Royals’ 2026 Spring Training Non-Roster Invites Include Cross, Mitchell

The Royals announced their list of non-roster invitees on January 27 for 2026 Spring Training in Arizona. That list included several former first-round picks, including catcher Blake Mitchell. Plus, two rising relievers who could be in Kansas City very soon.

The prospects

The headliner among the prospects is Blake Mitchell, the Royals’ 2023 first-rounder. Mitchell, who was a non-roster player in big league camp last spring, missed most of last year thanks to injury. But as we noted in our Royals’ 2025 farm review, Mitchell had a miserable year when on the field.

Mitchell slashed .218/.390/.320 and posted a Whiff% north of 35%, and those problems didn’t get much better in the Arizona Fall League. Despite that down year, there’s still a lot to like, though, with Mitchell.

He’s a power hitter and one who will take walks and has a good eye, to boot. Fewer than 27% of Mitchell’s takes resulted in a called strike in the regular season. Mitchell averaged almost a walk per game in the Midwest League this past year, and walked 20 times over 19 AFL contests.

Daniel Vazquez and Carson Roccaforte, two other notable hitting prospects who played with Mitchell in Arizona last fall, will also be in camp.

Vazquez had a great run in Arizona, as he slashed .329/.459/.468 with seven extra-base hits across 22 games. Roccaforte, meanwhile, cracked 10 extra-base hits across 18 games.

Roccaforte is one of the more formidable power-hitting prospects in the Royals’ system. However, swing-and-miss has been a major flaw in his game. He posted a Whiff% above 32% in both High-A and Double-A last season.

Gavin Cross was not added to the Royals’ 40-man roster even though he was eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. The former ninth-overall pick from 2022 was not taken, and that tells a major story of how much his stock has fallen over the years.

Cross, as noted in that farm review recap, posted a low .297 on-base percentage in Double-A Northwest Arkansas last season.

Two other high school pitching prospects who’ve also seen their stock drop over the years, Frank Mozzicato and Shane Panzini, will also be with the big club in camp.

Those two are among the headlining pitchers. Relievers Dennis Colleran and A.J. Causey, both different yet effective at getting strikeouts & swing-and-miss, will look to make an impression on the Royals.

Other players who will be in camp are catchers Luca Tresh, Canyon Brown, Ramon Ramirez, Omar Hernandez, infielders Connor Kaiser and Peyton Wilson, and pitchers Chazz Martinez and Helcris Olivarez.

Other notables

Sidearm right-hander Jose Cuas is back with the team, and he’ll join the Royals this spring as a non-roster invite. Cuas pitched with the Royals in 2022 and 2023.

Catcher Jorge Alfaro will be in camp after he spent most of last season with the Brewers. He only played 14 games in the Majors last season, all of which came with the Nationals after Washington signed him in September. Alfaro had the worst Whiff% (42.9%) last season among players with at least 300 recorded swings in Triple-A.

Alfaro will be in camp alongside longtime Red Sox farmhand Elih Marrero.

Josh Rojas, Abraham Toro, and Kevin Newman all have significant MLB experience and will look to crack the Royals’ roster this upcoming spring.

As for the pitchers, Hector Neris and Aaron Sanchez are also non-roster invitees. Sanchez, as we noted in our LIDOM numbers overview, had a great winter down in the Dominican Republic.

Check out more of our MLB coverage, including a look at who the Brewers invited to camp.