Pair of power-hungry Royals prospects making strong cases for 2026 major league promotions

While there hasn't been much for the Kansas City Royals faithful to be excited about at the major league level this season, the same can't be said throughout the entirety of the organization. Sure they may not have a farm system that's chalked full of Top 100 prospects, but the minor leagues are much deeper than just the top names. In this case two lower-profile prospects have been making their mark on the Royals' system of late.

After Omaha first baseman Brett Squires belted a pair of homers on Tuesday, marking seven since getting the call to Triple-A earlier this month, he moved into the Top 20 across all of minor league baseball in long balls this season. It also meant that they the Royals now have two prospects in that Top 20 range, with Double-A outfielder Carson Roccaforte sitting tied for 18th with 12 this season.

Across both Triple-A Omaha and Double-A this year, the 26-year old Squires is slashing .290/.367/.608 with those aforementioned 13 long balls, 45 RBI and a 146 wRC+ in 199 plate appearances.

Roccaforte is thriving just the same in Northwest Arkansas this year and looks poised to join his former teammate in Omaha soon enough. Through 213 Double-A plate appearances, the outfielder is slashing .253/.349/.528 with 12 homers, 32 RBI and a 123 wRC+.

It's not hard to see 2026 MLB vision for both Carson Roccaforte and Brett Squires

Both of these names have unique cases to make for major league promotions in 2026, that would only get stronger should this team buys into their struggles, subtracts at the trade deadline and turns their focus to capitalizing on 2027.

Squires is a mature farmhand who's done nothing but hit since joining the Royals as an undrafted free agent in 2022, sporting wRC+ totals above 100 at every stop he's made. On top of the uptick in power he's shown this year, Squires is a perennial double-digit stolen base threat too who also has prior experience playing the outfield on top of his usual first base role, making him far less one dimensional.

Roccaforte on the other hand comes a bit younger, but is still mature in his own right at 24, as well as with some prospect pedigree. He currently ranks as MLB Pipeline's 16th ranked prospect in the Royals system. Given his double-digit homer potential as well as his 40+ stolen base upside, that speed and power combination could work wonders once developed in the majors. On top of that, like Squires, apart from an 86 wRC+ in High-A Quad Cities back in 2024, Roccaforte has always been a well above-average hitter overall in terms of wRC+ at every other stop in his professional career.

Between Squires' 164 wRC+ in big league spring training this year and Carson Roccaforte's 18 RBI and .878 OPS showing in the Arizona Fall League this year, these are two bats that the Royals appear more invested in than just merely lesser-regarded farmhands. And they've both proven to be able to handle whatever challenge is put in front of them.

The Royals' current big league bench situation leaves a lot to be desired. The likes of Tyler Tolbert and his -16 wRC+, as well as to a lesser degree Nick Loftin, Lane Thomas and Starling Marte and their below-average 90-range wRC+ totals, don't seem like solidified options whatsoever this season. Perhaps potential reserve roles are on the table for prospects like these two.

On top of that, it's not as if the first base production the Royals are getting from Vinnie Pasquantino (69 wRC+) and the outfield production they're getting from Jac Caglianone (93 wRC+), Isaac Collins (85 wRC+) and Kyle Isbel (89 wRC+) is awe-inspiring either in a more regular playing capacity.

While it may not happen tomorrow, the chances of these two getting their shot with the Royals seems stronger and stronger by the day.

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