Kansas City Royals Top 42 Prospects

As risky as prep catchers tend to be, early on in his pro career, Mitchell looks like he was worth the risk. The eighth overall pick in 2023 out of a Texas high school, Mitchell only totaled 52 pro plate appearances in his draft year, but he did walk more than he struck out (17 BB/14 K). He is striking out a concerning 31% of the time so far in 2024, with more swings-and-misses than balls in play on his ledger. That’s something of a red flag, but Mitchell is otherwise a pretty complete talent who just needs polish.

Mitchell has a super strong, medium frame, and while it doesn’t ooze projectability, he also isn’t obviously done maturing. He has a rhythmic, loose operation in the batter’s box, his bat path is conducive to elevating with authority, and he rotates very well. Mitchell also looks to have feel for the strike zone, chasing less than 20% of the time. The power and on-base aspects of his profile are going to be enough for Mitchell to be a big league catcher. The question is whether his hit tool causes him to have a Joey Bart/Mike Zunino-esque early-career roller coaster, or he ends up getting to so much power that it doesn’t matter.

Mitchell utilizes his athleticism behind the plate as a defender too, receiving from a spread out, one-knee stance that enables him to do an especially effective job at snatching borderline pitches at the bottom of the zone with his bottom-up approach. As much as his wide, one-knee setup assists him in stealing lower-quadrant strikes, it does hinder his ability to throw out baserunners. He has plus-plus arm strength, but he’s throwing out less than 20% of would-be thieves this season because he’s slow to get out of his low crouch and has a lengthy arm circle that causes him to produce closer to average pop times. Mitchell has the talent to be an impact everyday catcher, and the strength in his hands is on a much different level than most of his peers, something that has basically been true since he was a high school sophomore. He’s flawed and risky, but he has tremendous upside.

Kudrna has already put on noticeable strength since being selected 43rd overall by his hometown Royals in the 2021 draft, and he still has room for more on his frame. His delivery is also a more controlled, repeatable operation than it was in his prep days. He has a compact arm circle with a quick, clean path before he releases from a high three-quarters slot. Kudrna utilizes both a four-seam fastball and a sinker that sit 91-95 mph and have touched as high as 97 mph this year. The sinker shows average tail and sinking action, while the four-seamer has solid carry in the upper quadrants of the zone. His 83-86 mph slider is a two-plane breaker with late action. On occasion it will turn into more of a vertical downer, with both shapes capable of producing above-average teeth. Kudrna’s changeup (85-88 mph) offers limited velocity separation from his fastball, but he throws it with the same arm speed (his delivery’s late acceleration helps too), while flashing effective fade and depth on his better ones. It’s a pitch that varies in its quality at present, but it has already taken a big leap in his brief time as a pro, and with the quality of his arm action, it should continue to evolve into at least an average weapon for him. With a career walk rate around 10% across his 245.2 frames in the Royals system, Kudrna projects to be an average control/fringe-average command type who is tracking towards a no. 4/5 starter role.

In what proved to be a bit too aggressive of an assignment for the 19-year-old, Jensen had a rough 2023 in the Midwest League, slashing .211/.356/.363 in just under 500 plate appearances. This season, he’s back in Quad Cities, where his offensive output has taken an encouraging turn, as he’s currently sporting an OPS above .800. This is a fairly extreme Three True Outcomes type of profile. Jensen’s 17% career walk rate is a product of both his strike zone awareness and a passive streak in his approach. His lofty path and the aggressive intent in his hacks ensure Jensen will get to power when he’s making contact.

Jensen’s defensive ability as a catcher is the aspect of his game that has progressed the most from his days as an amateur. His frame is leaner and more athletic than it was when he was a high school prospect in Kansas City’s backyard, and shedding some of his bulk has improved his ability as a lateral mover, enabling him to better block balls in the dirt. His receiving continues to trend in the right direction and it’s looking more likely than not that he’ll be an average or better defensive backstop in the future. Jensen projects as a solid backup catcher, a league average defender who packs a punch with the bat, albeit with an empty hit tool.

Eric wrote Loftin up prior to the season and he graduates playing the multi-positional role (mostly second and third base, a little bit of first and left field) that was forecast for him. His expected stats based on contact quality have been better than his surface-level performance, and he’s been able to maintain his excellent bat-to-ball rates and plate discipline against big league pitching. He’d perhaps be more valuable to another club where he’d more often be needed on left side of the infield. Michael Massey’s frequent platoon advantage adds to this notion. But real contenders often have players occupying roles below their talent, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.

From his report: Loftin’s bat-to-ball ability is meaningfully good, enough to consider him a solid role player even though he lacks the power typical of a guy profiling at the positions he can play well. We’re talking an 88% in-zone contact rate and 80% contact rate overall, both plus on the big league scale. His plate coverage is fantastic, especially at the top of the strike zone, where he can tomahawk extra-base contact to his pull side. Loftin still has developing to do at first base, where his footwork and hands aren’t yet polished, but he’s fine at second and third base. The experiment with Loftin in center field appears to be over, so he’s unlikely to play a premium position. His defensive versatility and hit tool still make him a valuable role player.

