'Good for the game': Royals prospects relish Spring Breakout event 

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- On the backfields of the Royals’ Spring Training complex, one can catch tons of the team’s top prospects divided among the fields and working out in different groups.

But in less than a month, fans will be able to see the organization’s top prospects all on one field playing against a team of Brewers prospects as part of the inaugural Spring Breakout, a new MLB initiative aimed at showcasing baseball’s best young talent in exhibition games throughout Florida and Arizona.

• Here's everything you need to know about Spring Breakout

“It’s going to be a great event,” Royals director of player development Mitch Maier said. “You get to see an opportunity to see some of our best Minor League prospects all on one field playing against another organization’s prospects. We piggyback with the Major League Spring Training game there. It makes a lot of sense to get the fanbase the opportunity to see those players that they’ll be seeing in the near future, not only in Major League Spring Training games but at Kauffman Stadium as well.”

MLB announced more details regarding the event last week, including the following information:

• Each roster will be constructed using MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospects list for the club as its foundation, and all players on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list are eligible to participate.
• Rosters will be revealed live on a special MLB Network program on March 7 at 10 a.m. C.T., co-hosted by Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds. The broadcast will be simulcast on MLB’s digital platforms.
• Nearly all the games will be broadcast live and blackout-free on MLB’s digital platforms (MLB.com, MLB.TV and the MLB app), and MLB Network will air five games live. The Royals’ game was not on the initial broadcast schedule announced Thursday, but there will be a webcast audio broadcast aired by the team on royals.com.
• Tickets for all games are on sale now.

The Royals’ No. 1 prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, will likely headline their roster. The 19-year-old arrived early for his first pro Spring Training over on the Minor League side after he was drafted No. 8 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. Other position players likely to participate include catcher Carter Jensen (No. 7), third baseman Cayden Wallace (No. 2), shortstop Austin Charles (No. 10) and second baseman Javier Vaz (No. 13).

“It’ll be pretty cool to get all the younger guys some exposure,” Jensen, who is participating in his first big league camp, said last week. “Just a pretty cool event overall.”

The pitching is more up in the air before rosters are revealed because who’s pitching in the game will be based on their Spring Training progressions. But starters Ben Kudrna (No. 3), Frank Mozzicato (No. 4), Mason Barnett (No. 12) and Chandler Champlain (No. 11), as well as relievers such as Eric Cerantola and Noah Cameron, could all be in play.

“I think it’s cool,” Champlain said. “It might give fans for the Royals and Brewers specifically for that game like a head’s up for this is what we’ve got coming in future years for our organization. Pay attention to these kids. It may even open the eyes to fans like, ‘Wow, there is some real talent in Minor League Baseball that no one really knows about.’ Unless you live in the city where your Minor League team is, no one really knows about it. So I think it’s good for the game.”

All of the players listed above are at different levels of their careers -- from their first season of pro ball to a step or two away from Kansas City. For one game at least, they’ll join forces against the Brewers’ top prospects.

“We’ll see how the rosters shape out and kind of iron out the rest of the details,” Maier said. “But it’s cool to maybe have a player entering their first season versus a player who’s knocking on the doorstep on the Majors playing next to each other. You’ll have a little bit of a wide range of experience. I think it’ll be a good event, and the guys will enjoy not only playing with each other but playing against the opponents.”