KC Royals Prospects: An early look at the farm system

The KC Royals have spent the better part of the past five seasons focusing on rebuilding their farm system. The organization’s efforts have focused on building a winning major league team with homegrown talent, much like how the Royals achieved success during the team’s 2014-15 World Series runs.

But turning the minor league tide has been slow.

mlb.com ranked the Kansas City farm system 17th in baseball prior to the 2020 season. By midseason that year, the system gained some respect and jumped to No. 10, where it remained until the middle of last season.

Then, thanks in part to turnarounds at the plate from MJ Melendez and Nick Pratto, the system ranked fifth by mid-2021. With some mixed results from the system’s pitchers, the Royals have now dropped to eighth.

Who are some key KC Royals prospects to watch this year in their farm system?

Four important Royals’ prospects, including infielder Bobby Witt Jr. at No. 1, recently landed on mlb.com’s current Top 100 prospects list. Catcher MJ Melendez (No. 51), first baseman Nick Pratto (No. 61) and pitcher Asa Lacy (No. 72) also made it.

Witt, Melendez and Pratto will prove crucial to the team’s success well into the future, especially because the Royals have had so much trouble scoring runs for a few years.

Beyond the top of the system, there are plenty of notable prospects who will impact KC’s future success. Who are they? Let’s take a look at several and see how they’ve fared so far this season.

Can Omaha give the KC Royals hope that better pitching is on the horizon?

The Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha is 6-6. Despite some slumping bats, the Storm Chasers have had some strong pitching performances—the rotation features strong big league candidates including Jon Heasley, Austin Cox, Ronald Bolaños and Jackson Kowar.

Heasley has two starts this season. His most recent effort went four scoreless innings: he struck out six and allowed only two hits and a walk. His ERA is 1.29.

Ronald Bolaños has already logged three starts. He’s pitched into the fifth inning in two of them and has worked a total of 13.1 innings with solid results—a 3.38 ERA, 14 strikeouts and just two walks.

Austin Cox is a strong candidate to earn his first promotion to the majors this season. Cox has been fantastic over his last two starts this season, pitching into the fifth inning or beyond in both and allowing only one run in each. He’s pitched 14.2 innings with a 3.68 ERA.

Jackson Kowar, however, has struggled in the big leagues and at Triple-A. In his first start for the Storm Chasers, he lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up three hits, three runs and four walks.

In the bullpen, there have been plenty of promising results. The good pitching Jose Cuas displayed in spring training continues. In five relief appearances, Cuas has pitched six innings with a masterful 1.42 ERA. He’s also struck out nine and walked just one.

Former first-round draft pick Foster Griffin continues to work his way back from Tommy John Surgery. He has a 2.70 ERA in six relief innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Two top KC Royals prospects are struggling at the plate in Triple-A ball.

Pitching results have been good so far at Omaha, but the same can’t be said for some key Storm Chaser hitters. Fortunately, others are doing well.

Leading the way for the Storm Chasers is Emmanuel Rivera, who spent some time with the Royals last season. He’s slashing .294/.415/.500, leads the team in OPS (.915), is second in average, runs scored and hits, and third in home runs. If his current pace continues, Rivera might force his way back to Kansas City before other top-prospects.

Nick Pratto has struggled but broke out Sunday with a 2-for-4 performance that included his first triple of the season. But through 47 at-bats, he’s slashing just .213/.288/.468 with 19 strikeouts and just four walks.

MJ Melendez has a disappointing .543 OPS. The young catcher and heir-apparent to Salvador Perez has failed to record a single multi-hit game and, although he’s walked seven times, he has just five hits, and only two in the past week.

However, Vinnie Pasquantino has an excellent .449 OBP and is slashing .297/.449/.405 after a 3-for-3 Sunday saw him fall just a home run shy of the cycle. He also has more walks than strikeouts to start his season.

Four KC Royals prospects are having different seasons in Double-A ball.

Kansas City’s Double-A affiliate, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, have started their season 3-6. But despite the poor win-loss record, there have been many bright spots on the Naturals’ roster.

Leading the way has been leadoff man Maikel Garcia. Garcia, just 22 and a member of the Royals’ 2016 international signing class, is hitting a robust .406 and could see a mid-season call-up to Triple-A if his early results continue. He has 10 walks and just four strikeouts so far this season.

Young slugger Seuly Matias has posted the lowest strikeout rate of his career so far. Although he has yet to hit his first home run, he’s currently hitting .321 with a .726 OPS.

While Garcia and Matias have hit well, standout prospects Michael Massey and Nick Loftin have struggled a bit. Massey, who hit 21 homers and slashed .289/.351/.531 with an .882 OPS at High-A Quad Cities last season and is playing Double-A ball for the first time, hasn’t homered yet and his OPS has fallen to .669.

Loftin, also getting his first look at Double-A, is slashing .250/.306/.250 after posting a .289/.373/.463 line last year at Quad Cities.

Sometimes it takes time for prospects to adjust after a promotion. That’s likely the case for both Massey and Loftin, who’ll look to break out over the coming weeks and turn their seasons around.

