Hello Dynasty Baseball fans, and welcome to our poorly-named-yet-well-written, Companion Article Series! We will be publishing these the day after each team’s Top 10 Prospect Lists are shared. And while we will focus on the same organization, our companion pieces will not always be prospect-centric. Every author will choose to share their thoughts on whatever aspect of the team they are writing about. And if you want more than our Top 10 Lists and Companion Articles, donate $15 now to get over 20 prospects ranked per team plus access to our full rankings (pre-season, mid-year, FYPD, Org prospects). Or a $20 donation for the full rankings sheet and our Discord Channel. The link to our donation page can be found here.

Pitching Prospects To Know

The Kansas City Royals have had a recent run of top minor league prospects making their debut and providing a boost to the big league club. Those prospects have been predominantly on the hitting side, with the likes of Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen in the last year, then further back with Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. Now, the next wave of prospects poised to make an impact at the major league level seems to be taking shape. This time though, they are on the mound. Kendry Chourio, David Shields, and Justin Lamkin have the potential to take command of the Royals pitching staff in the next couple of seasons.

Kendry Chourio

Chourio is the star of the Kansas City Royals farm system at this time and for good reason. The 18-year-old was signed out of Venezuela in the 2025 J15 class by the Royals. As a 17-year-old he did the once unthinkable, he went from pitching in the Dominican Summer League (DSL), to the Complex League, and then up to Single-A Columbia, where he had his most innings pitched. Along the way he threw 17.2 innings in the DSL and 11 innings in the Complex League, all while dominating hitters. Over the two stops, he walked just one batter and struck out 39. It came with ERAs of 2.04 (DSL) and 2.45 (Complex). He showed elite command and the ability to generate strikeouts. Once he moved up to Single-A it was a little tougher, but at 17 years old, it was expected. Across 22.2 innings his ERA jumped to 5.16, but his FIP was 3.66, as he pitched better than the results showed. His command was still great with four walks to 22 strikeouts. Then came this year, his stuff ticked up and he is now throwing consistently in the upper 90s, still with his elite command. This season at Single-A, he has an ERA of 1.69, a FIP of 3.04, a BAA of .186, walk rate of 4.9%, and a strikeout rate of 28.2%. What he has shown at the age of 17 and 18, has been truly elite. You don’t see young pitchers with his combination of stuff, command, and execution at the levels he has pitched, which is what sets him apart from his peers. Taking into account some natural projection, we could be talking about a superstar pitching prospect in a year and someone who could make an impact as a major league starting pitcher by the time he is 20. Definitely worthy of being the top prospect in the Kansas City Royals system.

David Shields

Shields was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the second round of the 2024 MLB draft. He began his minor league career in 2025 at the Complex League. After one start he would move up to Single-A Columbia. Like Kendry Chourio, he would dominate at a young age for the level. As an 18-year-old, he threw 71.1 innings, had a 2.01 ERA, a 2.57 FIP, 5.2% walk rate, and a 28.3% strikeout rate. This season, over 39.2 innings at High-A Quad Cities, he has a 3.63 ERA, a 4.25 FIP, a BAA of .206, 8.3% walk rate, and a 26.9% strikeout rate. Similar to Chourio as well, he has a very good command of the strike zone and uses it to his advantage. His delivery can be deceptive to hitters, which adds to his stuff by letting it play up even more. He even has a bit of Jaime Arnold in his delivery. There have been only five qualified pitchers above Rookie-ball who are 19-years-old or younger and Shields has been by far the best of the group (only two are at High-A). A worthy pitcher on the rise and one that might be overlooked despite his elite production.

Justin Lamkin

Lamkin might be the biggest unknown of the trio here, but has great potential himself. Turning 22-years-old at the start of June, he was drafted 71st overall in the 2025 MLB draft and in his debut minor league season has already reached Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Across High-A and Double-A, he has pitched 39.2 innings, has an ERA of 2.04, a FIP of 3.64, a .164 BAA, 9.2% walk rate, and a 34.9% strikeout rate. Pretty much in line with the stats from Chourio and Shields. He has a bit of a hitch and jump in his delivery from the left side, which does a really great job at messing with hitters’ timing and causes a bit of deception as well. What Lamkin is doing this year is on par with Chourio and Shields, but at an even higher level. If he keeps pitching like this, he will take a leap up in the rankings and could enter the top 100 before next season.