Eli Nitz

In three games in a row, I saw Angeibel Gomez get to the field early. In the game he played, he warmed up immediately. On his days off, he mostly stayed in the dugout. I asked Zion Rose if Gomez was shy or a little reserved. Rose responded no, but he is still learning English. It reminded me that Gomez, while excelling on the field in the AFL at an age five years younger than the average player, is still just 17 years old and in the US for the first time. I had an opportunity to tell him in Spanish I was from Kansas City, here to watch him play, and I think that went a long way. Just a reminder that the players are human beings and have many factors that could affect their demeanor and on-field play. Zion Rose 1st plate appearance: Single up the middle. On the second pitch, he stole second base easily. Rose tagged up on a fly ball to right-center and was safe with a close play at third. Rose scored on a balk. 2nd plate appearance: He struck out swinging. 3rd plate appearance: He grounded out to third. 4th plate appearance: Rose was using binoculars to see who was warming up in the Scorpions bullpen. He challenged a called strike. The call was overturned on a successful challenge. Rose grounded out to shortstop. Defensively, Rose had a high fly ball back to the wall go just over his glove off the wall. 5th plate appearance: Rose hit a sacrifice fly to right field. 6th plate appearance: On a 3-0 count, Rose took strike 1. He walked on the 5th pitch. Bases loaded, so no chance to steal. Josh Hansell Hansel came on to pitch the 9th inning. He threw four straight balls to walk the leadoff hitter. The second batter struck out looking. The third batter hit into a double play. Game over. After the game, I spoke with Phillies catcher Kehden Hettiger. When asked about Hansell, he said Hansell has an electric arm. They worked on pregame plans for how to attack the hitters. When I asked if there was anything else I should know, Hettiger reiterated electric arm with a huge smile. With Halloween just two days away, I asked the players their favorite Halloween candy: Zion Rose: Snickers Brooks Bryan: Reeces Austin Charles: Reeces Josh Hansell: Reeces View full rumor

Here are game notes from the Saguaros versus the Solar Sox on October 28. Zion Rose In his first plate appearance, Rose drew a walk, stole second base against a left-handed pitcher, and stole third base cleanly. In his second at-bat, Rose advanced the count to 3-1 and laced a solid line-drive single up the middle. There was a runner on second, so no opportunity to steal. In his third plate appearance, Rose hit a long fly ball down the left-field line, and the left fielder made a nice play to catch it in the corner. In his fourth plate appearance, Rose hit a hard grounder to second base and was thrown out at first for the third out. In his fifth plate appearance, Rose worked a walk on 5 pitches. There is a runner on second base, so no chance to steal. Rose scored from second on a single to center. In his final plate appearance, he struck out swinging. Brooks Bryan Bryan popped out to left field in his first at-bat. In his second at-bat, Bryan popped up to the catcher. In his third at-bat, Bryan swung at the first pitch and drilled a single to right field. Defensively, Bryan made a nice play on a ground ball to get the lead runner at second base. In his fourth at-bat, Bryan hit a rocket to right-center for a two-run home run, traveling 416 feet with a 101.4 mph exit velocity. In his final at-bat, Bryan struck out swinging. Justin Lamkin Lamkin opened the first inning by cleanly fielding a first-pitch bunt back to the mound, and he worked a clean, quick inning. In the second inning, Lamkin issued a one-out walk. He challenged a called ball, and the call was confirmed. He then struck out the next batter swinging. In the third inning, Lamkin gave up his first hit, a slow roller past the mound that deflected off his outstretched foot and trickled away for a base hit. He recorded the first out of the inning on a swinging strikeout and the second on a called strikeout. In the fourth inning, Lamkin gave up a leadoff home run. He struck out the next batter swinging, allowed a line-drive single to center field, and then ended the inning with another swinging strikeout. Lamkin worked quickly and was never threatened. His fastball sat around 93 mph throughout the outing, and the home run was his only blemish. Hiro Wyatt Wyatt walked the leadoff batter in the fifth inning. He then got a groundout to first base and a flyout to left field before issuing another walk. The next hitter sent a ground ball up the middle that bounced over the shortstop’s glove, and a run scored. Wyatt ended the inning with a strikeout. In the sixth inning, Wyatt got a flyout to right field and a flyout to center field, gave up a ground-ball single between first and second base, and then got another flyout to center to end the inning. In the seventh inning, Wyatt got the leadoff batter to fly out to left field, then struck out the next batter swinging to end his outing. View full rumor

