Royals 23-Year-Old Prospect 'Standing Out' During Spring Training: Insider
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The Kansas City Royals already have plenty of confidence in their 2025 pitching staff, but a spring training breakout is more than welcome.
Whether support comes in the starting rotation or bullpen, small-market teams like the Royals always need young pitchers to come up and produce throughout the regular season. In 2025, Kansas City doesn't have a clear-cut number-five starter, so there's a chance they could call upon minor-league depth as the year goes along.
It's still early in the spring, but one Royals insider has already identified an early candidate to make an impact as a midseason call-up.
MLB.com's Anne Rogers recently named 23-year-old righty Luinder Avila, who isn't a candidate for the Opening Day roster, as a prospect who is "standing out" so far during Royals camp in Surprise, Ariz.
"(Avila is) also a starter and will continue to be built up in Triple-A this season, needing more development time, but his physicality has stood out to coaches watching him throw in games and bullpens," Rogers wrote.
"Avila has promising stuff, including a mid-90s fastball that naturally cuts and flashed upper-90s in his first Cactus League outing, a new two-seamer and a big breaking ball that misses bats. The Royals see Avila as being able to help them in a variety of roles, which includes the bullpen, so that’s something to monitor as the season nears."
Avila spent most of last season in Double-A, making one Triple-A start at the end of the year before moving on to the Arizona Fall League. He had a 4.14 ERA in 20 minor-league starts last season, striking out 85 batters in 87 1/3 innings.
If Avila wants to impact the big-league club in 2025, his best bet may be as a middle reliever. His fastball, which has good life, could be very tough for hitters to square up if he's throwing it at maximum effort for an inning or two.
Though it could be a few months before Royals fans see Avila in Kansas City, his is a name to watch as the rest of March unfolds.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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