Royals No. 2 prospect Mitchell shatters all kinds of marks with 116.5 mph AFL homer

MESA, Ariz. – In 3.7 seconds, Blake Mitchell gave a brief but lasting glimpse into what makes him such a promising prospect.

That’s all it took for the No. 2 Royals prospect’s first-inning hit to leave the yard Thursday in Surprise’s 7-5 win at Mesa.

The three-run homer -- Mitchell’s first extra-base hit of any kind in the Arizona Fall League -- left the bat at 116.5 mph, making it the hardest-hit dinger by anyone through two-and-a-half weeks of the campaign. Only Bobby Witt Jr. hit a ball into play harder among Royals Major Leaguers this season with a 117.5 mph single on Sept. 10. Diving back even more, no Kansas City slugger has hit a homer harder in the Majors in the Statcast era (since 2015); the highest exit velocity in that category belongs to a 115.7 mph shot by Jorge Soler on Sept. 4, 2019.

“I didn't really feel it off the bat, that's how I knew I hit it pretty good,” Mitchell said. “But a lot of work, a lot of effort went into that swing right there.”

The left-handed slugger’s blast came as the culmination of a five-pitch plate appearance against Cubs right-hander Koen Moreno in the first inning. Mitchell whiffed on the first pitch he saw, a changeup at the bottom of the zone, and watched a 1-1 cambio also land for a called strike. When Moreno delivered a middle-middle 85.9 mph change for his fifth offering of the at-bat, MLB Pipeline’s No. 62 prospect didn’t miss it, sending a screamer to the right-field berm of Sloan Park with a bat speed of 77.3 mph (above the fast standard of 75).

The 3.7-second hang time was the lowest of any AFL homer through Thursday’s play.

Mitchell, who added his previous best in-game EV was 111 mph, later tacked on an eight-pitch walk in the seventh and a pulled single to right in the ninth to finish his 2-for-4 day in the Saguaros’ win. It was a much-needed turnaround for the catcher who had gone 1-for-22 (.045) with 11 strikeouts in his previous seven games entering Thursday.

“I really just kept my head down, stayed grinding,” Mitchell said. “I got my timing back on the fastball. I feel like, in the past, I was missing some fastballs that I should have been hitting. So just setting my eyes out front, getting everything out front and then that led to that power swing right there.”

The 2023 eighth overall pick stood to be one of the most closely followed players in this year’s Fall League after his age-20 season got off to a delayed start due to a broken right hamate bone in Spring Training. The injury, resulting surgery and some setbacks limited him to only 49 games with High-A Quad Cities during the regular season, and in that span, he slashed only .207/.372/.296 with a pair of homers. Hamates can affect the immediate power output of young prospects, but a 31.8 percent strikeout rate was a sign there were more issues at play. That extended to Mitchell’s recent cold streak as he continued to play catch-up from the lost time in the summer.

“I've been working on it for a couple of weeks now,” Mitchell said. “Being out earlier in the year with that injury definitely messed up my timing a little bit for sure. Getting so many ABs, getting back into the swing of things definitely helped. Cage work, machine work, being in there and just focused on going early definitely helped.”

Through it all, Mitchell has kept a certain level of discipline at the plate. He walked in 20.8 percent of his High-A plate appearances during the summer, and he’s kept that focus with Surprise. His 13 walks are third-most in the Fall League, and he’s maintained a .426 on-base percentage, seemingly the result of knowing the zone so well from his work behind the plate.

But much will come down to Mitchell’s power as he works to reestablish himself in the Royals’ prospect hierarchy. Fellow first-rounder Jac Caglianone and fellow backstop Carter Jensen (KC No. 1/MLB No. 39) both reached Kauffman Stadium in 2025 on the strength of their in-game pop. On Thursday, Mitchell provided a look at just how high his own power ceiling can be. After a 116.5 mph blast, it might be higher now than ever before.

“I'm just trying to hit the ball hard,” he said. “That’s my only focus when I'm up there -- just hit it hard.”