Minor League Baseball

Kansas City Royals Top Prospect Tosses 5 Perfect Innings in Single-A

Despite still being a teenager, Kendry Chourio showed out for the Columbia Fireflies in their showdown with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Thursday.
Sam Connon|
Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the hat and glove of Kansas City Royals first basemen Eric Hosmer the field prior to a game against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.
Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the hat and glove of Kansas City Royals first basemen Eric Hosmer the field prior to a game against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium. | Peter G. Aiken-Imagn Images

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Kansas City Royals

Kendry Chourio, still just 17 years old, has torn it up in the Kansas City Royals' farm system in 2025.

The right-handed pitcher made his third start with Single-A Columbia on Thursday, taking on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He proceeded to toss 5.0 innings without allowing a hit, walk or run, racking up four strikeouts in the Fireflies' eventual 7-2 win.

Chourio's perfect outing came on the heels of a far shakier one on Aug. 8, when he gave up six earned runs in 3.2 innings against the Hickory Crawdads. He is now 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA, 0.711 WHIP and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings in Single-A.

The Royals promoted their No. 8 prospect to Single-A after he blazed through both the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League. Through 41.1 innings as a professional, Chourio is 2-2 with a 3.05 ERA, 0.823 WHIP and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

MLB Pipeline has Chourio's fastball and control graded at 60s, while his curveball earned a 55 and his changeup was slotted in a 50. Hs big league ETA isn't until 2029, so the Venezuelan righty has plenty of time to fine tune his mechanics in the minors.

But at his current pace, Chourio could continue to rise through the ranks in 2026. While he still has High-A, Double-A and Triple-A left to conquer, his showing in Single-A on Thursday showed just how quickly he can adapt to new levels of competition.

Chourio, David Shields, Blake Wolters and Hiro Wyatt all call Columbia home for the time being, but they could very well join forces to reshape Kansas City's rotation in the future.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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