David Shields

Shields is at least a couple years away from the majors, but he checks a lot of boxes for a young pitching prospect. He's left-handed, has good size at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, has a full four-pitch mix and has excellent command. The Royals gave him $2.3 million as a 17-year-old in the 2024 First-Year Player Draft and he made his pro debut in 2025 in the Arizona Complex League. Shields was promoted to Single-A after one start in rookie ball and was the youngest pitcher to throw 60-plus innings at Single-A last year. He logged a 2.01 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 81:15 K:BB and 46.7 percent groundball rate in 71.2 innings across 18 regular season starts and then allowed four runs while striking out 12 and walking none in 10 innings while going 2-0 during the Carolina League playoffs. Shields' fastball maxed out at 94 mph last year and sat around 90 mph for much of the year, but it plays up because of its movement. The rest of his profile is excellent for a 19-year-old starting pitcher, as all three of his secondary pitches have at least above-average potential and he has plus control. Read Past Outlooks