The Royals’ 2026 season was a rough one by almost any measure, but the organization still has a path back to relevance thanks to the kids coming up behind the big league core.
Kansas City already has Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone, and Carter Jensen in place, and all three kept piling up rookie honors throughout the season. That gives the Royals a foundation to build around. The next layer could come from a farm system that looks far healthier now than it did a few years ago, when the homegrown wave had already moved on and the cupboard looked thin.
Now the pipeline is stocked again. The Royals have added impact talent through recent drafts and international signings, and there are several prospects who could force their way into the 2027 conversation if they keep trending the right way. Some bring power, some bring speed, some bring glove-first value, and one brings eye-popping strikeout stuff from the mound.
Blake Mitchell is the headliner among that group. Drafted eighth overall in 2023, he has dealt with injuries early in his minor league career, which slowed his climb.
But his 2026 numbers at High-A Quad Cities hinted at a player starting to put everything together. In 381 at-bats, he hit 23 home runs and drove in 73 runs, while also drawing 113 walks.
That kind of plate discipline is hard to ignore. The concern remains the swing-and-miss: Mitchell struck out at a 45% clip.
If he can bring that down even a little, his power gives him a fast track.
Carson Roccaforte has taken a different route, built first on defense and now on a more polished bat. The Royals picked him in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and he struggled at the plate in his first full-season run in 2024.
Over the last two seasons, though, he’s started to find his footing offensively and looks more like a complete player. In 2026, he hit 35 home runs across two minor league levels and posted a .857 OPS in 540 at-bats.
The strikeouts are still a real issue - 181 this year after 162 in 2025 - but if the power and defense keep showing up, Kansas City may decide the rest is good enough to live with.
Then there’s Luke Pelzer, the kind of player who usually doesn’t get much attention as a 17th round pick. He’s earned more than that.
Since joining the Royals system last season, Pelzer has hit at every level he’s seen. Through his first 489 career minor league at-bats, he’s put together a .352/.430/.483 line.
The power isn’t loud - just four home runs so far - but that’s not really his game. Pelzer is a contact hitter with speed, and his 42 steals in 50 attempts in 2026 show how dangerous he can be once he reaches base.
On the mound, L.P. Langevin has forced his way into the picture with sheer strikeout ability.
A 17.2 strikeouts per nine rate is the kind of number that jumps off the page, and he backed it up with 106 strikeouts in 55.1 innings this season. That performance earned him the Dan Quisenberry Reliever of the Year award in the Royals organization.
The problem is command. Langevin’s 35-grade control showed up in a big way, as he walked 39 batters in 40 appearances for High-A Quad Cities in 2026.
The stuff is real, but the walks are hard to miss. If he reins those in, he could become a late-season option in 2027.
For a Royals club trying to get back on track, these are the kinds of names that matter. The big league core is already in place. The next wave could decide how quickly Kansas City climbs back into the AL Central race.
In Other News...
Royals Fans Cant Ignore What Picollos Offseason Gamble Cost Them
The Royals spent the 2025-26 offseason trying to patch several obvious holes, leaning hard into outfield help and bullpen arms while keeping a core of Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez intact. Lane Thomas, Starling Marte and Matt Strahm were among the biggest additions, the sort of moves that were supposed to add stability and push the club forward after a frustrating year.
Instead, the results have only sharpened the criticism around the front offices approach. Several of those new pieces underperformed badly enough to be moved or let go during the season, and the bullpen additions as a group have delivered negative value. With rotation depth left largely unaddressed, Kansas City has paid for it in the standings, leaving the offseason gamble looking less like a bold reset and more like a costly missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Downtown Ballpark Push Leaves One Huge Question For Fans
The Royals are moving from broad talk to the real work of planning a downtown ballpark district, and Brooks Sherman said the organization has now entered the master-planning stage. For now, the focus is on the stadium itself, even as the larger vision includes revitalizing the surrounding district while keeping existing tenants in place. It is the kind of early, foundational step that signals momentum without yet answering every practical question that comes with a project this size.
One of the biggest unresolved pieces remains what happens in Crown Center, where no decisions have been made about demolitions. Until that part gets sorted out, the plan still has a major layer of uncertainty hanging over it, even as the club pushes ahead on the ballpark concept. Elsewhere around the organization, there is also ongoing attention on pitcher Randy Dobnak, Tyler Tolberts progress at the plate and former outfielder MJ Melendez choosing free agency, but the downtown project is the storyline with the widest ripple effect for fans. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Still Have A Kauffman Problem They Didn't Expect
The Royals went into 2026 hoping the new Kauffman Stadium dimensions would help create a more even offensive environment, one that would translate better from home to road and make hitting less of a guessing game. Instead, the first season with the changes produced a striking split, with Kansas City turning in a much stronger offensive profile in its own park than away from it, a result that stood out across baseball and gave the club another Kauffman-related issue to sort through.
What makes the gap so awkward is that no one around the team has pinned down a clean explanation yet. It could be tied to the altered dimensions, simple year-to-year variance, or something else entirely, but whatever the cause, the Royals now have a home-road offensive divide that runs counter to what they were trying to accomplish and leaves a fresh question hanging over how well the new setup is actually working. [Read more 🡒]