3 potential stars Royals surely hope will blossom into Silver Slugger contenders

For any team with postseason ambitions like the Kansas City Royals, the need for a high performing offense is crucial.

The Royals offense may’ve largely scuffled their way through the 2025 season, but they certainly had their fair share of offensive bright spots this year as well – ones that were undoubtedly Silver Slugger caliber hitters.

Now in order to achieve their October dreams once again, they’ll need their bright spots to continue to shine while also finding a way to add a spark or two in the winter.

But what every organization’s offense needs, especially the smaller market ones like Kansas City, is to rely on developing their promising young talent into stars.

The Royals are a prime example of this, as their three potential Silver Slugger worthy players this season in Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino – were all products of their farm system. The same can be said for past winners like Salvador Perez and Eric Hosmer.

The hope will be that these three will be able to hear their name announced as an AL Silver Slugger finalist exclusively on FanSided on the morning of October 23 or perhaps even as a winner on The Baseball Insiders YouTube channel at 7 p.m. ET on Nov. 7.

But that element of hope doesn’t stop at this season. Kansas City happens to have a few young names they’ll surely hope will follow the same path as their talented 2025 trio and become just as much a Silver Slugger threat over the next few seasons.

3 potential stars Royals surely hope will blossom into Silver Slugger contenders

OF Jac Caglianone

The 2025 season was not at all what many expected for Caglianone after his meteoric rise through the minor leagues to start the year.

While his current reputation may be clouded by a rookie campaign where he slashed just .157/.237/.295 with a 49 wRC+, it’s not time to jump ship on the former top prospect in the organization.

An over month long IL stint limited him to just 62 games in his rookie campaign, so there’s an argument to make that he never really got the opportunity to properly find his footing after making after making the major league jump.

His minor league numbers cannot be disputed. Between his opening stint and then his extended rehab assignment in the summer, this was a .337/.408/.617 hitter with 20 homers and 72 RBI.

And even if it looked like his potential was crashing down around him, there was still moments where he showcased his trademark power in the bigs, including his massive two-homer game in Texas in June.

There’s also reason to believe that his second go-around with Royals saw some subtle improvements. Whether it be increased walk rates or better quality of contact, Caglianone seems as though brighter days are ahead of him.

He may not snatch up a Silver Slugger in 2026, but there’s definitely reason to believe that the Caglianone we all expected could still reveal himself to the Royals faithful down the road.

C Carter Jensen

Next we have the man of the hour, Royals top prospect Carter Jensen, fresh off his superb first month in the majors.

Jensen’s path to being considered a Silver Slugger worthy bat is a lot clearer at the moment than Caglinaone’s is.

He didn’t miss a beat after getting his call to The Show when major league rosters expanded on Sept. 1. In 69 plate appearances across 20 games, the Royals’ new backstop posted a sensational .300/.391/.550 slash line with three homers, 13 RBI, a very high 13.0% walk rate, a respectably low 17.4% K-rate and a 159 wRC+.

From towering homer runs demonstrating his immense power abilities, to a high overall hitting IQ that’s resulted in strong batting averages and excellent on-base abilities, Jensen seems to check all the boxes and fits the mold of Silver Slugger hitter to a T.

2B/OF Sean Gamble

While the first two names have major league experience under their belts for the Royals faithful and the baseball world to evaluate, opinions on Sean Gamble are based entirely off high school results and scouting projections.

Gamble has yet to play a game in professional ball, with his first taste of being a pro coming in the form of developmental leagues like the Arizona Bridge League or the Los Reales Prospectos tour in the Domincan Republic, which he’s currently on.

That being said, if opinions are to be based more off projections, then Gamble is certainly a bat that provides a ton for the Royals to dream on.

MLB Pipeline ranks the 23rd overall pick in 2025 as the team’s third overall prospect, trailing only the Top 100 catching duo of Jensen and Blake Mitchell.

While his MLB days may be a ways away, the 19-year-old is already drawing some strong praise from scouts, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Pipeline grades his hit tool with very respectable 55 grade already as just a teenager, with plenty of room for his power to grow with it.

“Gamble is a left-handed hitter with a smooth and repeatable swing with a knack for finding the barrel, controlling the zone and doing damage to all fields,” the MLB Pipeline staff wrote.

“As he’s gaining strength, he’s showing more raw power and should continue to leverage the ball and get to more extra-base authority as he moves along,” the also wrote.

Then, there’s the added element of speed, which certainly plays a factor in becoming “the best offensive player” at a certain position, which is what the Silver Slugger Award is all about. Pipeline grades his run tool at 60 already, calling him a “plus runner”.

With a current projected ETA of 2029, there’s still plenty of developing for Gamble to do and the focus will be on getting his first registered reps as pro ball player first and foremost. That being said, he projects to be as well-rounded as any hitter in the Royals’ system.

Whether it’s in the outfield or at second base, if projections become reality and all things come together with Gamble, it may not be that long until we see him in the running for a Silver Slugger one day.