Vaz only played a season and a half at Vanderbilt and he might have been hidden for even longer had 2021 starting left fielder Cooper Davis not gotten injured. If he had played all three seasons at Vandy (he was a community college transfer) and played often, he likely would have been picked much higher than the 15th round. In a 2023 season that spanned High- and Double-A, Vaz struck out in less than 10% of his trips to the plate on his way to .279/.373/.400 line and 30 stolen bases in 33 attempts. He’s slashed .253/.369/.370 at Northwest Arkansas so far this year, good for a 114 wRC+.

Vaz very rarely swings and misses, which is reflected in his sub-10% in-zone whiff and 3.8% swinging strike rate against Double-A arms this season. Vaz makes good swing decisions, continues to walk more frequently than he strikes out, and is advanced in his ability to manipulate the bat in the zone. His short levers produce a compact, direct path that fits his spray-it-around approach, but he lacks extra base impact.

Vaz is still spending the bulk of his time at second base, where his hands work well and he shows solid instincts and overall feel for the position. His quick-twitch characteristics are more apparent when he gets the occasional game at shortstop, but his arm is a little light to complete the longer throws from the hole. Vaz is also a solid defender in left field, where he looks comfortable tracking and ranging for balls in all directions. This is a “sum is greater than the parts” type of prospect who projects to be a high-end bench utility type.

Cross was limited to just 96 games in 2023 after he came down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever just two games into his first Double-A stint. Back in Northwest Arkansas in 2024, he’s striking out just under 25% of the time while walking at a 10% clip, and his underlying data corroborates the idea that he’s a patient hitter making below-average rates of contact. Cross has a medium build with minimal projectability. He has average bat speed, but there’s consistent loft in his swing with a hint of adjustability in his path, often thanks to the bend in Cross’ lower body. He has a gap-to-gap approach and doesn’t chase the long ball every trip to the plate, which should result in a hefty number of doubles in his stat line. Here his game power is projected a little north of what it’d be just looking at his peak exit velos because of his approach and the loft in his swing.

Cross had been splitting time between center and right field prior to this season, but he’s played the vast majority of his games in right this year, with just a handful of games in center sprinkled in. His range is better suited for a corner spot (it’s average there), with his above-average arm strength a fit in right. This is Cross’ first full season as a pro after his illness last year, and the results to this point are encouraging. He looks bound for a platoon corner outfield role.

The former Razorback was Kansas City’s second round pick in 2022 as a draft-eligible sophomore. In 2023, he held his own against Midwest League pitching over his 97 games with Quad Cities, where he posted a .261/.341/.431 line, but didn’t fare as well during a month-long trial in Double-A, putting up a .236/.300/.362 slash. In his 568 plate appearances between the two levels, he kept his strikeouts at an acceptable 20% while walking at a 9.5% clip. Wallace’s offense started off on a better note in 2024, as he slashed .282/.350/.427 in 140 PA before being sidelined for over a month with an oblique injury. He is just now getting ready to return to Northwest Arkansas after a brief rehab stint at the complex.

Wallace has a repeatable operation in the box, with a balanced stance and a minimal toe-tap timing trigger. The top hand takes charge in his hacks and produces a bat path that is on the flatter side of the spectrum, more capable of producing gap-to-gap line drives than light-tower juice. At the hot corner, his hands show softness when fielding grounders to both sides of his body, and he handles soft contact in front of him especially well. His above-average arm strength enables him to complete any play required of a third baseman, and he controls his body well when ranging for balls on the run.

Wallace’s offensive profile is a bit light for an everyday third baseman, but he’s a well-rounded second division regular type who would likely hold down a weak-side corner platoon role on a contender’s roster. He’s yet to get experience at another position since breaking into the pro ranks. Maikel Garcia probably hasn’t yet hit his ceiling and could be entrenched at the hot corner for a while, so Wallace branching out will likely be vital to maximizing his skill set in a way that helps both the Royals and Wallace’s overall future.

Barnett moved into Auburn’s rotation in the middle of his junior season and his stuff peaked late in the year as the draft approached. The violence and inconsistency of his delivery caused him to project as a reliever on our draft rankings, but he’s been developed as a starter so far and has outperformed that pre-draft expectation through Double-A. As a 22-year-old in his first year of full-season ball, he tossed 114.2 frames and finished with a 3.30 ERA, 137 strikeouts (10.8/9 IP) and 50 walks (3.9/9 IP).

When you watch Barnett you can definitely see relief risk in his delivery (mostly in the plunge and length in his arm path), but he rolls four pitches deep, he’s athletic and very powerfully built for a 6-foot guy, and he’s thrown starter’s strikes so far. His four-seam fastball sits 93-96 mph and Barnett has shown he can reach back for a tick more on occasion. He features two breaking balls: A slider that’s a sharp 84-87 mph two-plane breaker and a curveball that’s a deep 12-to-6er that doesn’t quite match the same level of authority in its break as the slider does. Barnett also has a firm changeup that ranges from 85-88 mph and often lacks effective movement, but he’ll throw enough that flash late depth and fade to warrant optimism it will eventually become an average pitch for him. His pitching style is relatively inefficient, but even at his size, Barnett has been chugging along from the moment he was put in a rotation. He’s tracking like a back-end workhorse type of starter.

