As the Royals’ season winds down and the minor league calendar closes, Sam Kulasingam stands out as one of the more intriguing names in the system. Drafted in the 13th round in 2024 out of Air Force, he has kept moving forward with a game built on the kind of skills clubs always seem to want: contact, patience, and enough versatility to keep a roster flexible.
Kulasingam’s first full year in pro ball showed exactly why the Royals were interested. After a rough introduction in 2024, when he played 24 games and hit .241/.305/.301 with a .606 OPS, he bounced back in a big way in Quad Cities. There, he posted a .291/.375/.393 line with a .768 OPS, then earned a promotion to AA, where he stayed for the 2026 season.
At that level, he put together a steady year: .249/.370/.396 with an OPS of .766. The on-base ability keeps jumping off the page.
He finished with an OBP of .370 or better in back-to-back seasons, and he also drew walks at a strong clip in both years. In 2026, his walk rate climbed to 15.1%, which ranked ninth-best in AA.
The bat-to-ball skills are a big part of the appeal, too. Kulasingam posted an 85.5% Z-contact rate in 2026 and an 80.8% overall contact rate.
He also owned one of the better whiff marks in the league, finishing with the 12th-lowest whiff rate in AA at 20.8%. Add in the fact that he works all fields - his oppo% was 25.8%, 12th-best in AA - and you get a profile that is built on steady production rather than loud tools.
His 24.4% line-drive rate only helps that case.
He brings speed into the mix as well. Kulasingam stole 30 bases this season and was caught seven times, both improvements from the year before.
The downside is just as clear. There is not a ton of power in the profile, even if there is a little more than what Luke Pelzer brings.
Kulasingam finished with 12 homers, 24 doubles, four triples, and a .146 ISO in 2026. That power output won’t grab many headlines, but it did improve from 2025, when his ISO sat at .103.
If there’s a number worth watching going forward, it’s the doubles total, because his swing and approach fit a player who can pile those up.
He did have some pop moments along the way, including a six-hit, two-homer game earlier this month.
Defense remains the bigger question. Kulasingam spent time all over the field in 2026, with 27 games at first base, 16 at second, 38 at third, 10 in left, 36 in right, and seven at DH.
The problem is that he has not really stood out anywhere, and he has had trouble up the middle. In 2025, when most of his starts came at second base, he made eight errors.
That led the Royals to move him into more of a utility role in 2026.
That defensive uncertainty is what may slow his path. He is still adjusting to the role, and at this point he looks average at best in the corner spots and outfield.
Even so, Kulasingam fits the kind of player the Royals tend to value: disciplined at the plate, hard to strike out, and still with some room to grow. He is not a top-30 prospect right now, but he is one of the more interesting names in the system. A call next season seems unlikely, but 2028 could be in play if the defense comes along and the production keeps holding.
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Royals Face A Tough Offseason Without Giving Up On Bobby Witt Jr
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Bobby Witt Jr. remains the anchor around everything else, with control through 2034 and the kind of status that makes him the one player the Royals can least afford to misread. Maikel Garcias deal runs through 2030, giving Kansas City at least a few established pieces around which to build, but the offseason still looks complicated from a payroll and roster standpoint. The challenge now is figuring out how to improve enough to matter without drifting into the kind of overhaul the club has so far resisted. [Read more 🡒]