or bad,” Nivens said. “You have to be disciplined with your routines, your off-the-field stuff, so you make sure you’re at the field every day ready to go. And you make sure that when something is off -- you start playing badly or whatever -- you don’t let it snowball really quick when you’re playing.”

Nivens has been in a great groove in August, and he has tried to keep everything the same every day at the ballpark. He tried not to think about the streak of home runs he was on, but even if he did think about it ...

“Then I would hit another one,” Nivens said, laughing. “But when things are going well for me, the important thing is not really thinking about my swing too much.”

Nivens relies on his contact rates and doesn’t chase much at all. Not typically a home run hitter, he’s certainly found more strength this month.

“I’ve never really tried to hit a home run,” Nivens said. “They just kind of happen. So my focus is hitting [the] ball hard, and wherever it goes after that, I have no control over it.”

In August, the ball went over the fence. A lot.