Royals finally came to their senses on one red-hot prospect in light of Gavin Cross injury

The Kansas City Royals major league season has gone down the tubes, but the minor leagues have provided plenty of intrigue for fans to latch onto. While their gang of youthful top prospects such as Kendry Chourio, Angeibel Gomez and Josh Hammond may be stealing the show at the moment, there's a lot of intrigue in the upper minor levels that's been making headlines too.

Many have looked to the Omaha Storm Chasers lately, specifically in their outfield with the surge that Gavin Cross had been on in recent months. However, his season took a turn this week after being placed on the injury list. How long he'll be out for remains to be seen, but a major league promotion could be in jeopardy despite posting a 1.005 OPS and 151 wRC+ since June 12.

But with the bad came the good, as while the Royals were hesitant to promote Cross despite having opportunities to do so around and after the trade deadline, they put their feet-dragging ways aside with Carson Roccaforte, by finally promoting him to Triple-A Omaha.

The outfield prospect had been tearing up the scene in Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season before finally getting the promotional call to join the Storm Chasers. In 110 games, Roccaforte was slashing .251/.333/.523 with 30 homers, 80 RBI, a respectable 10.3% walk rate, 21 stolen bases and a 112 wRC+.

And it didn't take long for him to make his mark in Omaha once he finally got there. In his debut on Tuesday, Roccaforte was hitting right in the heart of the order at fifth and didn't disappoint, going 1-for-3 with single, two walks and drove in a run to boot.

Royals shouldn't be worried to bullish with Carson Roccaforte moving forward

After Tuesday's performance, the Royals' approach with Roccaforte should have surely shifted. Despite his immense power, strong speed and ability to play a premium position of center field and play it well, as previously mentioned, the Royals were hesitant with rising him through the system.

Perhaps it was because of his high strikeout rate approaching nearly 30%, but regardless of the reason they shouldn't wait so long to give him his next opportunity when he's ready for it. Unlike the names atop their farm system, like Chourio or Gomez, Roccaforte is not an elite young prospect that needs patience and nurturing. He falls in the middle of their Top 30 and is already 24-years-old.

Then there's the fact that the Royals still have plenty of opportunities for him in the major league outfield. Apart from Jac Caglianone, no one has really taken the bull by the horns this season out there. Isaac Collins has had his moments, but a second-half dip sees him hitting just .226 with a .675 OPS and 91 wRC+. And Kyle Isbel, who's faced his fair share of injury issues this season, is still more of a defensive specialist than anything in center field.

Roccaforte will still have to perform in Triple-A to round out the season and then come out strong in spring training before anyone can have the conversation about considering him a surefire big league option for 2027. However, the signs are there that this could very well happen in due time. And the Royals need to be receptive to when everything does fall into place.

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