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.

The first start with Double-A Northwest Arkansas for Steven Zobac this year didn¡¯t go quite as planned, with the Royals¡¯ No. 17 prospect allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits in three innings at Frisco on July 12.

But Zobac had done well with High-A Quad Cities the previous 14 games (13 starts), with a 3.95 ERA across 70 2/3 innings, and opted to follow the advice of his coaches both in Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas: Don¡¯t change anything.

¡°When you get moved up, you feel it instantly,¡± Zobac said in a phone conversation late last month. ¡°You¡¯re expecting everyone to look at you and think, ¡®OK, this guy just got moved up, he needs to perform right away.¡¯ When you don¡¯t perform well, you feel like you¡¯re letting yourself down and letting the entire team down, like, ¡®Why did we move this guy up?¡¯ But it was really important to just blow that off to the side and go, ¡®Let¡¯s learn from the stuff I did wrong, but overall, that outing is going in the trash.¡¯

¡°If you dig too deep into it, you¡¯re going to find yourself in a deeper hole than you would if you just eliminate it from your brain.¡±

Zobac got back on track on July 20 with four scoreless innings and eight strikeouts, and he took off from there, posting a 3.25 ERA across 11 games (10 starts) in Double-A. He wrapped up his 2024 season against Double-A Arkansas on Wednesday night, ending with a 3.64 ERA across 126 innings over the two levels.

The Royals¡¯ fourth-round Draft pick in 2022 out of California, Zobac is relatively new to full-time pitching. He was a two-way player at Cal until his junior year, and he pitched sparingly the first two years. For that reason, the Royals were slightly more cautious with his innings in ¡®23, Zobac¡¯s first full pro season.

Zobac started last season in Single-A Columbia, where he posted a 2.09 ERA, but he faded a bit down the stretch. This year, even with the increased workload, Zobac feels much stronger. It earned him the promotion to Double-A, even when the Royals envisioned a full year at High-A for him in ¡®24.

¡°He¡¯s just blown the development plan out of the water,¡± senior director of pitching Paul Gibson said. ¡°He¡¯s stronger, quicker, more dynamic. The slider has gotten so much better. He¡¯s been really impressive. ¡­ He¡¯s pushing us hard. It¡¯s fun.¡±

Armed with a 93-95 mph fastball, a slider and a changeup, Zobac is known for his command. In Double-A this year, he had a 30% strikeout rate with a 6.3% walk rate. The walk rate is what really stands out; he¡¯s a strike-thrower and is exactly the kind of pitcher the Royals need in their system.

¡°If I don¡¯t attack the zone, my stuff doesn¡¯t work,¡± Zobac said. ¡°Being in the zone is crucial for everything else in my arsenal to work. It¡¯s a really big piece of what I do.¡±

It¡¯s been around two years since Zobac began focusing solely on pitching, and he¡¯s embraced every part of it, from the prep work in between each start to the game plan when he steps on the mound ¨C and the adjustments he has to make with each.

¡°When I was a two-way player, I was so overwhelmed with physical activities to do,¡± Zobac said. ¡°You¡¯re constantly moving. You never have time to sit there and contemplate your last outing or think about the hitters you¡¯re about to face or even think about the pitcher you¡¯re going to face as a hitter. This year, I feel like there¡¯s a lot of reflection and getting to understand the batters you¡¯re about to face. That¡¯s been challenging for me. It¡¯s also been a lot of fun.¡±