Welcome back. This is now the third edition of our preseason prospect rankings here at Royals Farm Report. Before we get into the rankings, there is a lot that has changed here at the site that I want to catch you up on.

First of all, our founding father and fearless leader, Patrick Brennan (@paintingcorner), is now working on the analytics team for Kansas State Baseball. One of our writers, Joel Penfield (@jtpenfield), was picked up by 2080 Baseball doing scouting in the Texas League. Another writer and editor, Joshua Payton (@josh_payton), was hired by Excelsior Leader Sports as their new Director of Baseball Operations.

We’re all busy people, but with the turnover we’ve had recently things are going to be a little different around here. You’ll still see a lot of familiar names writing here, it may just be in different capacities. In any case, we’d like to like to sincerely thank all of you for reading along. As you can tell from above, this website has given our writers access to opportunities bigger and better than we ever could have imagined. We love sharing our love of Minor League Baseball, and of the Royals, with you, and we thank you for allowing us to do so.

You can check out or 2019 midseason top 75 here.

• 75-61
• 60-51

Without further ado, here are our 2020 preseason prospect rankings, 50-46.

#50: Ofreidy Gomez, RHP

• Age: 24 (July 6, 1995)
• Birthplace: Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• Ht: 6′ 3″ Wt: 190
• Acquired: International Free Agent
• 2019 stats (NWA): 115.2 IP, 4.05 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 8.64 K/9, 3.50 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9

Ofreidy Gomez did a really good job of creating weak contact in 2019. Gomez has never really been one to get hit all over the yard, as he’s never allowed a HR/9 over his 2019 mark of 0.93 over a full season. His biggest issue moving forward won’t necessarily be how hard he gets it, just how often he gets hit. He doesn’t generate many strikeouts and walks far too many hitters to not generate a ton of strikeouts. Gomez is in danger of being passed up by the 2018 draft crop this year and may have to make a move to the bullpen if he wants to carve out a big league role any time soon. He’s got the frame to make it happen, but he’ll need to prove he can handle the discipline of big league hitters in order to survive in the bigs.

#49: Gerson Garabito, RHP

• Age: 24 (August 19, 1995)
• Birthplace: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• Ht: 6′ 0″ Wt: 160
• Acquired: International Free Agent
• 2019 stats (NWA): 141 IP, 3.77 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 7.21 K/9, 3.83 BB/9, 0.83 HR/9

You could probably just copy and paste Ofreidy Gomez’ write up here. Garabito doesn’t profile similarly to Gomez as a pitcher, but as prospects, they have a lot of the same issues. Garabito has some pretty decent raw stuff, including some really impressive spin rates on his curveball. He just doesn’t strike out nearly enough hitters to walk 3.83 batters per nine innings. He doesn’t always get hit really hard, he just gets hit often. His frame doesn’t allow for as much projection as Gomez, but he might have the best pitch of the two in his curveball, barely giving him the nod above Gomez.

#48: Blake Perkins, OF

• Age: 23 (September 10, 1996)
• Birthplace: Litchfield Park, AZ
• Bats/Throws: S/R
• Ht: 5′ 11″ Wt: 181
• Acquired: Trade for Kelvin Herrera
• 2019 stats (WIL): 352 PA, .226/.345/.354/.699, 6 HR, 21 XBH, 18 SB, 0.66 BB/K, 108 wRC+

Blake Perkins has an argument for best defensive outfielder in the Royals system. He’s not as fast as Nick Heath or Mike Gigliotti, doesn’t have the arm of Seuly Matias or Khalil Lee, but he runs some of the purest routes I’ve seen and can absolutely go get it in CF. As good as he is in CF and on the base paths, I’m not sure that the bat will allow him to carve out an every day role in the big leagues. His impressive plate discipline and ability to switch hit should help him advance through the organizational ladder for now, but he’ll need to hit a bit more to carve out any kind of role in the big leagues.

#47: Nathan Eaton, UTIL

• Age: 23 (December 22, 1996)
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• Ht: 5′ 11″ Wt: 185
• Acquired: 2018 MLB Draft
• 2019 stats (LEX): 557 PA, .233/.305/.336/.641, 5 HR, 39 XBH, 18 SB, 0.40 BB/K, 89 wRC+

Nate Eaton was really, really good in his professional debut back in 2018. I was super excited to see how he’d handle A-ball last summer, but it didn’t quite go as well as anyone had hoped. Eaton began to heat up over the first couple of months, hitting .247 in May and .301 in June, then he hit .229 in July and just .169 in August. Eaton is about to enter his age-23 season where he should see time in Wilmington at some point, which ought to be a great test for the Royals utility man. He’s got the tools necessary to make a Whit Merrifield like rise through the minors if he can put it all together.

#46: John Rave, OF

• Age: 22 (December 30, 1997)
• Birthplace: Canton, IL
• Bats/Throws: L/L
• Ht: 6′ 0″ Wt: 185
• Acquired: 2019 MLB Draft
• 2019 stats (LEX): 196 PA, .253/.321/.339/.660, 2 HR, 10 XBH, 6 SB, 0.26 BB/K, 97 wRC+

John Rave was one of my favorite under-the-radar guys that KC drafted last summer. As a sophomore at Illinois State, Rave posted an OPS of .973, struck out 32 times, walked 23, and hit 8 HR in 52 games. He didn’t quite have the junior season that I’m sure he’d hoped for, seeing his OPS and walk rate dip while his K% sky-rocketed over 20%, but the Royals took a chance on him in the 5th round last June looking for a bounce-back candidate. Rave can really move in the outfield and plays a solid CF. He hits for enough power to survive the upper levels of the minor leagues, and his track record would suggest that he’s capable of posting respectable BB/K ratios as well. He’s going to have to figure out how to get his K% back to 2017-2018 form if he wants to reach the big leagues, but the profile looks really good for an under-the-radar riser through the system in 2020.

You can check out or 2019 midseason top 75 here.

• 75-61
• 60-51

Photo Credits: Ryan Griffith (@ryanrgriffith)