Royals 18-Year-Old Hurler Named Team's Best Teen Prospect

The Kansas City Royals are struggling a bit, but at 28-24 they remain in the third American League Wild Card spot and just five games back of first place in the AL Central.

The team overcame a dreadful 8-14 start to the 2025 season and erased any sentiment that this year would be a repeat of 2023, a year in which they lost 106 games.

The Royals have some promising young prospects in their system, including 18-year-old left-hander David Shields. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently listed every Major League team's best teenage prospect, and Shields was listed for the Royals.

"The Royals signed Shields away from a commitment to the University of Miami with a $2.3 million bonus as the No. 41 overall pick in the 2024 draft, making him the fifth high school pitcher off the board. With an athletic 6'2", 210-pound frame, clean mechanics and good overall command, he could move quicker than most prep arms through the lower levels of the minors," Reuter wrote on Friday.

The Royals have a lot of solid prospects in the system. As the old saying goes, a team can never have too much pitching, and Shields could be an important piece for the Royals in the future.

At 18, Shields is obviously still several years away from making it to the Major Leagues, so it is going to be a while before he says action with the Royals.

However, he's a good piece to have in their system, and we'll see where things stand in a few years.

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