Kansas City Royals Top Dynasty Prospects – September Edition

The division reports debuted last year. The goal of this article series is to provide a quick overview of all dynasty-relevant information from each division. Each team has multiple minor league levels, each containing plenty of impactful prospects, which can feel impossible to keep up with. This article series, which will be updated once per month, will help dynasty managers stay up-to-date on performances, injuries, promotions, and more. New this season is the inclusion of tiers in the rankings. Next to their rank, each prospect is assigned a tier. The tier range is 1-5. 

• Tier 1: A potential difference-making dynasty prospect. Somebody who would rank in the top-20ish prospects for dynasty baseball
• Tier 2: A still very good dynasty prospect who holds plenty of value. This prospect would typically rank in the 21-75 range
• Tier 3: A mid-tier prospect who could be valuable but has questions and concerns present in his profile, ranking in the 76-150 range
• Tier 4: A prospect who is worth knowing, but is reserved for deeper leagues. This prospect would rank 151-250
• Tier 5: The rest of the prospects fall into Tier 5

With only a few weeks left in the Minor League seasons, we’re checking in on where each of the top 10 prospects in the Kansas City Royals system is expected to end the year and what their outlook can be for the 2026 season.

Kansas City Royals

Notable Prospect Performances:

• Things have not been as swell as Blake Mitchell was hoping for when he was promoted to High-A Quad Cities at the start of July. His first month there wasn’t so bad, hitting .265 in 84 plate appearances in July, but since August 1, Mitchell has put up a .182/.359/.227 slash line with no power to show, zero home runs, six RBI, 31 walks, and 49 strikeouts in 143 plate appearances. Mitchell has strong strike zone judgement, but it is hurting him more than it has been helping him of late. Mitchell’s athleticism is still helping him behind the plate, but the Royals need to see some more from his swing if he wants to be considered an option for 2026 or 2027.
• Blake Wolters missed nearly three months of the season with an undisclosed injury before he returned to the mound at the end of August. Wolters has made two starts for Low-A Carolina in his return, pitching a total of 6.2 innings, allowing two earned runs, nine walks, four hits, and six strikeouts. The high walk total is a bit alarming, but with his injury not being disclosed, it’s hard to know for sure what has been fatiguing the young Royals righty. If Wolters can finish the season healthy, that in itself will be a big achievement for him.

Notable Prospect News and Promotions:

• Carter Jensen became the Royals’ top prospect after Jac Caglianone graduated from the list. He earned that title with a scorching hot stint in Triple-A Omaha, posting a .288/.404/.647 slash line with 14 home runs, 39 RBI, a 16.3% walk rate, 28.3% strikeout rate, and a few stolen bases in 43 games with the Storm Chasers. With the roster expansions coming into play on September 1, the Royals used their open spot for a hitter to reward Jensen for his Triple-A performance. It’s an incredible reward for the Kansas City native, who has dreamed of being in a Royals uniform for most of his life. He has only played in five games so far with the Royals and has gone 1-for-8 so far with four walks. It’s still early for Jensen, but he will be an encouraging player to add to any dynasty team looking for help behind the dish.
• Ben Kudrna had a decent run at Double-A Northwest Arkansas most of the year, pitching to a 4.21 ERA in 94 innings long with 96 strikeouts. Kudrna was moved up to Triple-A Omaha on August 19, and things have not been so great for him there. He’s pitched to a 14.29 ERA, allowing 18 runs in 11.1 innings across four outings where he’s given up 14 hits and 17 walks. It’s alarming to see more walks than hits allowed for a pitcher like Kudrna, who walked just 8.3% of hitters faced in Double-A this year. Kudrna made it up to Triple-A because of his command, and without it, he’s seeing the biggest setback of his pro career so far. Finishing the season healthy will be important, but if Kudrna can’t get his command under control, he may be delayed in his call-up to the Majors next season.