1. The farm system offers something the Royals never could: hope! Clay Dungan, IF/OF (January unranked) Acquired: 2017 Draft, Rd 1, Pick 14 Control, and an excellent changeup allow him to rack up the strikeouts. But hes walked 83 batters in 80 minor league innings and allowed 68 runs, those arent numbers that will keep you on prospect lists for long. He has a plus glove in center and a strong arm, so he can at least provide some defensive utility, but the upside with his bat is likely pretty limited. Acquired: 2020 Draft Rd 1, Pick 4 He didn't play much his. I still see a platoon catcher with some pop, as his calling card. Brewer Hicklen, OF Power and speed is evident, with a plus hit tool. Cayden Wallace, 3BComplete Top 30 list . Daniel Lynch, LHP Heath led all of the minor leagues in 2019 in stolen bases. 5. 30 on Top 100)4. 40. The results have been good, but hell need to show durability moving forward. Advanced feel on the mound and developing a breaking pitch pic.twitter.com/v0LqdB2mCS. Current Level: AA. Michael Kelley Cayden Wallace, 3B Complete Top 30 list Biggest jump/fall Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2022 preseason list to the 2023 preseason list: Current Level: High-A. This season, weve seen Khalil Lee traded to the Mets, Nick Heath to the Diamondbacks, along with Grant Gambrell and Luis De La Rosa being shipped off to Boston in the Andrew Benintendi trade. Lets check in on the system Dayton Moore has built. Many guys can throw mid to upper 90s in the minors, but its Lacys desire to dominate and his work ethic that sets him apart. Pitcher has made two mistakes to Massey tonight and Massey didnt miss either of em. Mejia currently plays the role of part-time Utility player for the Royals. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2021 Bowman Sterling Prospect Autographs AUSTIN COX #BSPA-AC K.C. He has a nice deceptive delivery and a low-to-mid-90s fastball, so if he can get back to throwing strikes, he could be a candidate for the rotation next spring, although his ceiling seems rather limited. April 6, 2023. Acquired: 2016 Draft, Rd 29 Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B Acquired: 2018 Amateur Free Agency Likely a strong number 2 starter with a mid 90s fastball, plus slider, and plus changeup. Another local product out of Park Hill HS, he has the ability to stick behind the plate and possesses premium exit velocity with his bat. Acquired: 2018 Draft, Rd 13 AL Central, General, MiLB, Royals, Top 50 Lists @n_pratto do you think youre funny or something? Current Level: 2021 Competitive Balance B Draft Selection (#66 Overall). But I made some tweaks based on things I like to see from prospects, and your personal preferences may differ. Otherwise mediocre results at age-appropriate levels are cause for concern. 3 K. pic.twitter.com/DUxZ5cDAKn, Royals Farm Report (@RoyalsFarm) May 15, 2021, 17. The full rankings and reports on all top 30 prospects per team will be available on our Patreon at the 55-tier ($5 level) as we publish them. Age: 22 When Im not writing about baseball or purchasing my next baseball card, I can be seen coasting down the highway to yet another travel baseball tournament with my wife and son. Highest Level: College Asa Lacy, LHP Age: 19 Current Level: AAA. The Royals farm teams love to run. Darryl Collins, OF 7. 23. Austin Cox, LHP Lacy was the best LHP in the 2020 Draft. Alexander was an afterthought in the Braves trade, but he smacked 25 home runs in 114 games overall last year in Double-A, with 19 steals to boot. Will Klein, RHP (January rank #41) The speed hasnt faded, however, the clock is dwindling on Hicklens ability to make an impact for the Royals. Age: 22 All 10 of the prospects ranked in the Royals Top 10 are homegrown players, with nine coming via the Draft and one (Erick Pena, No. Without further ado, your 2021 preseason prospect rankings: Honorable Mention - Adam Lukas, RHP, 100 mph fastball - John Rave, CF, toolsy, needs to hit - Grant Gavin, RHP, ++ spin, lots of K's, lots of BB's - Omar Hernandez, C, up and coming stud #50: Emmanuel Rivera, 3B I've been waiting a long time to see Emmanuel Rivera put it all together. His results have been mixed with decent strikeout numbers but high walk totals in Low-A. Age: 21 He still has a long way to go, but fans shouldnt write him off just because of his draft position. He's got a big fastball and that's about it in terms of high-profile stuff. Edward Olivares, OF The full rankings and reports on all top 30 prospects per team will be available on our Patreon at the 55-tier ($5 level) as we publish them. Age: 24 Christian Chamberlain, LHP (January rank #31) Acquired: 2018 Trade (Dodgers) Current Level: 2021 4th Rd Draft Selection (#108 Overall). Projected ranking in 2022: 20-25. Hes young for AAA Omaha, where the Royals will give him another shot to show he can compete for attention in a Royals system that is flush with pitching. Kudrna and the hitter were on the same page re: how long they wanted this at-bat to last. Hes well-rounded in his skill set, with ability to hit, some power, and some moderate speed. 