2024 Potential Royals MLB Debuts

There's something special about that first game and there are a lot we could see in 2024 for the Royals.

When a player gets called up to the big leagues, no matter how big or small of a prospect, it’s a special day. Maybe I’m weird and other people don’t get as excited, but ever since Eduardo Villacis, there hasn’t been a debut that I haven’t enjoyed. It shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that a team like the Royals, who lost 106 games, featured quite a few big league debuts. There were 11 of them, to be exact, out of the 58 players who took the field. Only the Reds (16!), A’s (14), Pirates (14), Giants (12) and Angels (12) had more. The Mariners also had 11 make their debut.

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Some were anticipated for their potential impact. I think many were ready to see what Alec Marsh could do in the big leagues and how Nick Loftin would handle the highest level. And I know people were excited when John McMillon got the call. Some were more sentimental. Austin Cox getting to the big leagues was a really nice story after taking some time. The same was true of Jonathan Bowlan. Tyler Cropley and Logan Porter were both great stories. Not every debut is the start of an amazing career, and likely none of the debuts we saw for the Royals are the beginnings of one.

I think we can see a lot of productivity from a few of them for sure, but the issue with a farm system lacking top-end talent is that generally great careers come from top-end minor league talent. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more help on the way for the Royals, and maybe some that can get to that next tier if things turn around a bit in the system this season. So today I want to dig in to a bunch of players who have a real shot to make their debut in 2024. It’s hard to know everyone. I definitely wouldn’t have predicted Cropley or James McArthur last season. Heck, McArthur wasn’t even in the organization at this time last year. But I’ll get a few of these right.

Most Likely to Debut

Tyler Gentry

I think Gentry is ready today to contribute in the big leagues. He didn’t perform especially well in spring, but I don’t think it would have mattered if he was 25 for 25 with 25 home runs given the constraints on the roster. Okay, maybe that would have made a difference, but short of that, not much would have. Still, while the outfield is very full right now, things happen over the course of a season and Gentry is a legitimate prospect. As I’ve written, he doesn’t have a huge carrying tool (though he does have a good arm), but he’s kind of good at everything. I think once he gets to the big leagues, he contributes for quite awhile.

Will Klein

I totally missed him somehow when I first wrote this. I don’t know why. Maybe in my head, he’d already debuted because I figured he’d get up last year. But he didn’t. He’ll be one of the first bullpen arms up this season when they need reinforcements. He was in triple digits at the spring breakout game and if he can throw enough strikes he’s going to be a late-inning weapon for this club sooner than later.

Devin Mann

When the Royals got Mann in the Yarbrough deal, I’m not sure if they saw a big leaguer or not, but he is nice depth. Unfortunately for him, he’s in an organization that has a logjam. He plays first, second, third and left field and could probably handle right field as well. That’s useful, especially for a player who can work a walk and can hit for some power. I could see a career where Mann gets 500 plate appearances a few times and is above average here and there, but his value is that he can play all over and can hit enough to make it work.

Matt Sauer

I’ll be pretty surprised if Sauer isn’t on the big league roster to start the year. As a Rule 5 pick, you know he needs to remain on the big league roster (or the IL for some of it) the entire season. The Royals like his potential and he’s had a solid spring. Combine that with Carlos Hernandez and Jake Brentz being hurt/ineffective and McMillon not being quite ready to go and there’s a pretty easy path to a roster spot for him. The Royals see him as a potential starter long-term, but obviously will start the season in the bullpen.

Good Shot

Andrew Hoffmann

You might be wondering why I’d have a guy who didn’t even get a non-roster invite as someone with a good shot. It’s because he throws baseballs for a living and the Royals likely aren’t going to be too worried what happens with him. I’m assuming here that they’ll need an arm at some point. Hoffmann is at least interesting. He’s a starter, but I’d bet on him getting some innings in the bullpen if he’s called up. That’s because he has a legitimately very good slider and in short bursts can rely on that to help him get outs. I’d bet they see him as a live body and that gives him a real shot to get called up.

Walter Pennington

Pennington was the story of spring training earlier with a ton of strikeouts. He also has a good slider and has a fastball that’s good enough. He also gets a lot of grounders, which is a nice trait to have out of the bullpen. Pennington has been very tough on lefties through his minor league career, while his results against righties have been up and down. I thought he had a good shot to make the big league roster early in the spring, but you can start to see usage patterns changing to get an idea of the thought process of how the team views players and he hasn’t been out there a ton lately.

Evan Sisk

The Royals got Sisk in the deal for Michael A. Taylor after the 2022 season. I thought he’d get some run last year, but he had a tough 2023 season. Control has never been his strong suit, but his strikeouts were down last year. Already teetering on the edge with that walk rate, if he’s not striking out 27 percent of hitters or more, then it just doesn’t work. It’s a small sample but he’s been impressive this spring and limiting walks while getting more strikeouts. It’s spring, so grains of salt are necessary, but I’d say he has a shot to get to the big leagues this year.

Tyler Tolbert

Tolbert’s game has always been one that likely doesn’t translate beyond a backup role, but there’s a lot of value in what he does. He can really run, and he’s really good at stealing bases, going 193 for 204 in his minor league career. He can also play middle infield and center field and can play them all well enough that the Royals probably wouldn’t feel concerned about putting him there. He has enough pop to keep outfielders mostly honest and can be a really nice piece as the last man on the bench. There are a lot of guys who do what he does, but nobody who does them the way he does.

