Prospects Poised to Help the 2025 Royals
The Royals didn't get much from their farm system in 2024. That'll need to change in 2025.
One of the most common questions I got heading into the 2024 season was which Royals prospect would be the most beneficial to the club throughout the season. I almost always went with Tyler Gentry, at least somewhat due to the fact that the outfield looked like a potential weak link so they’d need to dip into the system in order to help matters. Gentry started the season very slow before turning things around in the minors, but it was too late and he didn’t get much of a chance at the big league level. He wasn’t alone from the system. Only three hitters with rookie eligibility got a single at bat for the team and only three pitchers with rookie eligibility threw a single pitch.
It’s no secret that the farm system was not in especially good shape heading into last season. I wrote before the year that it might seem worse than it was for some reasons, with depth winning out over top flight talent. But the reality is that no matter how you feel about the system in the lower levels, this one lacked talent in the upper levels. I don’t think it’s overstepping to say it still does. Things look better today than they did a year ago in terms of that with a few players having graduated to the next levels that put them closer to the big leagues. But it’s still a system needing talent at the top levels to be able to help the big club throughout the season, even if not right away.
Looking at the potential roster in Omaha to start the season, I think you see something like:
Catchers
Luka Tresh
Brian O’Keefe
Infield
Nick Pratto
Javier Vaz
Cavan Biggio
Harold Castro
Jordan Groshans
Braden Shewmake
Cam Devanney
Tyler Tolbert
Outfield
Tyler Gentry
Drew Waters
Gavin Cross
John Rave
Peyton Wilson
Starting Pitchers
Luinder Avila
Noah Cameron
Jonathan Bowlan
Chandler Champlain
Andrew Hoffmann
Tyson Guerrero
Bullpen
William Fleming
James McArthur
Steven Cruz
Evan Sisk
Eric Cerantola
Taylor Clarke
Austin Cox
Beck Way
Anthony Simonelli
Ryan Brady
I might be putting a couple of guys a level too high, and I’m sure there are too many for the roster, but those are the group of players who should be at the AAA level at some point through the season. It’s much easier to see pitchers who can make an impact than hitters in any organization because teams go through so many of them throughout the year. So let’s look at a few actual prospects who could/should impact the big league club. I’ll list them alphabetically.