5 at the start of 22 -- now hes a mainstay in the middle of the Royals lineup. I view Gutierrez as a pinch hitter, defensive replacement type of player. Look for him to continue to lock down the 8th inning in front of Greg Holland. Current Level: AA. Here's a look at the Royals' top prospects:1. Nate Handy Prospect Rankings 1/22/2021 As we prepare for the season ahead, the Pitcher List staff will be creating profiles for every fantasy-relevant player for 2021. Tillo led the minors with a 63.7% ground ball rate in 2019. His breaking ball has been a work in progress, but overall he still has some good potential and could move quickly if he improves his command. MJ Melendez, C (January rank #15) GRAND SLAM. Highest Level: Rookie April 12, 2023. Carter Jensen, C (January rank N/A) Hes a project for the Royals minor league hitting development team and theres a high chance he never makes it, but if he pans out, he could be a potential star. Tier 3 8. Id look for him to study those starts and come out with much better results in his first full season. He has pitched just eight innings in the pros, but has still yet to allow a hit. Highest Level: Low A Omar Florentino, SS Philadelphia Phillies 2021 Mid-Season Top 30 Prospects Prospects Live Prospects Live Staff Top Prospect List, MiLB This is the midseason Top 30 Prospects update with new rankings and OFP where needed as well as new draftees. Acquired: 2015 Amateur Free Agency This feels like a make or break year for Matias. Top 100. Hes 2-2 with a 2B and a HR in the 3rd inning. Age: 24 I think we were all a little surprised when the Royals chose to add Angel Zerpa to the 40-man roster this offseason in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. The Royals should be pretty aggressive in promoting him, as the right-hander has handled every level thus far. Age: 24 Age: 23 Age: 18 A promotion to AA shouldnt be too far off, as Guzman has been doing a little bit of everything for Quad Cities. An ERA under 1.5 with a K:BB ratio of nearly 8.5 to 1 will get my attention. He has a fastball and slider that play well off each other. #LSU commit pic.twitter.com/Nnqk5RKrI3, Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 23, 2020, 34. Nick Loftin, UTIL5. The physical traits are all there, with a long way to go before becoming completely viable. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B (January rank #40) Erick Pena, OF (January rank #3) Kansas City Royals Prospects Overview System analysis, top prospects, projected lineups, and more Current Top Prospects 1 Gavin Cross OF 2 Cayden Wallace 3B 3 Drew Waters OF 4 Ben. 3. Strictly a bullpen arm, the lefty is knocking on the door for another shot in the big league bullpen after previously unsuccessful auditions in 2019 and 2020. The Royals need Bobby, MJ, and Vinnie to step up and be stars, Being good wont bring back playoff glory, Baseball America has their Royals prospect list, Keith Law will be out with his Royals list tomorrow, power potential has only increased since joining the Royals. #Royals No. As the heir apparent to Salvador Perez, Melendezs 2021 redemption tour is in full swing. Gambling Problem? He has a chance to be a reliever, due to high strikeout rates. Seuly Matias, OF (January rank #25) This is the midseason Top 30 Prospects update with new rankings and OFP where needed as well as new draftees. Nick Heath, OF Carlos Hernandez, RHP Erick Pena, OF 25. Age: 22 44. Good control will give him an outside chance at viability. The 2022 second-round pick got his professional career off to a solid start last year, hitting .294/.369/.468 with 12 walks and eight steals in 27 games. Samuel Valerio, RHP 2019 stats (Rookie): 51.1 IP, 3.33 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 25.1% K%, 6.4% BB%, 1.05 HR/. Age: 23 Acquired: 2018 Draft, Rd 6 Highest Level: Rookie April 5, 2023. Age: 21 He doesnt seem to have any major flaws in his game, but his plus skills seem to be speed, positional versatility, and intangibles - attributes that were championed by Dayton Moore. Ben Kudrna, RHP 3. Highest Level: Low A As we get into the rankings, heres a quick breakdown of how the Tier system works here at Prospects1500: Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years Zach Haake, RHP Way shows good velocity in the mid-to-upper-90s and has a decent breaking ball, and while I think theres a decent chance he ends up as a good reliever, he has performed well as a starter in the minors so far. Still, I like his power potential and his plate discipline, and the 23-year-old could be one to watch this year. Hes already being tagged with potential Ace label. Here's whose lists appear so far: Here's the composite ranking: Rank Composite Points 1 Gavin Cross 8 2 Maikel Garcia 20 3 Tyler Gentry 26 4 Drew Waters 30 5 Cayden Wallace 33 6 pic.twitter.com/0Fs1XGxOPF, Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 23, 2019. Acquired: 2020 Trade (San Diego) Here are the Royals' 2021 Top 30 Prospects March 16th, 2021 Anne Rogers @ anne__rogers SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Royals saw the first two of their loaded 2018 Draft class reach the Major Leagues in 2020, with right-hander Brady Singer and left-hander Kris Bubic graduating from MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospects list in their rookie seasons. Age: 25 Acquired: 2017 Free Agency Acquired: 2015 Draft, Rd 2, Pick 64 Regardless, Garcia brings a good approach to hitting, has good speed, and is a plus defender, so even without power he could be a solid shortstop. 