I attended my first AFL game on October 27 at Peoria Stadium to watch the Saguaros versus the Javelinas. Here is what I noticed: General Notes Tickets are $14, and seating is general admission. Announced attendance was 271. I sat in the front row at the Saguaros on-deck circle. By my count, there were 13 scouts on the stands evaluating the game. The Saguaros bench got warned after razzing the umpire for a 3-2 strikeout call that was overturned to a BB. Three Royals played. Felix Arronde, Austin Charles, and Angeibel Gomez. Felix Arronde Started the game and pitched one inning. Lead-off walk, pitch clock violation, K swinging, walk, stole 2B, K swinging. Single misplayed by LF runner to 2B, run scored, single between 1B and 2B, run scored. Foul tip caught by catcher K. All three outs by strikeout were impressive. After the game, I asked the catcher Kehden Hettiger, a Philadelphia Phillies prospect, what he saw from Arronde. His thoughts: Arronde hid the ball well, but was a bit unlucky. Had good, deceptive stuff. Maybe a little nervous being his first appearance. Austin Charles Line out to short, one hopper to SS got down the line to avoid the double play, strikeout on check swing, bases loaded strikeout swinging. Very aggressive all game, lots of early count swings. Made every defensive play. Angeibel Gomez Worked a full count and stroked a single to left field for an RBI, stole second, and a wild pitch advanced him to third, then grounded out to shortstop. First pitch swinging, fly ball to left LF, lost in the sun, fell 15 feet to his left. It is a double in the books but should have been an easy out. Called strike 3. Didn't like the call but didn't challenge. Defensively Shallow pop between 2B, CF, and RF. Looked like 2B called it and Gomez backed off. Ball fell. Gomez had a ball to dead center, realized it was over his head, and played it off the wall in a textbook play. Gomez made a nice catch at the warning track. View full rumor

Before going too far, most readers may have already made up their mind that, given the Kansas City Royals' final record of 69-93, the answer is a definitive NO. At the end-of-season press conference, Picollo stated, “We came into this season.. I was as confident as I have ever been in starting pitching depth. We had nine guys we felt like we could start. At the end of the year, we had two guys that weren’t in the nine that were now starting. I’m never going to take starting pitching for granted.” Let’s take a look at that depth. By my count, the Royals used twelve different starting pitchers not counting openers: Cole Ragans: 8 starts, 15-day IL May 8, UCL repair surgery July 1, expected return date mid-July 2027 Kris Bubic: 9 starts; 15-day IL May 19, 2026; Traded to the LA Dodgers August 3, 2026 Michael Wacha: 32 starts, 200.2 IP, All-Star Seth Lugo: 32 starts, 172.1 IP Noah Cameron: 31 games, 171.1 IP Ryan Bergert: minor league 7-day IL April 10, Tommy John surgery April 29, expected return date June 2027 Stephen Kolek: 10 starts, 15-day IL July 19, Tommy John surgery August 5, expected return date Spring Training 2028 Ben Kudrna: minor league 7-day IL April 7, olecranon stress fracture surgery April 29, expected return date spring training 2027 Luinder Avila: 12 starts, 15-day IL August 2, Tommy John surgery August 5, expected return date spring training 2028 Mitch Spence: 1 start, 21.21 ERA Randy Dobnak: 13 starts, 74.1 IP Daniel Lynch IV: 10 starts, 40 IP, 6.52 ERA as a starter Before Ragans went on the IL May 8, the Royals had already lost their 8th option, Ben Kudrna, for the season, and two days later lost their 6th option, Ryan Bergert, to Tommy John surgery, also for the season. By the time Kris Bubic went on the IL 11 days later, the Royals had lost their #1 in Ragans, #2 in Bubic, #6 in Bergert, and #8 in Kudrna for all of 2026. They just didn’t know it yet. Bailey Falter made three spot starts of 2, 2, and 2.1 IP each after Cole Ragans went on the 15-day IL May 8 (retroactive to May 7). He was DFA’d May 27, 2026 after posting a 12.46 ERA over 21.2 IP. Steven Kolek and Luinder Avila were summoned in early May, and unfortunately, by August 2nd both pitchers were on the shelf, and both had Tommy John surgery on August 5, 2026. Mitch Spence was summoned for a spot start on June 15, 2026, and was batted around for 6 runs in 4 IP. After an even worse relief outing on June 26, 2026, when Spence gave up 10 runs in 1.1 IP, he was promptly demoted back to Omaha, never to return to the Royals. Thank goodness the Seattle Mariners were incredibly deep with starting pitching and Randy Dobnak had an upward mobility clause in his contract. On June 17, 2026, the Royals acquired Dobnak for cash considerations. No one could have imagined Dobnak would be a steadying force in the Royals rotation, but he was. He started 13 games, pitched 15, and posted an outstanding 3.51 ERA over 74.1 IP. Dobnak would be worth 1.3 Baseball Reference WAR (bWAR), third highest on the pitching staff behind only Wacha (4.3 bWAR) and Cameron (2.0 bWAR). Dobnak clearly was not in the original nine starting