Why the Royals need to put an end to lackluster reunion with once promising prospect

Distinction marked Jonathan Heasley’s professional career before he’d thrown a single minor or major league pitch. The Kansas City Royals made him part of their then-famous, pitching-rich 2018 draft class that featured future big leaguers Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch IV, Jonathan Bowlan, and Jackson Kowar. The future seemed bright for Heasley.

And for a time, it was. In 2019, his first full pro season, he went 8-5 with a 3.12 ERA, 9.59 K/9, and 2.72 BB/9 in A-ball; then, after missing the pandemic season, his 7-3, 3.33 ERA Double-A record paid off with a three-start September 2021 stint with the Royals in which he won his first major league game.

Heasley was among the Royals’ most promising prospects in 2022, ranking 10th in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.

But things then soured, so much so that Heasley’s won only four big league games since. His 40-game major league ERA is 5.89. The Royals shipped him to Baltimore after the 2023 campaign, but he didn’t last a season. The White Sox signed him last January, then let him go in March.

Now, he’s back where it all started seven years ago — the Royals gave him a minor league contract in August and he finished the season on Triple-A Omaha’s roster, where he can still be found.

The Heasley-Royals reunion, though, is one the Royals should likely bring to an end. Unfortunately, his return didn’t go well.

The second chance the Royals took on Jonathan Heasley didn’t pay off

Heasley’s 2025 numbers tell the tale. Dispatched to Double-A Northwest Arkansas as soon as he signed, he surrendered six runs in 8.2 innings, and gave up two home runs in as many frames in a late August contest against Amarillo.

At least mathematically, the Royals were still legitimate contenders when the organization’s decision-makers, perhaps believing he might soon be ready to help the Royals if needed, bumped Heasley to Triple-A Omaha in early September. Unfortunately, the scoreless, hitless, two-strikeout inning he worked against Columbus Sept. 16 was his best moment.

Charlotte tagged Heasley for two runs and three hits in his one-inning Sept. 11 Storm Chasers debut,
Columbia battered him for four runs and four hits Sept. 20 , and he gave up three unearned runs in 1.1 innings against Charlotte Sept. 14, although Omaha’s defense must share the bulk of the blame for those unearned runs. He finished his short season with a 6.48 ERA, one win, and 16.2 innings pitched spread across eight appearances for Northwest Arkansas and four at Omaha.

Heasley’s performance wasn’t unforeseeable. After his late-season big league debut in 2021, he struggled to a 4-10, 5.28 record with the Royals in 2022, then suffered a rough 2023 by yielding 13 runs (12 earned) in 15 innings for Kansas City, and posting a 32-appearance 6.85 ERA for Omaha. Dealt to Baltimore that winter, he gave up 11 runs (10 earned) in only 5.1 innings for the Orioles.

All that suggests Heasley may not have much to give the Royals going forward. And if the club’s bullpen needs anything, it’s a left-hander, and that’s a box the right-handed Heasley can’t check.

The bottom line? The Heasley reunion isn’t bearing fruit for the Royals. It’s probably time to end it.