Royals top prospect’s potential stardom was on full display at 2026 Futures Game

On Sunday, prospect lovers were treated to one of the minor league spectacles of the year when the next generation took over All-Star weekend at the Futures Game. The Royals had a few names contributing to the American League’s winning efforts in Kendry Chourio and Blake Mitchell. But while the latter wasn’t terribly poor by any means, the former really stole the show for Royals fans.

Chourio came on in the fourth inning to face three batters, and while he did surrender a hit, it was his fastball that stole the show. In his only punchout in a 0.2 innings of work, he did so in electrifying fashion, sitting down prized Colorado Rockies prospect Charlie Condon looking with a 98.2 mph heater.

Chourio has taken the Royals system by storm since debuting as a 17-year-old last season. This season in his first full year in the top four minor league levels, he’s throwing to an overall 2.26 ERA between both Low-A Columbia and High-A Quad Cities. In fact, it was a 1.88 ERA that saw the 18-year-old get his promotion to High-A, where he’s still managed to look strong in his new surroundings with a 3.20 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and .194 BAA in his first four starts with the River Bandits.

He’s now taken the mantle of Royals top prospect according to MLB’s rankings, a title previously held by his fellow Futures Game teammate in Mitchell. As a Top 100 prospect in baseball, ranked 66th by Pipeline, the hope is surely that there’s a frontline starter in him down the road, no matter how long that might be. Perhaps Sunday’s showing was just foreshadowing what the future holds.

Royals’ rotation is yearning for a potnetial star like top prospect Kendry Chourio

The Royals’ staff has been under fire this season. There was already the potential that former All-Star Kris Bubic could’ve left in free agency at the end of the year, but injuries have taken a toll on his season once again. They’ve also taken aim at Cole Ragans too, whose season was cut short to UCL surgery this month and the ace’s return won’t be until mid-2027 at the earliest.

Then, if they remain on the roster after the trade deadline, the Royals will have to deal with the effects of age. Both Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo will be even further on the wrong side of 35 next season, which is seldomly the winning formula for team looking to contend in October.

This leaves Noah Cameron, who may still be a solid low-end member of this rotation, but that seems to be ceiling for him at this point. He hasn’t exactly followed up his sub-3.00 ERA debut season in 2025 that saw him narrowly miss out on the finalist spots of AL Rookie of the Year voting. This season he’s throwing to just a 4.89 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and .267 BAA.

At such a young age, Chourio already has the makings of both a dominant and controlled arm, with 60 grades on both his fastball and control according to Pipeline’s scouting report.

Now, at 18-years-old it seems wishful thinking to stamp a guarantee on him making his big league debut in the next few seasons. However, he’s managed to dazzle at every stop of his pro-career so far and shown no reason to think he won’t be up for the next step of the upper minors when the Royals feel he’s ready.