One of the more prominent pop-up guys in the 2023 draft, the Royals took Wolters in the second round out of Mahomet-Seymour High School in Illinois and gave him $2.8 million to sign. Assigned to Columbia this season, he’s a prototypical teenage pitching prospect with a lean, athletic 6-foot-4 build that has significant projection and could yield another tier of velocity on his fastball. His 94-97 mph heater is effective due to its above-average ride and holds its plane well. It needs to be located at the belt more often. His slider fluctuates between a two-plane breaker and one with more slurve-type depth, but it already shows above-average teeth. Wolters’ 85-87 mph changeup will also flash above average, but much less frequently than his breaking ball does, and he’s prone to throwing some that are completely noncompetitive. There’s plenty to work with from a developmental standpoint here. Wolters has a starter-like delivery and is flashing two average or better secondary offerings as a 19-year-old. He looks on track for a no. 4/5 starter role.

Gonzalez is a premier athlete with a long-levered, high-waisted frame that has huge projectability, but he’s still extremely raw from a skill set standpoint. The quality of his at-bats can vary greatly, but it’s apparent that Gonzalez has feel for manipulating the barrel in the zone and making consistent contact. There’s loft in his bat path, but his body lacks the strength to consistently put a charge in his batted balls. Despite his physical projection, Gonzalez likely doesn’t have a future as a 30-homer bopper. Instead, he’s someone who’s going to rack up doubles. Gonzalez still tends to take inefficient routes when ranging for balls in center field, but his plus foot speed and top-tier agility allow him to cover up many of those mistakes at present, and his routes should get cleaned up as he continues to get more reps. This is one of the highest variance prospects in the system, but also one of the easiest to dream on.

Woods underwent Tommy John surgery prior to the 2022 draft and signed with the Royals as an undrafted free agent out of Canada; 2024 is Woods’ debut season as a professional because of that surgery. He’s been pitching on the complex in Surprise and catching the attention of evaluators in the process. There’s plus athleticism here, with a fluent delivery that he repeats well. Woods’ 88-90 mph four-seamer is a vertically oriented heater that punches above its weight due to the quality of life it has. Woods’ frame is still very lean and projectable so there’s likely another tick of velocity on the horizon. By far the best secondary pitch in Woods’ arsenal is his changeup, which he sells very well with his arm action; its late action generates above-average swing-and-miss. His 75-78 mph breaking ball is a tweener that often lacks sharpness and will likely need a tweak to its shape to become a usable third pitch. As Woods continues to build up post-TJ and his frame evolves, he has the potential to be in the mix for the highest ceiling among the pitchers in this system.

Selected in the final round of the 2022 draft, Charles signed at the 11th hour for a little less than $450,000 after visiting the Royals’ facility in Arizona. At a cut 6-foot-5, he is among the tallest, most projectable athletes in all of pro baseball. Long and lean, his mobility and athleticism at his size are remarkable, and his range of potential outcomes is as gigatic as he is.

Every aspect of Charles’ offensive profile is still extremely raw, including a chase-heavy approach, but he shows big bat speed and his swing is compact enough to balance out his long-levered build. Charles has struck out over 25% of the time in his brief professional career, but that looks like it has more to do with his well below-average swing decisions than anything else, because he’s whiffing less than 20% of the time on pitches in the zone. Charles has added a bit more pronounced of a hand load to his operation, but it’s still minimal and might indicate there’s some untapped power potential here. It’s kind of nutty how often Charles is able to pull the ball for a hitter his size, but he still often looks like a newborn giraffe when he swings, so while there’s a chance things click for him in a huge way one day, that day has not yet arrived.

Charles’ chops on the defensive end are much more advanced as he continues to split time between shortstop and third base. He has smooth, fluid actions at both positions, with an impressive amount of body control, especially given the size of his frame, and he has more than enough arm strength to complete the deepest of throws. With Charles’ body having so much maturing still to do, some believe he’ll move off shortstop permanently and be a plus defender at the hot corner. But with the bat as raw as it is, his most likely path to the big leagues requires as much versatility as possible, and even as his frame adds bulk, he should be able to handle the position. Charles’ defensive ability gives him a floor of sorts (think David Hensley), while his offense is a wild card with outcomes that include impact power.

Industry word-of-mouth once favored the Padres as suitors for Ricardo, but at some point things changed and he joined the Royals for a bonus just shy of $2.5 million. Ricardo is a classic high-variance switch-hitting shortstop prospect with hit tool question marks. Some of those stem from his relative newness to switch-hitting. His fledgling left-handed swing is long and sometimes out of control, but Ricardo swings with exciting verve and natural loft. There is no consensus about whether he will be able to stay at shortstop — international scouts and execs had mixed shortstop and third base projections here. He has struggled during the DSL season to this point while playing shortstop and some second base. Staying at short will give his risky hit tool some margin for error. Purely from a frame and profile standpoint, Ricardo is similar to Mets shortstop prospect Ronny Mauricio when he signed.

