With less than a month until the first spring training game, the clock is ticking for the Kansas City Royals to finalize their roster down in Surprise, Arizona. The current roster includes 63 players heading to big-league camp, with many of them well-known to fans. Bobby Witt Jr., Cole Ragans, and Salvador Perez are among the established names whose contributions are well understood.
But it’s the less familiar players that make spring training exciting—a chance to catch prospects like Jac Caglianone and Blake Mitchell in action, or to see how new 40-man additions such as Noah Cameron and Luinder Avila perform. Then there are players in that gray area between prospect status and organizational depth, like shortstop Cam Devanney.
If you are an avid watcher of the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, you saw plenty of Devanney this past season. It is impossible to put together a highlight reel of their incredible season without Devanney popping in. Whether it was in the field or at the plate, the Elon University product had several moments that defined the 2024 campaign.
You take a look at his track record, and you would think this is a player Kansas City would have seen in the majors last year. A .254/.336/.445 slash line, with 19 home runs, at a premium position? Devanney could have been a boost to many organizations, and Kansas City acquired him for the low cost of Taylor Clarke.
Devanney was a mainstay of Omaha’s lineup, playing in a career-high 136 games for the Storm Chasers. He made 122 starts at shortstop in that span, splitting the remaining time at either second or third base. His glove plays well at all three positions, with readily available highlights throughout his minor-league career.
Devanney has been an above-average hitter in each of his three Triple-A seasons, posting a 102 wRC+ with the Storm Chasers last year. There are some concerning metrics, such as his strikeout rate spiking to 26.0% or his 16.2% swinging strike rate. That rate was the fifth worst in the International League, leading all qualified Storm Chasers by a wide margin. And that isn’t considering his team-leading 32.5% whiff rate at the plate. His home run total and relatively good slash line show there are some promising results, but the process is lacking. He took several steps back in his plate approach compared to his 2023 season with the Nashville Sounds.
Similarly, there are some positives to glean about Devanney’s time at the plate. He had career-bests in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrels per plate appearance. Again, the results where there but the process was lacking.
But, there is valid reason to wonder why fans did not see Devanney in the show last season or hear about him knocking on the door. The fact remains that Kansas City’s most valuable player and iron man – Bobby Witt Jr. – plays the same position as Devanney. Witt rarely took an inning off this past season, for good reason and good health. There was no role waiting for Devanney in Kansas City, not one that an Adam Frazier or Garrett Hampson couldn’t fill in a pinch.
But neither one of those men is waiting for the Royals in Surprise. Look at the Royals organizational depth chart; who is the next man up at shortstop that exists on the 40-man roster? It can’t be Maikel Garcia, who looks to be the Royals Opening Day third baseman once again. Nick Loftin hasn’t played that position in more than two years. That leaves Braden Shewmake, a player Kansas City picked up on waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
Shewmake, a former first-round pick in his own right, just hasn’t stuck at the MLB level. He has 31 games in The Show for two different organizations in two seasons, being worth -0.9 fWAR and carrying a -20 wRC+ in that limited action. Is that the sort of player Kansas City should retain after a middling spring training, or should it turn to Devanney? That assumes Devanney has a spring training performance worthy of consideration for that 40-man roster spot, pushing Shewmake out of the picture and placing himself next in line behind Witt.
At 27 years old, Devanney is the third-oldest non-roster invitee in Royals camp, but age shouldn’t factor into the decision. His competition—Shewmake, Tyler Tolbert, and Loftin—are all of similar age, and the choice should come down to performance. Devanney has already proven his ability to excel at Triple-A. Now, he has an opportunity to demonstrate that he deserves to be next in line behind Witt.
The arid Arizona air will set the stage for Devanney to show whether he has what it takes to break through and claim a role with the Royals. Spring training isn’t just about preparing for the season—it’s about proving who’s ready for the next step. For Devanney, the time to prove his mettle is now.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
