September is the perfect time for the Royals to give a former 1st round pick his shot

The Kansas City Royals are starting to build their core around superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Maikel Garcia earned a long-term deal, Carter Jensen is having an incredible rookie season, and Noah Cameron is establishing himself in the starting rotation. They still have holes to fill, including figuring out some long-term answers in the outfield. Down in Triple-A, a former first-round pick is putting it all together, and it's time for him to get his first chance in the majors.

Gavin Cross was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Virginia Tech. The outfielder blitzed Low-A in his 26-game sample in the season he was drafted and jumped right to High-A for 2023. Cross struggled there, but was moved to Double-A for 2024 and played the entire season at that level. The lefty repeated at Double-A in 2025 for the entire year, and now, in 2026, has played the entire season at Triple-A.

2026 has been a very solid year for Cross. In 107 games with Omaha, he is hitting .256/.319/.459/.778. The 25-year-old has 17 doubles, five triples, and 17 home runs with 52 RBIs. His surface-level numbers look good, but he does have a 29.7 strikeout rate and only a 7.3 walk rate.

2026 started rough, but Gavin Cross has turned it around and deserves his shot in the show

Cross struggled through the first month of the season, hitting .100 with a .346 OPS at the end of April. He put it together in May and June, hitting .264 with a .724 OPS, but only 10 extra-base hits across those two months.

July is when everything clicked for Cross, and since then he's been red hot. Even with a quick stint on the IL in August, the lefty is hitting .329 with a 1.069 OPS since July 1. He hasn't walked much (just nine times) in that stretch. He also has four home runs in his last six games.

In 2023, Cross was considered a top-100 prospect in all of baseball, but struggles with consistency have delayed his progress in the minors. Right now, he isn't even a top-30 prospect in the Royals system according to the major outlets. Cross is Rule 5 draft eligible this offseason if he isn't added to the 40-man roster. Given how he has played this season, there is a really good chance that someone could try to snag him.

With how hot Cross has been the last two months, the time for him to get his shot is now. The Royals are out of playoff contention, meaning the final month of the season should be used to start setting up for 2027. They need to figure out whether Cross can be a long-term piece in the outfield for them, and this month is the time to do it.

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