KC Royals Prospects: Catching up with Pipeline's 5 best

KC Royals top prospect No. 4: Utility man Nick Loftin

Loftin, 24, is in his third season with the Kansas City organization after it selected him with a Competitive Balance A pick in the 2020 draft. Because the pandemic canceled all minor league play that year, Loftin's pro career began in 2021 at High-A Quad Cities where he impressed with 10 home runs, a .289 average, and a .374 OPS. He started last season in Double-A and hit .270 with 12 homers before the Royals moved him to Triple-A Omaha.

Unfortunately, Triple-A hasn't been as kind to Loftin as High-A and Double-A. He batted only .216 in 38 games for the Storm Chasers last season and, after going 2-for-4 against Louisville Wednesday, is hitting just .219 this year.

Loftin is about as versatile a player as there is in the KC organization—he's done everything except pitch and play right field. Look for him to spend the rest of the 2023 campaign in Omaha.

KC Royals top prospect No. 3: Infielder Maikel Garcia

It might not be long before Pipeline has to remove Garcia from its prospect list. He replaced Nicky Lopez, forced to the Injured List after a weekend appendectomy, on the Royals' big league roster Tuesday and, if he hits well and fields like he can, he could very well take third base away from Hunter Dozier.

How's Garcia doing in the majors so far? He started at third Tuesday night against Baltimore and went 2-for-4, and was back at the hot corner Wednesday evening and had a single and an RBI in three at-bats.

Garcia has a career .270 minor league average. He's also stolen 126 bases.

Moving on to No. 2 and No. 1...