4. Age: 22 Daniel Tillo, LHP Hes back to throwing this spring but on a rehab progression. AL Central, General, MiLB, Royals, Top 50 Lists 3 pitch mix with the ability to remain a starter. Strictly a bullpen arm, he displayed excellent strike-throwing ability in the minors. On the taller side for a shortstop at 6-foot-3, Merrill showed a promising mix of discipline and an all-fields approach in the early stages of his career and took those to the next level everywhere he played in 2022. Age: 22 Age: 20 31. Acquired: 2018 Draft, Rd 12 Acquired: 2017 Draft, Rd 6 Age: 21 Raised in the Midwest, and with lots of baseball. The Royals third-round pick in the 2020 Draft, Gentry beat High-A quickly by hitting .336/.434/.516, then was promoted to Double-A on June 14. If youd like to cross-reference this list with the pre-season, here is the Royals list. These top prospects are closing in on the Majors. Highest Level: Double A Acquired: 2015 Amateur Free Agency Should flash 20 HR power as well. He also used that big curveball to induce a groundball rate north of 50 percent, again one of the top rates in the league. March 17, 2023. The Crimson Tide product has a nice blend of power, speed, and hit. Daniel Lynch, LHP (No. Age: 23 Jackson Kowar, RHP Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A bit of an undersized starting pitcher, the results are not small, as Parrish sports 11.6 K/9 with a 55:11 K:BB ratio in 42 2/3 IP. Barring injury, hell be the jewel of the Royals deep arsenal of hurlers. The Royals placed three prospects on Keith Law's top 50 prospect list with Witt at #6, Lynch at #27, and Pratto at #46. Acquired: 2019 Draft, Rd 11 The clock is ticking on Guzman, as he enters his 5th season in the Royals system. Age: 24 Rays enter 2023 with deep, talented system. Zach Haake, RHP (January rank #37) Since 2018, Steele only has 49 innings under his belt. The tall and lanky lefty has a solid curveball and a fastball in the mid-'90s that could give him a push as an SP2 or SP3 down the road. Bowlan was off to a dominating start at AA Northwest Arkansas prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. Near the end of last years draft, the Royals took a gamble they could lure Charles away from college with a large enough bonus and it worked! Baseball Prospectus ranked Witt #2 on their mid-season top 50 update . March 24, 2023. Kyle Isbel, OFComplete Top 30 list . Ford and Amador were ranked as top 100 prospects by Baseball America, and I suspect Jensen - who is younger than the other three - could make the list next year. Little bit of power in the morning pic.twitter.com/WUNMEWXbEe, Erick Pea (@erickpena20_) December 28, 2020. Tyler Gentry, OF (January rank #26) Rays call up top prospect, eye 12-0 start. Tyler Gentry, OF Age: 21 Shane Panzini, RHP (January rank N/A) Age: 21 Age: 24 7 on Top 100)2. The versatile fielder isnt a glove-only prospect; he has a good feel to hit with 10-15 homers at peak. Hes not quite the free-swinger Whit was in the minors, and he did smack 16 home runs in 2021, although Im a bit skeptical of his power. How do you feel about the overall strength of the system? A vast majority of these players have been acquired in 2016 through the 2020 MLB Draft. I thought I might come up with my own prospect list, not because I really know what Im talking about that much - this is really meant to be a conversation starter. Thats probably why the Royals targeted the right-hander in their trade with the Twins for Michael A. Taylor. Current Level: AA. Blewett made 2 relief appearances in Kansas City and didnt set the world on fire. The lefty hitter will turn 25 in May and you could see him as a useful reserve outfielder in Kansas City at some point this year, but I wouldnt expect much more than that from him. Players in parentheses have the same grade. Frank Mozzicato, LHP (January rank N/A) Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact Highest Level: Rookie He is definitely one to watch. Visit Patreon for Full Top 30 List & Reports 15. Age: 22 Maikel Garcia, SS (January rank #28) I dont know how many pitchers in the organization can hit triple digits on the radar gun, but it cant be very many. January 9, 2021 He was even better there, crushing 16 homers and posting a .972 OPS. Super high ceiling for Pena. 38. Jon Heasley, RHP Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelpline.ma.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). *Clicking on the players name allows you to view their Baseball-Reference page. pic.twitter.com/UMatRBjAAP, Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 21, 2020. 62) 2. As we get into the rankings, heres a quick breakdown of how the Tier system works here at Prospects1500: Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years Write him off just because of his Draft position all of the Royals deep arsenal hurlers... 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