Kansas City Royals Breakout MLB Prospects For 2025

Entering 2025, we’re projecting a number of Royals prospects to have the potential for a breakout season.

To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization’s Top 10 prospects entering the year. All scouting reports are from Baseball America’s 2025 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here.

You can find Top 10 prospect rankings for all teams here and all breakout candidates here.

Ramon Ramirez, C

Preseason Rank: 11
BA Grade/Risk: 50/High

Track Record: Ramirez was already a known prospect before his first official game in the states and his 2024 season in the Arizona Complex League went a long way in proving the early hype was on point. The native Venezuelan hit .265/.379/.459 with seven home runs in 170 at-bats with lots of hard contact.

Scouting Report: Ramirez has excellent adjustability and barrel accuracy with an efficient swing and the bat speed to handle velocity. He projects to hit for both average and power. With more experience he’ll learn to avoid chasing pitches early and go deeper in the count to be able to get pitches he can drive. Questions remain on his defense, but Ramirez is still relatively new to catching. He has a plus arm but lacks accuracy now. He receives well with soft hands, but with occasional mental lapses behind the dish, although the intense heat in what is often called the Fire League is a tough development environment for catchers. With a strong, burly body, there will be the usual concerns about his size and the ability to remain behind the plate, but he has a good awareness of his body and how to maintain it.

The Future: If Ramirez continues the growth of his skills behind the plate to go with showing he can handle more advanced pitching, he’ll likely be a top ten prospect in the Royals organization before long. He’ll get his chance in 2025 at Low-A Columbia.

Scouting Grades: HIT: 50. POW: 55. RUN: 40. FLD: 50. ARM: 60.

Felix Arronde, RHP

Preseason Rank: 17
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High

Track Record: Arronde spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League after signing with the Royals for $100,000 in 2021. He made it to the States in 2023, played with Low-A Columbia and returned to the same level for all of the 2024 season—turning himself into one of the organization’s more intriguing pitching prospects in the process. He posted a 2.94 ERA in 23 games, striking out 103 batters in 110.1 innings and holding opposing batters to a .205 average.

Scouting Report: Arronde increased the velocity on his four-seam fastball in 2024 and now sits 92-95 mph and touches 97, with more zip projected as he continues to add strength to his tall, projectable frame. His out pitch is a plus split-changeup with late downward movement that sits 82-86 mph. His 81-84 mph slider is still a work in progress but could be an average pitch in time. Arronde throws from a clean and easy high three-quarters slot and has solid pitchability and control.

The Future: There’s still more development ahead for Arronde, and it’s too early in his career to project his ultimate role. He needs to continue adding strength and durability to make it deeper into his starts. With more velocity and improvement of the breaking ball, he could be a solid back-of-the-rotation starter but could also thrive in a leveraged relief role using the fastball/changeup combo. He’ll move up to High-A Quad Cities in 2025.

Scouting Grades: FB: 55. SL: 45. CH: 60. CTL: 50.

LP Langevin, RHP

Preseason Rank: 26
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High

Track Record: Langevin is a native of Quebec who spent two years at Wabash Valley JC in Illinois before going to Louisiana-Lafayette, where he managed a tremendous 39% strikeout rate pitching mostly as a reliever. He signed with the Royals for $597,500 after being drafted in the fourth round in 2024. Langevin didn’t go to an affiliate after reporting to the Royals complex in Arizona, instead pitching in bridge league games.

Scouting Report: Langevin possessed one of the more unique fastballs in college baseball, with observers on the Arizona backfields getting to witness the potential double-plus pitch with a unique vertical approach angle and excellent spin. The heater was 93-96 mph in the fall, with extremely high spin rates and deceptive ride. He varies the speed on the 77-84 mph slider, with the development goal being to get the breaking ball to be serviceable from the same slot as his fastball. He has a feel for an 86-89 mph changeup. Langevin varies his arm slot and pitches to both sides of the plate.

The Future: Langevin could move quickly as a reliever, with an outlier fastball that should dominate, but will need to bring his secondaries along and improve his control. The Royals will get the chance to figure out what they have in this unique pitcher, probably starting him out at High-A Quad Cities in 2025.

Scouting Grades: FB: 70. SL: 45. CH: 40. CTL: 40.