Kansas City Royals Top 15 Prospects: #1-5

We continue our dive into the Royals top 15 prospects with 1-5

We have reached the top of our Royals prospect rankings. You can read previous entries here.

• Honorable Mentions
• #11-15
• #6-10

Next week I’ll give my overall thoughts on the state of the farm system. Here is the best of the best in the organization.

Caglianone is by far the most talented prospect in the Kansas City Royals’ farm system. A two-way standout at Florida, Caglianone put up absurd numbers for the Gators over three seasons, slashing .355/.447/.760 with a 1.207 OPS while smashing 75 home runs and driving in 189 RBI in 165 games. What’s even crazier is that it was not just the offensive side of the ball. He went 12-6 on the mound with a 4.55 ERA and 170 K’s 148.1 innings pitched.

After he was drafted, the Royals seemed okay with giving him a shot to be a two-way at the next level. The most upside lies with the bat due to his top-notch left-handed power, evidenced by his 121.7 max EV and 111.7 90th percentile EV. It’s about as insane pop as you can think, and he couples that is elite plate coverage and the ability to get barrel-to-ball. The biggest concern with “Cags” is how much he chases out of the one, but he doesn’t strike out a ton, tampering that concern a bit.

On the bump, Cags has already faced some injury concerns as he had Tommy John surgery, which led to some struggles finding the strike zone in his first back pitching after he returned. He came into this season with a more compact and fluid delivery, allowing him to find some command. That didn’t translate into a crazy decrease in walks, though.

His fastball ranges 92-96 and he’s touched triple digits in the past. He developed a new 86-89 mph cutter that he threw more than his slider and also has a decent changeup. Cags did find some decreases in velo as he reached the college baseball playoffs, which raises concerns about his potential stamina and ability to sustain for a long season. The upside on the mound is likely an elite reliever rather than a starter, so it will be interesting to see how the Royals try to develop him here.

He’s easily the most exciting prospect in this system, and I could see him moving quickly through the system on the plate. The bat could play well enough that he could force the Royals to move him quickly as Wyatt Langford was to the Texas Rangers. The likely debut for Cags is in 2026, but if he moves quickly next year, we could see him in 2025.

Before Jac Caglianone walked in the door in Kansas City, Blake Mitchell was the consensus number-one prospect in the Royals farm system. After the Royals took Mitchell in the first round, there were many concerns from fans about taking a prep catcher this early. To be fair, they have every right to be concerned (even if it was a good pick) as prep catchers can be risky. But the Royals saw something special in this kid, and thus far, they’ve been right.

Mitchell’s standout tool is his raw power at the plate. It’s a beautiful, smooth swing from the left side of the batter’s box. Given his feel for the strike zone and plate discipline, Mitchell couples that power with one of the most mature approaches at the plate. He posted walk rates at 17% in Low-A.

The areas where he needs to improve is cutting down on the strikeouts. He posted a 30.5% strikeout rate. The good news is he offset that with decent swinging strike rates, giving you some hope that he could temper down the strikeout rate. Outside of the bat, Mitchell has an extremely strong arm (touched 97 mph on the mound as a pitcher) and a ton of athleticism. He also calls a good game on the mound and has the leadership traits you’d want to see from your backstop. For Mitchell, the ceiling is sky-high. Going into his age-20 season, he is expected to start the season in High-A, where he finished 2024.

Ramon Ramirez is one of the hardest guys to rank in the organization, mainly because he’s only played in the Arizona Complex League, and I haven’t been able to see much video of his defensive ability. But word on the street, he has more than enough abilities to stick back there.

The bat is really what put Ramirez on my radar. It’s a simple and easy setup and he just hits the ball hard. According to Aram Leighton at Just Baseball, he’s posted a 90th percentile exit velocity of 105 mph at the Arizona Complex League along with a max exit velo of 111 mph. That’s incredible for a kid his age. Ramirez has a lot to dream about, and he’s already entered the top 100 prospects for some. He gives the Royals another catcher who has plenty of potential to stick behind the plate.

We’ve been all waiting for the Carter Jensen breakout season, and he really exploded onto the scene in 2024, slashing .259/.359/.450 with a .809 OPS between High-A and Double-A this year. Jensen continued to showcase his extremely advanced approach at the plate, boasting an 18.5% BB rate and 22.1% K rate in High-A. That dipped a bit when he was promoted to Double-A, but he only had 170 plate appearances there. The power is starting to improve significantly for Jensen, as according to Just Baseball, he features an average exit velocity of 92 MPH. The plate discipline and power give you tons to like with Jensne. He struggled with lefties, and the hit tool is still a work in progress, giving you some future platoon concerns.

He’s a solid athlete behind the dish with a decent arm. He’s made tons of improvements in his ability to frame pitches and receive the ball. He also does a good job of blocking pitches behind the plate, which was a question mark for him going into 2024. On the base paths, he can sometimes sneak in a stolen base but doesn’t have blazing speed. Jensen increased his stock a ton after 2024 and is proving he could play the part of a big-league catcher. There is potential for 15-20 homerun-type pop behind the dish.

Ben Kudrna has been one of the most intriguing development stories for the Royals over the last few seasons, for good and for bad. Pitching mainly in High-A last year, he arguably had his most successful season in professional baseball, even though everything under the hood wasn’t perfect. He struck out 119 batters in 115.1 innings overall and posted a 3.49 ERA with 71 strikeouts over 69.2 innings pitched in High-A. When he got to Double-A he faced many struggles. A lot was due to a step back he saw in his command, and it was seen in his secondaries where he lacked command and the ability to generate swing-and-miss.

The fastball has always been Kudrna’s best pitch, but over the years, he has lost some of the velocity he used to have in high school. The pitch has some good run and he can pound the strike zone with it, but despite its stuff, he struggles to miss bats with it. The changeup is his best secondary, as it has a ton of fading action and flashes occasionally. He also has a gyro-slider with some bit to it, but the command can waiver quite a bit, and he needs to develop more consistency with it.

As of now, Kudrna seems to have the ceiling as a back-end of the rotation type with the potential to be a mid-rotation starter if he can take some steps to develop his command and get his life back on his fastball. He will likely start in Double-A in 2025.