The Royals signed Arronde out of Cuba in 2021. He’s coming off a solid 48.2 innings in 2023 that saw him strike out 29.2% of opposing hitters on his way to a 2.22 ERA. Arronde’s frame is long and still very thin, with a compelling amount of projectability. His delivery is a low-effort, repeatable, starter-like operation that also features a clean, medium arm circle before he releases from a high three-quarter slot. Arronde’s fastball has average life and sits 92-94 at present, but given how much projection his frame has and the repeatable nature of his delivery, it’s safe to anticipate it will be an average or better offering once his frame is fully done adding strength. He already shows flashes of being able to spot it to both sides of the plate, especially to the arm side. The 80-84 mph breaking ball tends to display slurve-like depth and shape, but he’ll flash a sharper two-plane version on occasion. The headliner of the arsenal is a tumbling changeup that features late, sudden depth; it’s the pitch that has the most bat-missing potential in his mix. He throws the cambio with the same arm speed as his fastball and will utilize it effectively against both left- and right-handed hitters. It’s heavily reliant on chase, but the action on the offering is late and pronounced enough to expect it to consistently carry about average chase rates even as he moves to the upper levels. Arronde is on track for a back-of-the-rotation role, with a higher ceiling if the breaking ball and/or command outpace their projections.

Avila is a lean, high-waisted righty who still has some projectability left on his frame. He throws from a high slot with a very lengthy arm circle that has a pronounced plunge and stab in its path, which has a tendency to hinder his overall command and the shape on his breaking ball. His four-seam fastball sits 92-95 mph with solid carry when it’s on the top rail of the zone, but he doesn’t utilize the upper portion of the zone as often as most pitchers with a similar fastball shape. His 78-82 mph curveball has big velocity separation from his heater; the best ones are vertical downers with significant depth. The shape of the breaking ball will occasionally morph it into one that also has a hint of horizontal action, but it consistently maintains its bite. Avila’s changeup is his least utilized pitch and the one that varies the most in quality. He’ll flash a power (86-89 mph) cambio that has slight fade and depth and is capable of slipping under the bats of both left- and right-handed hitters, but it’s still an offering that routinely lacks effective movement.

Avila’s command hasn’t been encouraging this year in Northwest Arkansas, but he’s only 22 and has a track record of logging lots of innings, so it’d be premature to write him off as a starter. We’re looking at a back-end starter ceiling, with it more likely that Avila ends up as a fastball/curveball combo reliever who could be a high-leverage type if the stuff ticks up significantly in shorter bursts.

Cameron was drafted in the seventh round of the 2021 draft out of Central Arkansas not long after he had a Tommy John surgery. 2023 was his first full season and he had an encouraging debut despite a 5.28 ERA. Over 107.1 innings of work, he fanned 28.3% of batters, walked 7.5% and reached Double-A. Cameron is prone to the long ball — he allowed 19 homers in 2023 (1.6 per 9 IP), most of which came against his 90-94 mph fastball. It’s a fringy heater that has a hint of downhill angle from his over-the-top slot and is dependent on being well-located to be effective. The best pitch in Cameron’s mix is his late-sinking changeup, which he sells by mimicking his fastball’s arm speed. Cameron also has an 80-84 mph curveball. He manipulates its shape while consistently maintaining its sharp break. Despite being light on velocity, it’s looking like Cameron will have enough command to tiptoe around the zone with his heater and lean heavily on his high-quality secondary combo. He projects in a back-of-the-rotation role as long as his command continues to pass the stress tests presented by upper-level hitters.

Klein threw 64.1 innings between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha in 2023, striking out just over 30% of opposing batters but also issuing free passes at a 12.8% rate. He made his big league debut this year and has 5.2 innings under his belt as of publication. Klein has a short, on-line stride that results in below-average extension, but he’s still able to generate solid riding action on a 96-98 mph four-seam fastball that will touch triple digits on occasion. It’s a power-over-precision offering that plays especially well up in the zone, but his lack of command hinders its overall effectiveness. Klein’s breaking ball is a short 12-to-6 downer that ranges from 84-88 mph and will occasionally also incorporate a horizontal plane, morphing into a short 1-to-7 breaker. Klein also features a hard (88-92 mph) cutter that frequently has short, quick action, but his best ones have the depth of a tilting slider when he really finishes it well. Like his fastball, Klein’s ability to harness his breaking ball and cutter in the zone is hit and miss, and results in him being a little too reliant on opposing batters chasing out of the zone. Klein is tracking towards a single-inning middle-relief role, with a chance of holding down a higher leverage spot if he can cut down on the free passes.

Zobac was a two-way player at Cal who played the outfield and grew from being a once-a-week reliever to a reliable starter between his sophomore and junior years; he was a pitching-only prospect at draft time. He has a lean, medium frame with obvious athleticism and a repeatable delivery that enables him to consistently fill up the zone with his three-pitch mix. Zobac’s fastball sits in the low 90s and will touch 95 with just under 20 inches of IVB. The combination of velocity and life amplifies its carry up in the zone, though he still works it down in the zone most of the time. Both his slider and changeup sit in the same velocity range (83-87 mph) and he already has feel for locating them in the zone. Zobac goes right at hitters even though he lacks a true bat-misser. It’s a pitch-to-contact approach that, to this point, has successfully avoided the long ball (0.4/HR9). If he continues to do so, Zobac has a back-of-the-rotation future ahead of him.

Champlain was part of three-player package acquired from the Yankees in exchange for Andrew Benintendi at the 2022 trade deadline. Last year was Champlain’s first full season in the Royals system and he logged 135.1 frames split nearly equally between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas, posting a 3.33 ERA while striking out 125 (22.8%) and walking only 43 (7.8%). This season, he started the year in Double-A, where he struck out 48 batters in 36 innings before being promoted to the rotation in Omaha. He’s thrown just over 40 frames in Omaha, where he’s not fanning batters at the same pace he was in the Texas League and has seen his walks tick up above 10%.

