Royals top prospect Blake Mitchell sidelined with right hand injury. Here are the details
Kansas City Royals catcher Blake Mitchell will undergo surgery next week.
On Saturday, Royals manager Matt Quatraro announced that Mitchell suffered a hamate bone fracture in his right hand. Mitchell, the club’s No. 2 prospect, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with the injury.
“I don’t think it was an acute thing,” Quatraro said. “I don’t have all the details on that. I think it was something that happened over time.”
Mitchell was among several top prospects invited to Royals camp. In January, he got his tonsils removed and was gradually increasing his activity. He was able to catch bullpens and take batting practice in recent days.
Now, Mitchell will be sidelined for the rest of spring training. The Royals are hopeful Mitchell will return early in the 2025 minor-league season.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate,” Quatraro said. “But like with most of these things, especially with that kind of timeline, it’s better to happen now.”
The Royals selected Mitchell eighth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. He starred at Sinton High School in Texas and drew comparisons to MLB star Bryce Harper.
KC fell in love with his intangibles. Last season, Mitchell was named the George Brett Hitter of the Year after logging a .238 batting average with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs in Single-A Columbia.
Mitchell was promoted to High-A Quad Cities late in the season. He is currently the No. 48 overall prospect in MLB.com’s top 100 rankings.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Mitchell said of his 2024 campaign. “There is definitely some room for improvement and some growth that I can make. I want to improve on everything this year and get better in every category that I can.”
The Royals still have multiple catchers in camp. Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin will get the bulk of the regular-season work. They are the lone catchers on the club’s 40-man roster.
KC has five other catchers available. Fellow top prospect Carter Jensen is in Royals camp and Luke Maile and Brian O’Keefe are among those with MLB experience.
The Royals will face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. Central. The game will be available via radio broadcast on 96.5 The Fan in the KC area.
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Royals top prospect Blake Mitchell sidelined with right hand injury. Here are the details."