Will some KC Royals pitching prospects take a step forward in Double-A?

The 2022 season will be crucial for some Double-A arms. Alec Marsh and Asa Lacy both have top-of-the-rotation-potential but haven’t logged many innings over the past two seasons. Marsh has pitched just 63.1 minor league innings since being drafted in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft, while 2020 first round pick Lacy has thrown 61.2. This season could be a huge step forward for both if they can post some successful innings.

Results have been mixed for Lacy in two starts for Northwest Arkansas. Over 9.2 innings his ERA is 4.66. However, opponents are hitting just .167 off him this season and he’s struck out 13. But his five walks mean he’s still struggling with his control.

Marsh lasted 4.2 innings and allowed two hits, two earned runs and two walks in his only start. But he also struck out nine.

Then there’s Angel Zerpa, who made his major league debut last season for the Royals. He was optioned to Double-A to start this season and had a rough first outing, surrendering seven runs in only two innings. But he improved in his second start—he pitched four scoreless frames, struck out four and didn’t issue a walk.

Drew Parrish and Zach Haake round out the notable Double-A pitching prospects. Parrish has pitched eight innings with a 6.75 ERA, six strikeouts and four walks. He’s also hit two batters.

Haake has been hit hard in his two appearances—in five innings, he’s allowed seven runs, eight hits and two walks, and opponents are hitting .348 against him.

The KC Royals have some promising hitters playing at High-A Quad Cities.

The Quad Cities River Bandits joined the Kansas City organization for the first time last season and proceeded to win the High-A Central League Championship. Some of last year’s top Quad Cities hitters, including Michael Massey and Vinnie Pasquantino, have moved on, but some big names are playing this year for the River Bandits.

Outfielder Tyler Gentry returns to Quad Cities after playing 44 games for the club last season. A third round pick in the 2020 major league amateur draft, he slashed .259/.395/.449 in 2021. This season, though, he’s slashing a phenomenal .545/.630/.909 with an organization-leading 1.539 OPS in six games.

Catching prospects Luca Tresh and Kale Emshoff are also playing for the River Bandits. While Emshoff has struggled (.129 with a .496 OPS and 15 strikeouts in 31 at-bats), Tresh is faring much better with a .296/.333/.444 line. He also has a home run and has driven in six runs.

A surprising name is Herard Gonzalez. An infielder and 2017 international signee out of the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez has a hit in all but one game this season and is slashing .308/.419/.423 with eight hits, one home run and four walks.

The Royals have some pitchers worth watching working for the River Bandits.

While the Kansas City organization waits for top 2021 draft picks Frank Mozzicato and Ben Kdurna to finish extended spring training, the lower levels of its farm system are lacking big-name pitching talent. Fortunately, some Quad Cities hurlers are worth following this season.

After struggling last year at for Low-A Columbia (5.33 ERA in 20 starts), 2017 international signee Adrian Alcantara was dominant in his first start of this season—in 4.1 innings, he struck out eight and allowed only one unearned run, two hits and one walk. On the season he’s pitched 7.1 innings with a 2.45 ERA.

At 6-feet-eight, Noah Murdock is the organization’s tallest pitcher and posted a 3.18 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 22 innings last year. In his two 2022 appearances, he has a 3.68 ERA with nine strikeouts, but his 11.5% 2021 walk rate has jumped to 20% this season and he has a disturbing 6.32 FIP.

Another pitcher to watch is lefty Walter Pennington, signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals in 2020. In 39.2 innings at Low-A Columbia last season, he struck out 37; this year, he’s fanned five and walked one in four scoreless relief innings. He could have a future in the Kansas City bullpen.

Three KC Royals prospects bear watching at the plate at Low-A Columbia.

Three key hitters—Erick Pena, Carter Jensen and Darryl Collins—headline Low-A Columbia’s 2022 lineup.

Catching prospect Jensen has been on a partial tear. He’s hitting just .194 but is second on the Fireflies with an .840 OPS and currently leads the team in home runs, RBIs, runs scored and walks. He is slashing .194/.324/.516 in his first go at Low-A.

Darryl Collins has earned attention. The Royals signed Collins, now 20, as a 16-year old free agent out of the Netherlands and all he’s done is dominate. He began by slashing .320/.401/.437 in the Arizona Rookie League, played in the Netherlands for a year, then slashed .246/.368/.338 for the Fireflies last season.

Collins has been even more dominant this year. So far in eight games, Collins has slashed .345/.406/.517. Look for him to earn a call-up to High-A sooner rather than later.

The combination of hit tool and patience at the plate will carry Collins far in the system. He has good speed (15 stolen bases last season) and plays above-average defense in left field.

Outfielder Erick Pena has struggled so far. He’s slashing .156/.206/.375 but is still working through a new stance and approach at the plate. His front foot is almost a foot more open, which should allow him to see the ball better and improve his hit tool. On the positive side, Pena walked off Augusta Opening Day with a three-run homer.