pitchers Picollo envisioned at the outset of the season. The second pitcher, who was also not in the original nine, was Daniel Lynch IV. As a reward for his great season in the bullpen and his vocalized desire to return to the starting rotation, the Royals honored his request. The results were not fantastic, with a 6.52 ERA over 10 starts and 40 IP, but Lynch did take the ball every fifth day. I know the results are not what Lynch or the Royals hoped for, but he has to be elated the team gave him the opportunity he desired. Picollo had nine starters he thought could get through the season with. He was able to pull off a trade and turn a bullpen piece into a last-ditch starting rotation. There were other names at Omaha that were insurance pieces that never returned to form in Aaron Sanchez and Vince Velazquez. It looks like there were enough options. They just didn’t pan out. Famously, John Gruden and Ron Jaworski visited the Indianapolis Colts ahead of a Monday Night Football matchup and noticed the backup quarterback wasn’t getting any reps. Peyton Manning was the quarterback at that time. When Gruden asked long-time Indianapolis offensive coordinator Tom Moore why that was, Moore famously answered, “Fellas, if 18 goes down we’re f*****. And we don’t practice f*****.” In a season when four of your top nine options were done for 2026 by mid-May, I think Tom Moore summed up where the Royals stood regarding starting pitching. Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images View full article

Cross went unclaimed last year. He has definitely had a better year in 2026. It's just tough for a position player to make it a full season.

Cross would also need to be added to the 40 man roster like Roccaforte. I know Cross had a recent IL stint but is now back on the field. Cross had an incredible hot stretch hitting home runs in multiple consecutive games. I could see the Royals wanting to get a look at Cross in MLB action. I do not think Cross gets selected in the Rule 5 draft so that may be the edge Roccaforte holds over Cross for a September call up.

Image courtesy of Denny Medley-Imagn Images The last two weeks of Royals baseball have been a lot of fun. The team has won 13 of 15 games since August 13. The starting lineup has been mostly restored to what was expected for Opening Day (Maikel Garcia notwithstanding). A starting pitching staff decimated by injuries has been really good of late. The MASH unit starting lineup has put together a solid if unspectacular five quality starts in 15 attempts. Although that number is actually 5 QS in 12 attempts, given Daniel Lynch IV is still getting stretched out as he acclimates from the bullpen to starting pitching. The bullpen is currently doing a casting call for 2027, rotating through a bevy of candidates, but seems to be more steady in an addition-by-subtraction roster turnover. Lucas Erceg (6.63 ERA) never got things figured out and was sent to Triple-A Omaha on August 18. Matt Strahm and his 7.33 ERA were designated for assignment on August 4. Lately, the boys have been playing some ball. On September 1, the rosters expand from 26 to 28 players. A maximum of 14 pitchers are allowed. All players must be on the 40-man roster. Currently, the 40-man roster is full. That said, there is at least one spot that could be opened by adding Maikel Garcia to the 60-day IL, as it appears his hamstring injury may keep him out for the remainder of the season. (While writing this article, John Schreiber was released, and that opened up another 40-man roster spot. We are still waiting on the corresponding move.) Let’s look at who may join the team for the nine-game homestand starting September 1. Tony Gonsolin - RHP The former Los Angeles Dodger signed with Kansas City on August 13 and was immediately placed on the 15-day IL. Gonsolin signed a prorated $1 million contract for 2026 with a club option of $2.5 million for 2027. He currently holds a 40-man roster spot and can be called up when his injured list designation ends. In one appearance, Gonsolin threw three innings on 40 pitches, giving up no hits and one walk while striking out three batters. The big question with Gonsolin: is one appearance, albeit a good one, enough progress that the Royals trust him in MLB games, or do they want to see him keep working in Omaha? Beck Way - RHP Another member of the 15-day IL, Way was reinstated to Northwest Arkansas on August 18 and moved to Omaha on August 21. The hard-throwing right-handed rookie has had his ups and downs in 2026, but before the injury he seemed to be settling in. Way gives the Royals a power arm that the bullpen was clearly lacking to start the season. Way will definitely be a part of the 2027 bullpen, so getting him back to continue his development will be key to ending 2026 on a high note. Carlos Duran - RHP Is Carlos Duran Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? On August 18, we got to see Dr. Jekyll. Duran delivered 1 inning pitched with one hit, no runs, no walks, one strikeout, and picked up his first major league win. Then on August 20, Mr. Hyde