The 2026 MLB Draft Combine is wrapping up, with dozens of players making waves this past week down in Arizona. Players like Missouri State’s Caden Bogenpohl or South Carolina prepster Taj Marchand may have solidified their draft cases and earned themselves hundreds of thousands of additional dollars simply through their combine performances. The Kansas City Royals were represented down in the desert, with assuredly more work behind the scenes to help rack and stack their draft board.
While plenty of Royals drafts have been determined by the team’s first pick, for good or for bad, a draft class can find real value beyond those single-digit picks. Kansas City fans love to point out how the team missed on Blue Springs native Jacob Misiorowski, who made his debut and first All-Star team with the Milwaukee Brewers that same year. But “The Miz” was not Milwaukee’s first selection, rather its second at 63rd overall. Value can and will be found further down the board; it is on the Royals to identify that value and help restock the still-rebounding farm system.
For the Royals to do that, an impactful pathway is looking for pitching help. There are solid options who will factor in when Kansas City comes on the clock at sixth overall, but who could the team look at farther down? Here are some names that the Royals and accompanying fans should keep an eye on following the draft combine.
Despite injury, the Royals can’t discount the value Jacob Dudan brings
Don’t go looking for a recent game log from pitcher Jacob Dudan. His last action came in early April. The North Carolina State pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this spring after logging a career-high 50.0 innings pitched across his eight starts. This was Dudan’s first foray into being a collegiate starter after shoving in the 2025 Cape Cod League in that role. It was an unfortunate side effect of his team’s pitching mismanagement, as he had 116 pitches against Notre Dame in his final pre-surgery start.
Before the injury, Dudan flashed immensely improved control while losing little strikeout potential. His 11.2 K/9 in 2026 marginally exceeded his career average, but his 2.2 BB/9 was more than half what he posted in the 2024 and 2025 seasons as a reliever. With a firm fastball leading the charge, Dudan’s slider was the star of the show. MLB Pipeline described the offering as “a legitimate wipeout pitch, producing a 41 percent chase rate and 48 percent swing-and-miss rate this spring.” That is certainly stellar stuff, while also deploying an oft-used changeup.
While Dudan is limited as he recovers from surgery, his off-field meetings could push him onto the Royals’ radar. He is a high-character player who fits a mold Kansas City has gone with in recent drafts, such as Michael Lombardi in last year’s draft. Dudan may not be starting a full professional season until 2028, but his improvements in 2026 are hard to ignore, and if there is an injury tax, the Royals may pay it for the North Carolina native.
WBC standout Joseph Contreras could be a valued pitching addition for Royals
If the MLB Draft happened right after the World Baseball Classic, most fanbases would have called for their team to draft right-handed pitcher Joseph Contreras. The then-17-year-old Georgia native was one of the bright points for Team Brazil, starting a game against the star-studded Team USA lineup. While the final box score was not optimal, whenever a teenager gets slugger Aaron Judge to make a bad swing, people are going to notice.
Being the son of former All-Star José Contreras carries enough weight, but that World Baseball Classic showing was certainly a step further. Contreras did not rest on his laurels this past season and remains a Top 100 draft prospect. He has a workhorse fastball that he throws for strikes and averages in the mid-90s. The strikeout offering has to be his forkball, a pitch that loses all will to defy gravity about five feet in front of the plate. Baseball America called that pitch “a potential 70-grade offering with excellent tumble, low spin rates and huge velocity separation from his fastball.”
For the Royals, this is all about what he does in testing and where he stands on his commitment to baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt. Contreras has a wide pitching arsenal, but some biomechanical markers tag him as a reliever for evaluators. Seeing if there is a way Contreras can improve upon those and be in the professional ranks will be two big hurdles for teams ahead of the draft.
Southpaw Landon Thiel might be the perfect late-round gamble for Royals
How much do the Royals trust their pitching development team? With David Shields and Kendry Chourio being two of the youngest pitchers in High-A this season, the early returns on less polished arms are apparent. While southpaw Landon Thiel is a much different build than those two pitchers, he is a guy Kansas City can bet on for a late-round gem.
The Ohio native gained some steam this spring after adding more than 5 mph of velocity, moving from the high 80s to the low 90s in relatively short order. The Ohio State commit has an imposing mound presence, standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 230 pounds. But despite his long levers, Thiel looks in control on the mound and throws plenty of strikes, whether in a showcase or high school action. The fastball will of course be the measuring bar, but his arm angle and delivery make for a wicked slider.
The Royals and other teams will of course prod about Thiel’s commitment to college, but also evaluate themselves whether he has more physical projectability left. If not, that fastball velocity is not going to get it done at the professional level. But if any miscues in Thiel’s lower half can be cleaned up, that may come to light in biomechanical testing later this week. Thiel would be a boom-or-bust selection in the later rounds, but that is precisely the kind of swing the Royals can afford to take.
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