Champlain has a medium arm circle with a clean path, and he throws from a high release point that generates solid backspin and carry on his 93-96 mph four-seam fastball. When Champlain is working his heater near the top rail of the zone, it holds its plane well enough to stay above the swings of opposing hitters and generate whiffs, but it lacks that same hop when it isn’t elevated. His 78-81 mph curveball is a vertically oriented 2,700 rpm breaker that routinely shows above-average tightness, and it’s ideal for tunneling off of his elevated fastball. The other breaking ball in his arsenal is a short-tilting slider at 83-87 mph that shows solid bite on occasion. Champlain’s changeup (84-89 mph) mostly shows minimal, low-impact action in the form of slight fade that batters have an easy time identifying.

Champlain’s mix matches up well against same-side hitters, but his changeup quality lags behind his other pitches to such a degree that he’ll be forced to lean heavily on his fastball/curveball combo when facing left-handed hitters. Champlain is nearly ready to be a bulk-inning, back-of-the-rotation piece, one who could use another way of attacking lefties.

Gentry was the Royals’ third round pick in 2020 out of Alabama and spent the entire 2023 season at Triple-A, where he slashed .253/.370/.421 with 46 extra base hits (16 of which were home runs) in his 572 plate appearances. Gentry is back in Omaha in 2024 and has been far less productive at the plate; he’s currently carrying an OPS under .700 and punching out north of 30% of the time. Gentry has average bat speed with a hint of loft in his path, but his approach is geared more for gap doubles than consistent home run juice. He’s fast approaching his plus defensive projection in both corner outfield spots, with his plus arm strength giving him an additional weapon on that side of the ball. Gentry is shaping up to be a bench corner outfield type who doesn’t possess enough offensive impact to hold down a regular role.

Ramirez is still new to the catching position, which the Royals transitioned him to after they signed him out of Venezuela in 2023 for just under $60,000. His plus arm strength is a good fit for the position, but his arm path still has the length you’d expect from someone who recently moved behind the plate from the outfield. Because of that, he often produces below-average pop times. His hands and receiving ability are still very rigid, and he needs to make a lot of progress to become a passable defensive backstop.

At the plate, Ramirez’s carrying tool is the slugging component of his game; he has impressive raw power for a teenager, power he’s already begun to carry over to game action. Ramirez is a high-variance type mainly because of his relatively recent transition to the hardest defensive position in the sport and his path to the big leagues will depend upon how well he takes to catching. He has uncommon offensive upside for a catcher.

The Royals went over slot to pay Wyatt just under $1.5 million in the third round to bypass his Southern California commitment. Wyatt’s mix is four pitches deep, his fastball sits 93-96 mph, and he throws strikes but not with precision. He has a slurve-shaped breaker that’s 80-83 mph and a lateral slider in the 85-87 mph range, with the slider showing superior tightness between the two. His changeup has unique tumbling action, but he has difficulty landing it in the zone. Likely to be developed as a starter, Wyatt’s command and operation looks to play best in a relief role where he could cover multiple frames and maximize the velocity on his heater.

Ugarte was a scout favorite in the lead up to the 2024 international amateur signing period. He had already gotten stronger, and while that likely sealed his fate as a future third baseman rather than a potential shortstop, his hit/power combination was more potent. Scouts Eric talked to during work on that class were unanimous in thinking Ugarte was much better than where he’d rank if you lined up the players just based on their bonuses. His hands are quiet but explosive, and his bat path is on plane with the pitch for most of its journey. He’s off to a very good start in the 2024 DSL and could be a long-term everyday third baseman.

Um is attempting to become the first major league catcher born in South Korea (Ji Man Choi caught in the minors but not in the bigs). His father also played professional baseball stateside in the Braves system, so there’s an element of baseball bloodline in the profile as well. His frame lacks significant projectability, but he has yet to fully grow into mature strength, and there’s clearly athleticism in his movements on both sides of the baseball. Um hits out of a square, balanced stance and uses a leg kick stride. He lacks much of a load in his hands (which may be covering up some untapped power) before unleashing intent-filled hacks that have loft in their path. He has average bat speed and is striking out right around 25% of the time in his limited pro career to this point; he’s prone to chasing spin out of the zone. His ability to tighten up that aspect of his approach will be an influential variable for the future of his hit tool.

Defensively, Um stays quiet with his wide one-knee setup and presents borderline pitches well. His blocking ability is still quite inconsistent and he doesn’t always deaden balls in the dirt even though he looks to be a solid lateral mover. There’s above-average arm strength in Um’s defensive profile, and he’ll flash a quick transfer and release. Um is an intriguing backstop with a fun backstory who has a real shot at being the first South Korea-born catcher on a major league roster, probably in a backup role.

Chamberlain tore his UCL during spring training this year and will miss the entire 2024 season recovering from surgery. His fastball averaged 95 mph in 2023 and regularly touched the upper 90s with plenty of carry through the zone. His low-80s curveball has depth and hard bite, while a newer 85-88 mph slider (which he scrapped his changeup in favor of) doesn’t have quite the same teeth as the curve yet. Chamberlain has a max effort, drop-and-drive approach and has had a shaky strike throwing record in both college and pro ball, but the life on his stuff is legit. He looked like a good reliever when healthy and holds in the same FV tier.

The seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Mozzicato is a good athlete who still has room for added strength. He has a long, clean arm path that is loose and free in its movements before Mozz throws from a high three-quarters slot. Mozzicato’s fastball features 20-plus inches of IVB, but the velocity on the heater remains stuck between 86-90 mph and he doesn’t have the command to live at that velocity. The bread-and-butter of his pitch mix is still a 78-82 mph curveball, a sharp vertical downer that is more than capable of generating whiffs against both left- and right-handed hitters. Mozzicato maintains his fastball arm action and speed when throwing a 81-84 mph changeup that produces a modest amount of depth, but like much of his arsenal, it is hindered by his lack of control. Mozzicato walked 16% of the batters he faced over his 93 frames in 2023 and he’s walking 15% of them this year back in Quad Cities, which is where he spent the end of last season.

The good news is that Mozzicato is still only 21 years old, but it’s hard not to be pessimistic about his long-term outlook as a starter given that we haven’t seen him progress in terms of his velocity or command, or incorporate any additional weapons into his mix. He’s basically been the same guy since he was drafted. A shift to the bullpen, where he can maximize his already limited fastball velo and lean heavily on his curveball, may soon be the best path forward for Mozzicato to have any kind of major league role.

Kansas City’s top 2021 international signee, at this point Vazquez could probably give you a good restaurant recommendation in Columbia, as 2024 is his third straight year with the A-ball affiliate. He tallied just under 800 plate appearances for Columbia between 2022-2023, striking out 24.2% of the time and slugging under .300. That being said, those were pretty aggressive assignments and Vazquez is still slightly young for the level. Although his bat still lacks extra-base power, he’s at least hitting for average and getting on base in his third look at the league.

What was once a high-effort swing has been tamped down to a much quieter operation with fewer moving parts. While the swing is more under control, he’s still chasing frequently enough for it to hinder his hit tool projection. When he does connect, he’s spraying his contact to all fields. Vazquez is playing shortstop exclusively and is developing into a solid defender up the middle with his body control and soft hands. He has elements of quick-twitch in his movements and moves well laterally, which will enable him to cover more than enough ground to stay at short. He’s still prone to inaccurate throws across the diamond, which he’ll need to shore up to reach his defense-first bench utility projection.

Hoffmann had a nomadic amateur career, starting at Oakland University in Michigan before a JUCO stint at John Logan Community College and ultimately a move to Illinois, where he had some dominant starts and some epic clunkers amid the occasional week or two off. Some of his fastballs dipped down into the mid-80s at times, but Hoffmann showed an ability to miss bats with all three of his pitches and the Braves used a 12th round pick on him. After he signed, Hoffmann’s velocity stabilized, and he sat 92-93 mph for the rest of 2021 and was in the 93-95 range in 2022 prior to being traded to the Royals for a comp pick in that year’s draft.

Hoffmann has a long (6-foot-5), lean frame and a drop-and-drive delivery. He routinely mixes up the pace and leg kick elements of his delivery to create additional deception. His fastball sits 92-96 mph and has solid riding action when he works it above the letters, but it also has a tendency to get flat when thrown lower due to the angle that his delivery creates. He often manipulates the shape on his 81-85 mph slider, showing a tilting three-quarter version and a wider slurvey variant, both of which share above-average sharpness in their break. The third pitch in Hoffmann’s mix is a 85-88 mph changeup that usually shows slight fade along with a hint of sink, flashing more pronounced action on his best ones. Hoffman looks destined for a up/down starter and/or bulk relief role. If any element of his profile can outperform its projection, he could have a Burch Smith 스미스 type ceiling.

The Royals added Hernandez to their 40-man roster after the 2022 season even though he had only played about 30 games above A-ball. He was coming off his lone above-average offensive performance since he was in the DSL, posting a .284/.347/.408 line with 20% K% and 8% BB% at mostly High-A, with a month at Northwest Arkansas tacked on to the end of the year. He dislocated his shoulder diving for a ball during 2023 spring training and only played in 69 games in 2023. In his 313 plate appearances, he posted an underwhelming .262/.324/.348 line while also going 19-for-24 (79% success rate) in his stolen base attempts. He is having a similarly rough season in 2024.

Hernandez’s operation in the box is simple and repeatable, with a compact swing that appears to be geared for contact, but a tendency to chase out of the zone, fringy bat control, and below-average bat speed have resulted in a growing strikeout rate. Hernandez is very good on the defensive side of the ball, where he uses his plus foot speed to cover above-average ground in center field. This is a low-impact bat whose approach hinders his offensive output, but Hernandez has fringe 40-man utility because of his defensive chops and baserunning ability.

Rave currently has an OPS around .900 in Omaha after posting a .749 OPS between Double- and Triple-A in 2023. He has cut his strikeout rate from 26% to 22%, and despite pulling the ball in the air at about the same rate, there’s been an uptick in his in-game power production this season. Aesthetically, not much has changed in his swing compared to last year other than that the bat is less vertical after his hands load; it’s now closer to 45 degrees. He’s sure-handed in center field and covers an average amount of ground. It’s worth keeping tabs on Rave throughout the season to see if he sustains the power increase, but it’s hard to see the bat coming along enough to warrant a regular 26-man roster spot. Rave is a reliable up/down type with a fifth outfielder ceiling.