appeared. Duran gave us a line of .1IP, 1H, 2ER, 3BB, 0K. Duran remains an interesting arm. Many Royals experts have compared Duran to when the Royals acquired Steven Cruz. There are definitely similarities: big frame, big arm, trouble with the strike zone. His minor league statistics for 2026 back that up. When deciding if Duran should come back to the Royals in September, it is a little like the argument for Gonsolin. Have the pitching coaches made enough progress in his delivery that the strike throwing improves, or does he need more work before coming back to Kansas City? Lucas Braun - RHP Braun was acquired with Carter Holton from Atlanta in the trade deadline deal for Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter. Braun is Rule 5 draft eligible for the first time after the 2026 season concludes. I can’t imagine the Royals wanted Braun in a trade only to leave him unprotected and lose him this winter. It makes sense that if the Royals are going to have to add him to the 40-man roster this winter, they might as well add him to the roster now. In 2025, Braun threw 149 2/3 innings, and in 2026 he sits at 116 innings pitched. It makes sense that he will not be shut down and has room to throw more innings this season. If the Royals want to take some stress off of their starting pitchers or piggyback a long reliever with Daniel Lynch IV as they had with Mason Black over several starts, Braun could be the man for the job. Michael Massey - 2B This move isn’t sexy, but Massey has been having a bounce-back year in 2026. Massey landed on the 7-day IL on August 27 when making an off-balance throw to first that ended awkwardly with him falling on his back and head hitting the Rogers Center turf. Massey has been worth 2.3 WAR and played Gold Glove-level defense at second base. There is no reason that player profile shouldn’t be back as soon as they are healthy. Carson Roccaforte - OF On July 17, I wrote a blog post about Royals Rule 5 draft protection candidates. At that time, Roccaforte was striking out at 35.2% and also had a respectable 17 home runs. Since then, Roccaforte has been promoted to Omaha and has been on a power surge at the plate, raising his season total to 32 homers. In his last 30 games between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha, that strikeout percentage has dropped to 25.2%. Still high but manageable. He has also hit 17 home runs in that span, leaving the yard at an impressive 8.9% clip. All while playing Gold Glove-level defense. So who should get promoted? I think Michael Massey will be a straight replacement for Josh Rojas, and Rojas will be back in Omaha waiting for an injury call-up. Michel Massey recalled to KC and Josh Rojas sent to Omaha. On June 17, my thoughts were that Roccaforte struck out too much for a team to take a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft. Roccaforte has changed my mind. The Gold Glove defense was evident, and some teams may have taken a risk on using him as a late-inning defensive replacement. Now that the strikeout rate is down and his power is surging, I don’t believe the Royals can risk losing Roccaforte. Not when there is a shortage of good centerfield candidates league-wide, and Kyle Isbel is only under team control through 2027. Garcia to the 60-day IL and Roccaforte added to the 40-man roster and recalled to KC. The two pitchers are very similar to the hitters for similar reasons. Beck Way recalled to KC from the 7 Day IL. Lucas Braun added to the 40-man roster and recalled to KC. I believe Roccaforte and Brun could benefit from a taste of MLB action in September 2026, the same way it helped prepare Carter Jensen for the 20206 season with his September 2025 call-up. Several players were covered. Is there someone you would like to see that wasn’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments so we can discuss. View full article

Image courtesy of IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect The Kansas City Royals selected Blake Mitchell with the 8th overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Mitchell was a high school catcher out of Sinton, Texas. As the first prep catcher off the board, the Royals had incredibly high hopes for Mitchell’s long-term success. The draft prospect grades for Mitchell were outstanding. Hit 55, Power 55, Arm 70, Field 50, Run 35 for an overall grade of 55. Very deserving numbers to be taken that high in the draft. Mitchell spent the 2023 season at the Complex League, appearing in 13 games in his first taste of professional baseball. In 2024, he was assigned to Low-A Columbia and, in 106 games, had an exceptional season, posting a .238 batting average, .376 OBP, .439 slugging percentage, an .815 OPS, and slugging 18 home runs. He also posted a 35.0% strikeout rate. That earned Mitchell a brief five-game promotion to High-A Quad Cities to end the season. The 2025 season was derailed before it ever got started. On February 23, 2025, it was announced that Mitchell would undergo surgery on his right hamate bone, leading to 4-6 weeks of downtime plus a