Scouting Report

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Arronde signed with the Royals for $100,000 in 2021 out of Cuba, and ever since coming stateside in '24, he has skyrocketed onto the radar and turned into one of the Royals’ best pitching prospects. With High-A Quad Cities in 2025, Arronde posted a 2.80 ERA across 26 games (24 starts) and 128 2/3 innings, marking his second consecutive season of a sub-3.00 ERA and more than 110 innings. He held batters to a .210 average and struck them out at a 19.5 percent clip while posting an 8.1 percent walk rate, along with 0.63 HR/9 allowed.

Arronde leaned heavily on his above-average 94-95 mph fastball in 2025, and the pitch can touch 97. He added good muscle to his projectable frame over the offseason, which helped with the velocity. He tightened up his slider, too, and the mid-80s pitch has more movement. Arronde is working on a curveball and he throws an 85 mph split-fingered changeup that has the potential to be a plus pitch, but he just didn’t use it as often as officials would have liked and needs to tighten it up; it does get whiffs when he goes to it. Arronde is athletic and pitches from a clean and easy delivery. The knock against Arronde is that he doesn’t strike batters out, but he fills up the zone to get quick and weak contact.

There is still some development to go, and he’ll need to find the swing and miss part of his game, but Arronde’s control, delivery and arsenal give him a very good chance to start in the big leagues one day. The next challenge awaits at Double-A.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Two months after turning 18, Arronde signed with the Royals for $100,000 out of Cuba in 2021. He spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League but has taken off in the past two seasons stateside. Arronde particularly flew onto the radar in 2024 pitching in Single-A Columbia, where he posted a 2.94 ERA across 110 1/3 innings with a 1.02 WHIP, a 23.5% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate.

With some strength now in his 6-foot-3 frame, Arronde’s velocity has steadily increased and sits 93-94 mph. But he can lose velocity late in the year as he struggles to keep weight on, thus leading to more hard contact on the pitch. What makes Arronde so interesting is his low-to-mid-80s split-finger changeup, a plus pitch that disappears under bats at the last second. He can land it for strikes, generate weak contact and get swing-and-miss on it. Arronde is also working on a low 80s slider that has a chance to be average or above. His clean delivery from a high three-quarters slot lends itself to throwing strikes.

Arronde gets high marks for his tenacity and competitiveness on and off the mound. He’s still young with more strength needed and more development to go, but the split gives him an interesting profile as someone to keep an eye on. If his third pitch improves, he has potential as a back-end starter, but the splitter would certainly play in the bullpen.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 40 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

The Royals signed Arronde for $100,000 out of Cuba in June 2021, two months past his 18th birthday. Arronde debuted stateside two years later and took off in the Arizona Complex League, earning 2023 end-of-season All-Star honors after posting a 1.85 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 39 innings. He made a pair of starts for Single-A Columbia to end last season and returned to the Fireflies with continued promising results to begin 2024.

Standing in at a listed 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, the right-hander has long been super projectable, and that room to add strength is paying off this summer as his fastball has begun to touch 96 mph early in starts. Arronde will typically settle a few ticks below that at 92-94, and without killer movement, the fastball can be rather hittable as it slips down the velo band. But the current trajectory for more heat is certainly promising. Arronde gets his best grades for his disappearing mid-80s changeup that looks much like the heater out of his hand but falls below bats at the last second. His low-80s slider lacks bite and will need to improve to be a quality third pitch.

Arronde repeats his mechanics well and looks loose on the mound. Limiting walks hasn’t been much of an issue early in his career, and he tends to run a high groundball rate, in part because of the diving changeup. He has backend starter potential but could work as a two-pitch reliever in time, especially if he continues to add velocity the higher he climbs toward The Show.

Awards

MID Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
07/06/2025

ACL Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2023

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	06/11/2026	Northwest Arkansas Naturals activated RHP Felix Arronde from the 7-day injured list.
	05/27/2026	Northwest Arkansas Naturals placed RHP Felix Arronde on the 7-day injured list.
	04/01/2026	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to Northwest Arkansas Naturals from Quad Cities River Bandits.
	03/05/2026	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to Kansas City Royals Prospects.
	03/03/2026	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to Kansas City Royals.
	04/02/2025	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to Quad Cities River Bandits from Columbia Fireflies.
	03/06/2025	activated RHP Felix Arronde.
	08/29/2023	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to Columbia Fireflies from ACL Royals.
	06/05/2023	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to ACL Royals.
	06/04/2022	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to DSL KC Glass from DSL KC Stewart.
	09/14/2021	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to DSL Royals White from DSL Royals Blue.
	07/09/2021	RHP Felix Arronde assigned to DSL Royals Blue.
	06/28/2021	Kansas City Royals signed free agent RHP Felix Arronde to a minor league contract.