Series of Royals prospects were behind Surprise’s 3rd AFL title in 4 seasons

And with that, the 2025 Arizona Fall League season has come to a close.

The Kansas City Royals sent a strong group of prospects down to the desert for this season’s Arizona Fall League. The additional month of baseball is valuable for these young professional players, and winning the league’s title certainly leaves a positive final feeling heading into the winter.

The Surprise Saguaros have left Arizona with that feeling often in recent seasons, and 2025 ends in familiar winning fashion over the Peoria Javelinas.

Royals prospects played a big part in Surprise winning another Arizona Fall League title.

Royals prospect Blake Mitchell was integral in Surprise’s win on Thursday to send them to the AFL Championship, going 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI, and a run scored in the Saguaros’ 4-3 win.

He may not have stuffed the stat sheet on Friday, but his sacrifice fly in the 6th inning was Surprise’s first run of the game, and he later came around to score after a single helped fuel a seven-run eighth inning from Surprise. It capped off Mitchell’s first AFL trip, where he posted a .745 OPS with one home run across 19 games.

Longtime Columbia Fireflies shortstop Daniel Vazquez wasn’t stellar in the two postseason games, but he accounted for two runs scored and a hit against Peoria.

His .927 OPS led all Royals prospects, while his 11 stolen bases and 21 RBI in the regular season led all Surprise batters. The 21-year-old is Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason for the first time, but his bat still lags behind his fielding skill.

Royals outfielder Carson Roccaforte feels the closest to helping Kansas City’s big-league roster, and his plus fielding and .878 OPS this fall only helped that outlook. Roccaforte did not see any action in the postseason, with Surprise manager Jesús Azuaje opting for Philadelphia Phillies prospect Dante Nori in center field.

Azuaje should know all about Roccaforte’s skills, as he manages the Royals’ High-A affiliate, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Roccaforte spent the better part of the past two seasons in Quad Cities, before a red-hot start to 2025 earned him a promotion to Double-A to close out the year.

Royals relief prospects A.J. Causey and Dennis Colleran both logged one hitless inning in the AFL postseason, capping off two solid seasons for each.

Causey spent his first professional season coming out of the bullpen, posting a 1.72 ERA and 2.28 FIP in 73.1 innings across High-A and Double-A. Colleran, a fellow 2024 draftee, rose quickly through Kansas City’s system as well. His 2.85 ERA and 3.91 FIP largely stem from early Low-A struggles, while his 1.78 ERA and 0.82 WHIP across 35.1 innings in High-A and Double-A ease those concerns.

They, along with their Saguaros teammates, are all AFL champions now and that’s what matters beyond individual stat lines.

The Royals have long believed that winning in the minors plays a significant role in developing a championship core, a belief that helped fuel their 2015 World Series run.

While Mitchell, Vazquez, and Roccaforte are different players than that group, hopefully they’ll grow accustomed to feelings like this.