Hot AFL run gives Royals outfield prospect chance to contribute in 2026

The Kansas City Royals sent a strong prospect contingent to the Arizona Fall League this offseason, and the results have been mixed.

Shortstop Daniel Vazquez has stood out as the club’s most productive position player, while catcher Blake Mitchell continues to search for his power stroke after an injury-plagued 2025. On the pitching side, names like A.J. Causey have struggled, while reliever Dennis Colleran has emerged as one of the Surprise Saguaros’ top bullpen arms.

The Royals’ 2024 AFL group yielded tangible big-league impact the following season. If there’s a player from the 2025 class with the potential to follow that path, it’s outfielder Carson Roccaforte.

The Royals outfield picture gets deeper with Carosn Roccaforte's strong fall.

Royals vice president of research and development Daniel Mack praised Roccaforte, noting that the outfielder “kept that momentum going” after climbing from High-A Quad Cities to Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2025. That momentum has carried straight into Arizona.

The Louisiana-Lafayette product is slashing .279/.393/.485 through 18 AFL games, good for a .878 OPS over 84 plate appearances. He leads all Surprise hitters in extra-base hits (10) and ranks second on the team in RBI (18), trailing only Vazquez. After going homerless for much of the fall, Roccaforte has now also gone deep twice in the past week, a welcome development even if power has never been his primary tool.

This production continues a strong second half from Roccaforte, who impressed after his midseason promotion to the Texas League. After a disappointing 2024, the biggest question surrounding his profile was whether he could bounce back at the plate and he emphatically answered that in 2025.

Roccaforte posted a 138 wRC+ across 127 minor league games, along with 18 home runs and 43 stolen bases, both career highs. He was one of only four minor leaguers to record at least 18 home runs and 40 stolen bases this past season, joining top overall prospect Konnor Griffin on that exclusive list.

Roccaforte’s defensive skills have also translated well to the AFL, reinforcing his status as MLB-ready in the field. He captured the Frank White Defensive Player of the Year Award in both 2024 and 2025, becoming the first player to win it in back-to-back years since the award was created in 2008.

While Royals fans may be wary of yet another glove-first, left-handed-hitting center fielder, Roccaforte’s offensive ceiling appears higher than Kyle Isbel’s based on minor league performance.

His combination of plus defense, speed, and gap-to-gap power gives him a realistic path toward a big-league future.

Now 23, Roccaforte seems primed for his first Major League spring training invite in 2026, where he’ll get the chance to prove himself on a bigger stage. He remains an extreme long shot for the Opening Day roster, but continued momentum could push him further into Kansas City’s plans for the upcoming season and beyond.