As September nears, the Royals’ farm system is drawing plenty of attention - and the latest episode of “Royals Pipeline” zeroed in on the names and decisions that could shape the organization’s next wave.
Jared Perkins and Kevin O’Brien opened with Kansas City’s current winning streak, then moved into a bigger issue that has been hanging over the club all season: the bullpen. They pointed to the relief corps as a major reason for the team’s overall performance and talked through a possible fix, one that would lean more on developing arms from within the system instead of turning heavily to free agency.
From there, the conversation shifted to the latest Top 100 prospect rankings. Kendry Chourio, Angeibel Gomez and Josh Hammond were among the players discussed, with Gomez drawing praise for a skill set that blends speed, contact ability and power. David Shields and Blake Mitchell also came up, and Mitchell’s strikeout issues were noted as a possible reason he has not yet broken into the Top 100.
The hosts also took a look at Kansas City’s 2026 draft class. Zion Rose was a focal point after the first-round pick showed strong contact skills and plate discipline early in his pro career. Ben North and Camden Johnson were also mentioned in the discussion.
On the pitching side, Perkins and O’Brien were high on left-hander Ethan McElvain, saying his stuff could help him move quickly through the Royals’ system as a reliever.
They closed by looking ahead to Rule 5 Draft decisions, with Lucas Braun identified as a player who could be added to the 40-man roster. Hunter Owen was also part of that conversation.
All of it came up on the latest episode of “Royals Pipeline” on KC Sports Network.
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