Kansas City Royals news: Blake Mitchell hits blast in Arizona

SB Nation

Anne Rogers has an update from the Arizona Fall League on Royals prospects.

The reason for intrigue? Langevin’s fastball. It’s funky and baffles hitters with ride and run. Two games is a small sample, even

in the AFL, but Langevin hasn’t allowed a hit yet. He has walked three with three strikeouts and allowed an unearned run. His last outing was pushed back because of a cut on his finger, but overall, he’s starting to feel like himself.

“I was all over the place this season because of the injury,” Langevin said. “First time being injured in my career, and being a year-plus removed from competitive baseball. By [fall] instructs this year, I finally felt like I had felt in college compared to this last year in pro ball. And the goal is just to continue that in the Fall League.

“The high intensity, not [caring] who the hitter is and just trying to strike everybody else, basically. That’s how I perform best.”

Blake Mitchll had a huge home run.

The three-run homer — Mitchell’s first extra-base hit of any kind in the Arizona Fall League — left the bat at 116.5 mph, making it the hardest-hit dinger by anyone through two-and-a-half weeks of the campaign. Only Bobby Witt Jr. hit a ball into play harder among Royals Major Leaguers this season with a 117.5 mph single on Sept. 10. Diving back even more, no Kansas City slugger has hit a homer harder in the Majors in the Statcast era (since 2015); the highest exit velocity in that category belongs to a 115.7 mph shot by Jorge Soler on Sept. 4, 2019.

“I didn’t really feel it off the bat, that’s how I knew I hit it pretty good,” Mitchell said. “But a lot of work, a lot of effort went into that swing right there.”

David Lesky wonders if the Royals should look to move some relievers. [$]

But, as we’ve also discussed, the free agent market is thin. To be clear before I say this, I have heard absolutely nothing about the Royals discussing this which doesn’t mean it isn’t something on the table but I want it to be abundantly clear that this is only me talking. I wonder if they would be willing (and if they should be willing) to move some pieces from their bullpen in an effort to go after some outfielders again. Estevez makes $10.1 million, as I said. John Schreiber is projected to make $4-$5 million. There really aren’t any other significant salaries in the bullpen, but those two alone could clear nearly $15 million of 2026 payroll to be able to add to some offer.

On one hand, trading relievers is pretty much always wise. On the other hand, the bullpen was a strength of this team. They finished seventh in baseball in ERA. Of course, on the third hand, they weren’t quite as good in xERA, finishing 12th. They were 28th in strikeout rate and had the third-highest strand rate. There are some signs that the bullpen wouldn’t be quite as good in 2026. I do think they need a couple different pieces in that bullpen, including a better top lefty than Angel Zerpa.

Kacen Bayliss at the Star has the latest on behind-the-scenes efforts in Missouri to keep the Royals. [$]

The records obtained by The Star, Kehoe’s internal calendar entries, did not reveal the substance of the governor’s recent talks. But Kehoe’s spokesperson said in a statement that the governor and his staff “remain in frequent communication with the Royals and the Chiefs to ensure that both teams stay in Missouri.”

Multiple officials across the Kansas City area also suggested in interviews with The Star that the private calls were a positive sign for Missouri’s bid to keep the Royals inside state lines, either downtown or in Clay County.

“Gov. Kehoe is a salesperson,” said Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat who helped craft legislation to lure a Royals stadium to Clay County. “He’s gonna stick to this until he seals the deal. And so I give him a lot of credit on this.”

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