I found something interesting over at FanGraphs this morning:

This is mighty impressive. There are five teenagers in the top 25 of wRC+ in the South Atlantic League (A), three of them are Royals prospects (the other two are Pirates prospects oddly enough). All three of the Royals prospects in the top 25 in wRC+ are 19 years old. The average age of the rest of the top 25 is 22.35 years old. That means that the trio of Royals prospects and the duo of Pirates prospects are nearly 3 and a half years younger than the other players in the league that are performing similarly.

One of the biggest factors that people use when grading prospects is the prospect’s age in comparison to his competition. A 25-year old posting a wRC+ of 150 at AA is not nearly as impressive as a 19-year old posting a wRC+ of 120 (Pratto) at Low-A ball. The fact that the Royals have 3 kids in the top 25 wRC+ in a league that’s being dominated by 22 and 23 year olds is impressive, and ought to give Royals fans a little bit of a brighter look toward the future.