Kansas City Royals 2026 Top 20 Prospects

Team Outlook

A just over .500 finish last season was good for a middle of the pack finish in the improving AL Central. Top prospect Carter Jensen debuted and showed every reason to believe he’s the future of the catcher position for the Royals. The 2025 season also brought one of the more interesting teenage full season debuts with Kendry Chourio. They have a number of other pitching prospects, such as David Shields and Drew Beam, among others, that fill out the middle of their prospect list. They added Josh Hammond and Sean Gamble in the draft, adding some interesting prep bats into their system. This adds upside to a farm system that has been catcher heavy at the top over the last couple seasons, but with Jensen set to graduate things should look different in the coming years.

About Our Top 20 Lists

Prospects Live, led by its evaluating team & Director of Scouting Rhys White, is proud to begin rolling out its annual offseason system reports. The team combines industry feedback, our live looks, film, and available data to compile each org. We believe this effort has enabled us to present you, the reader, with our best possible view of the prospects in the organization.

We have constructed this list using the Overall Future Potential (OFP) scale. There is no perfect equation for ranking prospects or assigning value to them, but we believe this method is the best possible approach. Every prospect on this list has been graded based on the tried and true 20-80 scouting scale. An 80 is the highest tool and OFP grade on the scale, reserved for MVP-caliber players or tools. Conversely, a 20 is reserved for non-prospects (NPs). A 50 OFP falls in the middle, indicating our evaluators deem this player a future average major league player. Below the 50 OFP tier are the 45s and 40s, comprising a large majority of players on each list. These are specific-role players, such as platoon hitters, utility players, or low-leverage relievers. Above the 50 OFP tier are the 55s and 60s. A 55 represents a future above-average player, and a 60 OFP designation is reserved for future All-Star caliber players.

In addition to the tool grades and OFP, we will also include a ‘Risk’ associated with each prospect. We use this to better communicate to you, the reader, whether a grade is more aggressive or conservative in nature. The evaluation team has worked hard to apply both the grades and risk components to better illustrate how each individual prospect stacks up in their respective system and in the baseball ecosystem.

Evaluators: Brandon Tew, Daniel Barrand, Gabriel Estevez, Grant Carver, Jacob Maxwell, Matt Seese, Mitch Stachnik, Nate Jones, Neal Dave

Find all the Top 20 Lists here:

Top 20 Prospects at a Glance

1. Carter Jensen, C – 60 OFP
2. Kendry Chourio, RHP – 50 OFP
3. Josh Hammond, SS – 50 OFP
4. Ramon Ramirez, C – 50 OFP
5. Sean Gamble, OF – 50 OFP
6. Asbel Gonzalez, OF – 50 OFP
7. Blake Mitchell, C – 45 OFP
8. David Shields, LHP – 45 OFP
9. Drew Beam, RHP – 45 OFP
10. Luinder Avila, RHP – 45 OFP
11. Ben Kudrna, RHP – 45 OFP
12. Blake Wolters, RHP – 45 OFP
13. Mason Black, RHP – 45 OFP
14. A.J. Causey, RHP – 45 OFP
15. Justin Lamkin, LHP – 45 OFP
16. Yandel Ricardo, 3B – 45 OFP
17. Javier Vaz, 2B – 40 OFP
18. Carson Roccaforte, OF – 40 OFP
19. Hiro Wyatt, RHP – 40 OFP
20. Jose Cerice, 3B – 40 OFP

Scouting Reports

Find Scouting Reports, Tool Grades and Dynasty Outlooks in each toggle section

Expand All Reports

1. Carter Jensen, C – 60 OFP

2. Kendry Chourio, RHP – 50 OFP

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