Beck Way

The Royals kept Way as a starter as long as they could, but he just showed them that wasn’t going to be the end result for him. They moved him to the bullpen from July 4 through August 23 and he made 10 appearances spanning 24.1 innings. In that time, he allowed 13 hits with 27 strikeouts and 11 walks. Then he went back to starting for the last few weeks and was back to struggling. He was in big league camp to start the spring, got a couple of innings and then was back in the minors. The thing about Way is that, as a reliever, he can flash 96+ MPH heat with a very good slider and maybe could develop into a late-inning weapon.

It’s Possible

Mason Barnett

There are some mixed opinions out there on Barnett, and he didn’t pitch especially well in the spring breakout game. That said, he’s one of the highest-end, near-ready pitching prospects the Royals have. And if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that a team needs a whole mess of starters throughout a season. Barnett finished 2023 at AA, which is the level where I start to believe we can see a pitcher at basically any time. And if he has a good first half of the season, don’t be surprised to see him some time after the break to get a few starts.

Noah Cameron

Back in May, I’d have told you that Cameron would get a shot to break with the big club this spring. On May 24, he made his AA debut and went seven shutout innings with six strikeouts and just one walk. This is after he threw 35 innings in high-A with 58 strikeouts and nine walks. Things didn’t go great for him the rest of the year, so he’s still a little bit farther off than I’d have thought 10 months ago, but if he has a strong year, he could move a bit. He isn’t going to light up the radar gun, but he has a very good changeup and an average curve. It’s about the command and control for him. His upside isn’t ace or anything, but he could work his way up this year with a few things going his way.

Chandler Champlain

The story here is kind of similar to Barnett and Cameron, but he was better than either in AA. The issue for Champlain is that he just sort of gets it done and doesn’t seem to impress much. If you see him pitch on any given day, you might see a fastball that has some really interesting movement at 93-96, but some days aren’t as good as those. He does have a good slider, a decent curve and a changeup that needs to get better. I’m not sure what the ceiling for Champlain is, but he’s a guy who could get a shot as one of the 10-13 starters a team will generally need.

Gavin Cross

I almost had Cross on the good shot list because he feels like he could move very quickly if his issues are solved from simply being healthy. But because I just don’t know if that’s the case or not, I left him here. Cross, when right, has the highest upside of any position player in the entire system and could be a five-tool player almost immediately upon arrival. He’s going to have to put a terrible 2023 season behind him, though, and that’s no sure thing. I don’t think Cross comes up until the Royals believe he’s up to stay, so he won’t be a guy to get 20-25 games while someone is just hurt.

Cam Devanney

The Royals got Devanney from the Brewers in exchange for Taylor Clarke, which feels like sort of a steal. It’s not that Devanney is a budding star or anything, but he’s sort of similar to Mann. He gives a good at bat and can play a bunch of different positions. Unlike Mann, he can play shortstop. I guess maybe he's more similar to Loftin. He’s redundant on the current roster, but things change over the course of the year and Devanney has a shot.

Jonah Dipoto

I kind of think of Dipoto in the same way I mentioned Hoffmann above, but I thought of him that way last year and he never got a shot in spite of all of the pitching issues. He walks too many guys, but he gets strikeouts and there’s a use for that if the team is having to get past their primary depth options, especially late in a season.

Javier Vaz

I really like Vaz and think he has a chance to be a starter or at least a key contributor on a good Royals team in the future. I also think that’s why he’s a bit less likely to get a callup than someone like Tolbert who probably is a depth player his whole career. Vaz will do well to get regular playing time throughout the season. He walked 64 times in 2023 while striking out 50 times in 518 plate appearances across high-A and AA. There is some definite value there. He was used mostly in the outfield after getting to AA, but also plays a lot of second and has played shortstop. I’m not sure if he ends up closer to Nicky Lopez or Luis Arraez when it’s all said and done, but I’m pretty convinced he can help a big league team.

Cayden Wallace

I think there’s a pretty good chance Wallace is the third baseman of the future for the Royals, but I also see a bit of a blockage for him right now. Maikel Garcia is great defensively and if his bat just doesn’t come around enough, Loftin can handle third and probably will hit enough. Wallace is also far from a finished product. He did get into 33 games in AA, but hit just .236/.300/.362. He’ll go back there to start 2024. Like Cross, if it clicks and clicks fast, you never know, but I’d say it’s much more likely he debuts in 2025.

Peyton Wilson

I actually kind of think maybe it’s a mistake to have Wilson here and not in the section above, but they also just have so many players who can fit in the middle infield. I’m going to leave him here, but he’s one of a couple on this part of this list who is probably a half-step above the others. Wilson can really run and doesn’t have much power, so the upside is limited, but I think he can be a contributor here and there and might get a shot at second base at some point if all the other options struggle.

As I said earlier, there are guys we aren’t even considering. Like McArthur last year, someone may debut for the team who isn’t even in the organization right now. But this list of 17 18 above seem like the best bets in the organization right now. I can tell you this - whenever one of them does debut, I’m going to be way more excited than anyone not related to them as a right to be. I just love a big league debut.