Will Scharnagl (Royals)

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With a grandfather who umpired for over 40 years, and a father who played at Princeton University, I was born in to the game of baseball. According to my mom, baseball is actually how I began to learn how to read. She tells a story of how at a very young age, we drove past a neighborhood called “Sheffield Estates”, and I said “Like Gary Sheffield.” I also remember playing MLB 2K5 on my neighbor’s Xbox every time I was at their house, and trying to memorize all of the stats from the record book.

As a very young little leaguer, I attended a baseball camp at Toms River South High School, where my counselor was a senior named Todd Frazier. Despite my dad being a Yankees fan, when Todd Frazier got drafted by the Reds, I decided to begin following the Reds. Even though he was traded before the 2016 season, I continued to follow the Reds, and am still (unfortunately) a Reds fan. Some of the most vivid memories I have of baseball include Roy Halladay no-hitting the Reds in the 2010 NLDS, Buster Posey’s Grand Slam in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS to help the Giants beat the Reds, and Johnny Cueto crumbling vs the Pirates in the 2013 Wild Card Game.

When I got to high school, I began to get more involved in the statistical aspects of baseball, and began following prospects as well. I would get through my boring classes by playing Out of the Park Baseball, and reading Fangraphs articles about my favorite Reds’ prospects. Despite the fact that I stopped playing baseball at 13 to focus on soccer, I always loved following the sport, and especially the analytical side. I’ve always been a fairly skilled writer, so I figured why not combine the two and write about baseball.

As a Reds fan, I can understand the pain that Royals fans have to endure, and hope to provide an unbiased look into the Royals system. I hope that through my articles, Royals fans will not only learn about their system, but also find hope for the coming years.

In terms of my personal life, I am currently at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee studying Political Science and Asian Studies. After graduating, I plan on teaching English in South Korea, before coming back to the United States to go to Law School. If opportunity presents itself, I would love to work for an MLB team.

You can follow me on Twitter @WillScharnagl