After posting an .824 OPS for the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, where he only struck out 71 times (18.2%) in his 390 plate appearances, Devanney came to the Royals in the trade that sent Taylor Clarke to Milwaukee this past winter. He’s had increased strikeouts this season but is again producing approximately league average offense at Triple-A. Devanney’s calling card is his sure-handed defense at shortstop, where he moves well laterally and has smooth, fluid actions in the dirt overall. His hands are soft and he’s very comfortable completing plays on the run; his above-average body control allows him to make tough, mobile throws with ease and accuracy.

In the batter’s box, Devanney hits out of an upright, open stance with a high-hands setup before loading them down and away from his body prior to launch. There’s a lot going on in Devanney’s operation prior to the actual swing, but he has solid bat-to-ball skills that he uses to spray contact into both alleys despite having bat speed that’s average at best. Devanney’s defensive ability at a premium position is what causes him to be a high-confidence up/down type; whatever he provides with the bat can be considered supplemental value.

The super projectable (especially for a college pitcher) Williams had a velo spike late in 2021, then had Tommy John prior to the 2022 season and didn’t pitch at all during his junior year at Duke. The Padres, one of several teams with a track record of taking risks on guys coming off surgery, drafted him in the third round. Williams came to Kansas City in the 2023 trade deadline deal that sent Scott Barlow to San Diego and covered 66.1 innings between the two orgs, posting a 4.88 ERA on the season while striking out 22.3% of batters and walking 12%. Williams has been in Quad Cities this season where he’s currently fanning 21.6% of hitters, walking 10.4%, and allowing nearly a hit per inning.

Williams rolls four pitches deep. His 91-94 mph fastball averages a hair under 2,500 rpms and plays best at the letters. Williams throws two distinct breaking balls. His slower 77-81 mph curveball is a vertical breaker with varying degrees of depth, while his slider features short, subtle tilt and sits in the 83-86 mph velocity range. The changeup is a bit more of a wild card, as he’ll show you average fade and sinking action on occasion, but very rarely does he pair that with playable control. Williams has a deep enough repertoire to continue his starter development path, but his command looks as though it will limit him to a back of the rotation ceiling.

Veneziano threw 132 innings in 2023 as a starter between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha, but has primarily worked out of the ‘pen in Omaha this year; he had a brief stint with the big league team in April after a September cup of coffee last season. Even though he’s been working out of the bullpen with greater frequency this year, the majority of his appearances are multi-inning outings with spot starts as needed. His fastball has average life and is a very hittable offering when it’s not in the upper quadrants. His slider has three-quarter shape and late depth to its finish; it’s more effective at neutralizing left-handed hitters, and he’ll manipulate the velocity between 80-86 mph. He also has a 84-87 mph changeup in his mix that has minor late drop and assists in keeping right-handed hitters off his fastball. Already 26, Veneziano is looking at an up/down relief role where he can cover multiple innings in low-leverage situations.

Wallace has been traded a couple of times now, once from Colorado to Boston for Kevin Pillar, and then from Boston to Kansas City for Wyatt Mills. Wallace has a 94-97 mph fastball that has above-average ride through the zone; he has struggled to harness it (walk rates in the teens the last three years), which hinders its overall effectiveness. The other two pitches in his mix are a firm 89-91 mph cutter that has short action and a mid-80s slider that’s a two-plane breaker with more bat-missing characteristics. Like his heater, both the cutter and slider are impeded by erratic control. Wallace remains an up/down single-inning relief type.

Cruz, who was part of the Michael A. Taylor trade, made his big league debut in 2023 (12.2 innings) and is having a fine Triple-A season in 2024 (28% K%, 10% BB%, an ERA and FIP hovering around 4.00). He continues to sit in the 95-99 mph range and rip the occasional triple-digit fastball with riding action through the zone. He has shotgun command and there’s still a lack of consistent finish on Cruz’s slider, but it has had a second plane more frequently this year. It’s an offering that is limited by its reliance on chase. If something clicks with Cruz’s slider command that allows him to finish it more regularly, he’ll have a stretch where he slots into a middle relief role. Until then, this continues to be an up/down single-inning relief profile.

Pennington has caught some helium of late after striking out 35% of the hitters he’s faced in Triple-A while keeping his walks under 10%; he made his big league debut a few days before list publication. He’s working with the same pitch mix he did last year when he was effective in the PCL but is getting much better results. Much of that is due to his 82-84 mph breaking ball, which is showing significantly more depth and bat-missing characteristics than it did in previous years. He’ll manipulate the depth at times, but often uses a sharp, slurvey shaped breaker that covers a lot of horizontal and vertical ground, and really gives left-handed hitters fits. Pennington breaks out his cutter (86-89 mph) more when facing right-handed batters, using it to stay off barrels more than create swing-and-miss. It’s effective in doing just that because he successfully blends it with his 90-94 mph sinker, which is an offering he pitches around as much as he can without letting hitters forget about it. On rare occasion he’ll flash a 85-88 mph changeup, but most of them are low impact and serve more as a show-me type offering. Pennington has a middle relief profile with little margin for error due to his underwhelming velocity. He’d likely serve an up/down role for a championship-caliber club.

