The Arizona Fall League is past its halfway mark, and a handful of Royals prospects are making the most of the extra reps with the Surprise Saguaros.
Some have flashed loud tools. Others are simply trying to stack innings, get healthy or rebound from rough stretches during the regular season. Here’s where Kansas City’s group stands now.
Angeibel Gomez has been one of the early standouts. The 17-year-old outfielder, Kansas City’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 76 overall, made his stateside debut on Oct. 4 and became the second-youngest player in AFL history.
Signed for $2.9 million in January, Gomez has handled older competition well through nine games, hitting .333/.421/.485 with a .906 OPS. He’s also picked up three doubles, one triple and four stolen bases, with his 70-grade speed showing up on the bases.
Zion Rose has brought a different kind of impact. The Royals’ No. 6 prospect has leaned on speed and patience, swiping eight bags and drawing 11 walks in 11 AFL games.
He’s batting .295/.458/.409 with an .867 OPS, along with one home run and nine RBIs. Rose, selected sixth overall in the 2026 Draft, dealt with ankle and hamstring injuries in his final college season at Louisville before making his pro debut with Quad Cities, where he hit .268 with 14 stolen bases in 19 games.
Brooks Bryan has done his damage with the bat. In nine games for Surprise, the catcher/first baseman is hitting .282/.349/.641 with a .990 OPS, four home runs and 12 RBIs.
Six of his 11 hits have gone for extra bases, including two doubles. The Royals’ eighth-round pick in the 2025 Draft hit .319 with three homers, 12 doubles and 24 RBIs in 33 games with Single-A Columbia before going on the injured list.
He’s also getting work at first base this fall after mostly catching throughout his career.
Justin Lamkin earned a little extra recognition for his work on the mound. The Royals’ No. 8 prospect was named the AFL’s Pitcher of the Week after he retired all 13 batters he faced in 4 1/3 perfect innings against Mesa on Oct.
- Three of his four strikeouts came on his developing curveball.
Through four starts, Lamkin has a 3.52 ERA, 14 strikeouts, a 0.78 WHIP and a .148 opponents’ batting average. The 2025 second-round pick is getting extra innings after a left shoulder strain interrupted his season in May, when he logged a 2.04 ERA with 53 strikeouts over 39 2/3 innings between High-A Quad Cities and Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Frank Mozzicato has also looked sharper in Arizona than he did during a tough run with Northwest Arkansas. The seventh overall pick in the 2021 Draft posted an 8.04 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 37 appearances, including 11 starts, during the regular season.
In the Fall League, he has a 2.70 ERA with five strikeouts and four walks across five appearances, though he has thrown only 3 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .182 against the 23-year-old.
Josh Hansell has quietly been effective, too. In six AFL appearances, he has allowed just one run and owns a 1.69 ERA with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. The 2023 16th-round pick spent the regular season in High-A, where he put up a 4.87 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 25 walks in 40 2/3 innings before landing on the injured list in June.
Felix Arronde’s Fall League stint has been much shorter, and much rougher. The Cuban right-hander has made only one AFL appearance, giving up two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out three in one inning.
During the regular season, he struggled after reaching Double-A, finishing with a 6.49 ERA, 91 strikeouts and 54 walks in 105 1/3 innings over 24 appearances, 22 of them starts. He also allowed a career-high 25 home runs and 121 hits after posting a 2.80 ERA with Quad Cities in 2025.
Austin Charles hasn’t found the same rhythm in Arizona that he showed in the regular season. The 6-foot-5 infielder was limited to 45 games with Quad Cities because of a core injury, but still hit .285/.353/.491 with seven home runs, 25 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
In the Fall League, though, he’s batting .154 with a .483 OPS and 13 strikeouts in 39 at-bats. Charles, a 20th-round pick in the 2022 Draft, is Rule 5-eligible this offseason.
Hiro Wyatt rounds out the group. The third-round pick in the 2023 Draft posted a 3.21 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 28 innings for Single-A this season before going on the injured list in May.
In Other News...
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Royals Could Waste An Offseason Chasing The Wrong Lineup Fix
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Gleyber Torres has been mentioned as a possible target on a two-year, $42 million deal, but the fit looks awkward with Michael Massey already in place at second base and Torres coming off a stretch that does not inspire much confidence. For a team that needs to use its resources carefully, the better path may be to stay focused on the areas where the Royals can actually improve the lineup and rotation without creating a new problem in the process. [Read more 🡒]