Under-the-radar Royals prospects to know this season

Full-season affiliate rosters released on Wednesday.

The minor league season has already gotten underway. The Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers started their season on March 29. The rest of the full-season affiliates will kick off this week. Ahead of each team’s respective “Opening Day,” rosters for each level of the minor leagues were released on Wednesday. There weren’t too many surprises. It’s easy to tell you which prospects are the most notable at their respective affiliate. Knowing the headliners in the farm system is easy enough. Beyond that, however, who are some under-the-radar names to keep tabs on for the 2024 season?

Here’s a look at one per affiliate:

Omaha Storm Chasers: RHP Andrew Hoffmann

The Storm Chasers roster is stocked full mostly with depth as opposed to true “prospects.” There are some top prospects in the mix though, including Will Klein and Tyler Gentry. Jonathan Bowlan and Anthony Veneziano have been in the system long enough that they’re probably past true prospect status. Nick Pratto doesn’t have prospect status any longer due to his MLB time, but he’s a notable name. One name that you won’t find on the Pipeline Top 30 is pitcher Andrew Hoffmann.

He was there in 2023, ranked as the team’s no. 14 prospect. Then came struggles in Northwest Arkansas and Omaha last season. At both stops Hoffmann pitched to an ERA north of 5.00. He struggled to limit baserunners and gave up a lot of home runs. Those two things together are never going to create great results. Even still, there were signs of development amid his struggles. Hoffmann tweaked his mechanics after arriving in Omaha and saw a serious uptick in strikeouts. His strikeout rate was nearly 5% higher in Omaha than at Double-A to start the year.

Hoffmann has a plus slider, but the rest of his arsenal has been limited. In his first start of the season, he’s already shown signs of improvement. His fastball sat in the mid-90s on March 31 and the spin rates were regularly north of 2300 rpm. Hoffmann mixed his pitches well and over five innings made just one mistake that bit him for a two-run home run. Just 24 years old, Hoffmann is still young enough to factor into next season’s rotation if he can take some strides forward this season. After all, look at Alec Marsh.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals: LHP Tyson Guerrero

Guerrero entered Pipeline’s top 30 prospects list at this year’s preseason update. He’s 25 years old and pitching in Double-A, but it’s worth noting that injuries slowed his professional career after he was drafted out of the University of Washington in 2021. Post-draft, through the end of 2022 he pitched in just 30.1 affiliated innings. Then, last season he put together his first full season as a pro.

The results were impressive. In 18 appearances for Quad Cities, Guerrero pitched to a 3.63 ERA. His 3.82 FIP wasn’t much worse than that and his xFIP of 3.26 showed signs that he could be even better. Mid-season, Guerrero was promoted to Northwest Arkansas where he was met with more adversity, but that came over a small three-game sample size. In all, between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas, Guerrero pitched in 95.1 innings last season. He struck out 121 and walked just 34. He leans heavily on a wipeout slider, but his fastball rides well up in the zone as well.

Quad Cities River Bandits: LHP Oscar Rayo

Of all minor league pitchers with at least 70 IP in 2023 (there were 692), no one allowed fewer home runs than lefty Oscar Rayo. He’s 22 years old, which is slightly old for Low-A. Much of that was due to slow progression through the DSL. He transitioned to a starting role in the middle of last season and maintained the success he found in relief. He’s not much of a strikeout pitcher quite yet, but his command is impressive.

If the lack of home runs wasn’t enough to draw your attention, pair that with the fact that Rayo walked just 12 hitters all season. He throws in the low-90s but uses a full-pitch mix that features his four-seam fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup. If Rayo can gain some velocity as he continues to progress, he could find a much higher ceiling as a prospect. Even if he doesn't, his ability to limit hard contact while commanding the zone well is still a great consolation prize.

Columbia Fireflies: INF Jhonny Perdomo

There are a ton of intriguing prospects in Columbia to open the 2024 season. From top draft picks (Blake Mitchell, Blake Wolters) to late draft picks (Austin Charles, Milo Rushford), there’s a bit of everything on the Fireflies roster. Then, there are the international prospects sprinkled in as well. Derlin Figueroa headlines the group after joining the organization in the Ryan Yarbrough trade last summer. There are others, including Erick Torres, Emmanuel Reyes, Félix Arronde, Daniel Vazquez, and Lizandro Rodriguez. Another among that list is infielder Jhonny Perdomo.

Perdomo signed with the Royals as an international free agent in 2019. He spent last season in the Complex League, where he slashed .336/.381/.455. There’s a hint of Christian Colón in his game. He’s a 5-10 infielder who will most likely stick at second base long-term. He has the potential to be an above-average hitter — albeit with below-average power — who plays good defense with plus speed. He’ll turn 22 in June but gets his first taste of Low-A this season.