There have been times during his lifetime as a prospect when McMillon has pitched with an 80-grade fastball and 20-grade control. His velocity was way, way down during spring training, but it’s mostly rebounded and has returned to the high-90s, sitting 95-97 in his last couple of outings prior to list publication. He generates nearly seven feet of extension and induces plus vertical break. He has never been able to throw strikes and is struggling in that regard again in 2024 as McMillon throws his slider more and more in effort to do so. McMillon has late-inning stuff, but is in the Steve Blass area as far as control. He’s a wild card older relief prospect who had a brief big league debut last August.

Way was a fourth round pick by the Yankees in the 2020 draft and was in the deal that sent Andrew Benintendi to New York in 2022. After walking 16.3% of batters in the Texas League last season, contributing to his 6.67 ERA mark on the year, free passes continue to plague Way as he’s repeating Double-A. He has a lengthy arm circle and throws from a three-quarters slot, but his arm is frequently late on foot strike, which greatly hinders his ability to harness his mix in the zone. His primary fastball is a sinker that sits 95-97 mph and shows above-average tail and sinking action; it’s capable of effectively crowding right-handed hitters in on their hands when located properly. An 84-89 mph slider is his go-to secondary offering. His best ones show hard two-plane action, but they tend to shorten up on him when he gets on the side of it (which is often). There’s also a 85-88 mph changeup in Way’s mix that has slight fade and depth, but it’s very rarely used. Way’s build, arm speed, and pure stuff are intriguing, but his volatile control continues to be a roadblock in his development path. He remains a high-variance relief prospect whose most likely outcome is as an up/down single-inning guy until there’s improvement in his strike throwing ability.

Murdock is a lean, high-waisted right-hander who transitioned to a relief role in 2023 when he threw 69 frames for Northwest Arkansas over 36 appearances, fanning 24.4% of hitters and posting an unsightly 15.6% walk rate. He’s walking a ton of guys again this year. Murdock has long been of note because of his size and stuff, but he’s dealt with several injuries and inconsistent performance. He throws from a three-quarter slot that produces above-average movement on his sinker when he’s working it down in the zone. He throws both a slider (81-85 mph) and a cutter (87-90 mph), which often share a similar short shape but come in at different velocities. The slider also flashes hard, two-plane depth when he stays on top of it. The width of the cutter makes it a more dangerous offering against left-handers, so he attempts to backdoor it more than he tries to crowd them in on hitters’ hands. Still, Murdock lacks any semblance of precision in his operation and his pure strike-throwing chops are volatile, likely limiting him to an up/down relief role.

Bowlan’s fastball averaged just 92.5 mph coming off of TJ in 2022 but was back in the mid-90s last year, and Bowlan has maintained that, sitting 93-96 mph with both his sinker and four-seam fastballs again in 2024. He’s starting in Omaha and posting fair peripherals (22% K%, 9% BB%) as of list publication, albeit in yet another homer-prone season (that could just be the PCL). His sinker has late tailing action that can get in on right-handed hitters’ hands and produce weak contact on the ground, while his four-seamer needs to be located near the top rail in order to maximize its carry. He throws both a curveball and slider; the curveball occupies an 80-84 mph velo range with short, 11-to-5 shape, while the slider is a firmer 84-88 mph offering with late tilt. He lacks feel for a changeup, which has low-impact action and is more of a “show-me” type than a pitch that gets regular usage. Bowlan fills up the zone with his deep mix, but is also very vulnerable to left-handed hitters; he has up/down starter value. He debuted last September.

Paulino struck out 21.1% of batters in 2023 between Kansas City’s High- and Double-A affiliates and has posted a 23% mark at Northwest Arkansas so far this season. He continues to pitch off of his 96-99 mph sinker, which has above-average movement. He’s tended to generate groundballs at a 53-63% clip and is very effective at avoiding the long ball, having surrendered just six of them combined throughout the last three seasons. His upper-80s slider can feature hard two-plane action but is also prone to shortening up. Paulino has significantly more control than command (i.e there are strikes but they’re not precise) and he maintains his up/down single-inning relief projection.

Owen slid to the fourth round of the 2023 draft after some health issues overshadowed his final season at Vanderbilt. The Royals assigned Owen to Quad Cities for his first season of pro ball, and he’s been effective at limiting his walks (7.7% BB) but his strikeouts have also been limited (17.5% K). He has a five-pitch mix and an XL frame that has already fully matured. His 89-94 mph fastball has downhill angle created by Owen’s 6-foot-6 height and over-the-top release point. It lacks above-average movement and life, and is an underwhelming pitch overall. His curveball is a deep vertical breaker in the mid-to-upper 70s, while his two-plane slider comes in at 82-86 mph with nastier break. His mid-80s changeup is playing against lower level hitters, though more because of his ability to sell the offering with arm speed than the depth the pitch tends to show. He’ll also use a little cutter as another way to stay off the barrels of right-handers. Owen’s arsenal lacks big upside and has limited swing-and-miss potential, but there’s obvious feel for command and pitchability here, which will give him up/down starter value.