rehab assignment. A hamate bone injury is notorious for sapping power, and that's what happened. Mitchell returned to High-A and in 49 games produced a .207 batting average, .372 OBP, .296 slugging percentage, and a .668 OPS while being reduced to just 2 home runs. He also continued to post another high strikeout rate of 32.9%. Fast forward to the end of Mitchell’s fourth professional campaign, and he is putting up another really good season, batting .233, with a .414 OBP, .469 slugging percentage, and a .883 OPS while bashing 17 home runs. Unfortunately, his strikeout rate has continued to climb to an unsustainable 34.5%. Mitchell has become the epitome of a true three-outcome hitter: walk, strike out, or hit a home run. What do you do with a player with this truly interesting batting profile? Option 1: Promote Mitchell To Double-A There are definite arguments for a promotion. Mitchell is having a good season, save for his strikeout rate. He would definitely see better pitching at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. It is clear Mitchell has an excellent grasp of the strike zone. He has walked at an incredible 23% rate in 2026. With better pitches to hit, does his contact rate increase? We won’t know until Mitchell is promoted, but there are signs that contact rate has been getting better right before our eyes. Since July 1st, Mitchell is hitting .321/.433/.643/1.076 with 4 home runs, 11 walks, and just 12 strikeouts in 67 plate appearances. That is a 16.4% walk rate with a 17.9% strikeout rate. It is a small sample size, but is it sustainable? Has Mitchell figured some things out and deserves a promotion? Or is the sample too small and it is just a hot streak? Option 2: Keep Mitchell At High-A For Remainder Of 2026 The High-A season ends September 6. With 38 games remaining and hopefully a playoff appearance in their future, there are benefits to remaining with the River Bandits. If Mitchell has figured some things out to improve his contact rate while dropping his strikeout rate, this would allow him to continue to build on the 67 plate appearances currently trending in a positive direction. The Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals did not win the first-half split and are currently tied for fourth place and 2.5 games behind the division leader in the North Division. A playoff spot and extending the season is unlikely at Double-A. A promotion potentially denies Mitchell exposure to high-pressure playoff baseball. Additionally, if this was just a hot streak, Mitchell could get exposed and further diminish his already declining prospect status. Option 3: Trade Mitchell, Either At Trade Deadline Or In Offseason Internally, if the Royals do not believe the player will ever hit for average, you could look to move them in a trade. Mitchell happens to have a running mate at High-A in Ramon Ramirez that is also a catcher. Ramirez is still learning the position, as he was converted to catcher from the outfield four years ago when he was a Royals international signing. By all accounts, Mitchell is the superior defender, but Ramirez is the more well-rounded hitter. Until recently, Mitchell has been the more highly touted prospect, which makes sense given his first-round draft status. In 2024, MLB Pipeline had Mitchell ranked as the 94th overall prospect and climbed to 52 by season's end. In 2025, Mitchell ranked 48th overall even with an injury-marred season. In 2026, Mitchell started the season as the 50th-ranked prospect but has fallen out of the top 100 in MLB.com rankings and to 105th in the FanGraphs pre-trade-deadline rankings. Do you look to move a once top 100 prospect before the shine wears completely off of them? You do have 23-year-old rookie Carter Jensen already ranking in the top 10 as an offensive catcher in the major leagues and an up-and-coming catcher in Ramón Ramírez that recently surpassed Mitchell in those same 2026 FanGraphs top 100 rankings at 81st overall. This would be a great time to trade from a clear position of organizational depth to address an area of weakness. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Angels are looking to acquire a young catcher and are clear sellers at the trade deadline. Could the Angels be a potential trade partner for a Royals franchise that hopes to rebound in 2027? The Royals have an interesting dilemma on their hands. They have a former first-round pick with great defense, a good eye, and immense power, who strikes out too much but has recently been making better contact. They have young organizational depth with Carter Jensen and Ramon Ramirez in the organization. They also have a clear need in both the high minors and with the MLB club lacking talent in the outfield, starting pitching, and relief pitching. Arguments can be made for all three scenarios. It will be interesting to see what decision the Royals front office will make with Blake Mitchell. Which path would you pick? Maybe you have other ideas on how to handle the situation. Please leave your comments. I would love to hear your thoughts. View full article