KC Royals’ rising teen flamethrower crashes team’s Top 10 prospect rankings

Unfortunately, it's starting to look like the KC Royals are falling out of the playoff race. If there's any solace, the future of the franchise continues to look bright with young studs in the farm system.

Not only did they come out of the MLB Draft last week with some promising young talent, including two first-round selections, they seem to have a rising international talent who just recently started pitching stateside in Kendry Chourio.

The young Venezuelan pitcher might just be starting his professional baseball career. Still, he's already impressing everyone who gets to watch him pitch. That's best demonstrated by his recent inclusion in MLB Pipeline's top prospects list.

Kendry Chourio debuts inside Royals’ top 10 prospects after electric first ACL outings

Chourio has thrown just 7 innings for the KC Royals' Arizona Complex League team, but what he's shown has already rocketed him inside the Top 30 prospects for the franchise. Not only is the 17-year-old already inside the Top 30, but he's already looked good enough that he is the No. 10 prospect for a club that has plenty of promising young talent.

"The Royals had some notable international additions to begin 2025 with catcher Moises Marchán (No. 31), shortstop Warren Calcaño (No. 38) and shortstop Ramcell Medina (No. 49) all ranking among MLB Pipeline's Top 50 prospects in the class," MLB Pipeline scouts wrote. "But it's Chourio who is popping up most in the group's first summer of pro ball."

The youngest pitcher in pro ball when he was promoted to the ACL, he's routinely throwing a fastball that ranges from 93-97 MPH, an upper-70s downer curveball, and a mid-80s changeup that he's got impressive control of, and manages to keep hitters off balance.

Chourio further highlights the KC Royals' Top 10 prospects, three of whom have not yet reached 20 years old. The future is undoubtedly bright, especially with the No. 10 prospect having just two starts in the United States. If there's a negative there, it's that quite a bit of the future is quite a ways off from being ready for the big leagues.