The Kansas City Royals have quite a bit of young talent on their roster, built around the trio of Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia. But the team is going to need its farm system to step up in a big way this year if they want to get back to the postseason.
The Royals have a few top prospects who could make a big impact this season. If all goes well, there could be multiple rookie stars emerging in Kansas City over the next six to eight months.
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MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, Sam Dykstra, and Jim Callis recently suggested one prospect from each team who could compete for a roster spot on opening day. For the Royals, they suggested that prospect would be young righty Luinder Avila.
Luinder Avila could be in Kansas City as early as opening day
“The 24-year-old right-hander came up to the Majors for 13 relief appearances last year and thrived in that role with a 1.29 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and 16 strikeouts in 14 innings,” They wrote. “His primary weapon was an 82-85 mph curveball that generated whiffs on 50 percent of his swings, but his mid-90s fastballs (a four-seamer and a sinker) and the occasional 86-88 mph changeup gave hitters more to consider. The Royals see Avila as a potential starter, but with the rotation a bit too crowded right now, it’ll be interesting to see if they try putting him back in the bullpen to begin the year back in the bigs.”
Avila has time in the big leagues from last season, so it wouldn’t be his big league debut, but the righty is still a fringe roster player.
Still, during his time in Kansas City last season, Avila was dominant, posting a 1.29 ERA in 13 appearances out of the bullpen.
While Avila is typically a starter, he could carve out a role in the Royals’ bullpen if he continues to dominate in that role this season. The Royals will likely make their decision on Avila’s landing spot based on how he performs in spring training, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him begin the year in the big leagues. He has the stuff to compete at the highest level.
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