OGDEN, Utah -
Harper McLendon, former Royals Right-Handed Pitcher, is continuing his baseball career after signing a professional contract with the Pioneer Baseball League's Ogden Raptors in Ogden, Utah.
The Ogden Raptors are a member of the Pioneer Baseball League, which was established in 1939 and consists of 12 professional baseball teams in the Mountain West region. The Pioneer Baseball League, (PBL), also operates as an Official MLB Partner League, meaning that the PBL and MLB directly collaborate with one another in regard to player development, MLB scouting opportunities, and rule experimentation. The PBL considers itself to be a player development league, allowing young professional baseball players an alternative pathway to reaching the MLB.
McLendon joined the Royals for the 2026 season as a Graduate Transfer after spending time at Tallahassee State College and NCAA DI Murray State University in Texas. The hard-throwing right hander from Georgia started the season as a starter for the Royals, delivering one of his best performances against Abraham Baldwin (Ga.) throwing 5 Innings while allowing only 2 earned runs on 3 hits and struck out 5 as the Royals went on to earn the 5-to-4 win in walk-off fashion. After battling through injuries, McLendon's role changed from starter to a dominant bullpen arm in high leverage situations. In his new role, McLendon helped the Royals secure the #4 seed for The Sun Conference Tournament allowing only 1 earned run over 5 appearances and 6 Innings of work against some of the top programs in the NAIA in (RV) Keiser University and #12 Webber International University. McLendon threw 4 scoreless appearances in a row, including a near perfect 7 pitch, 1-2-3 Inning against (RV) Keiser University on April 11th and recorded 8 of his 24 total strikeouts on the season coming out of the bullpen. The Graduate Student's season stat line finished with 25.2 Innings pitched over 11 appearances with 5 starts, earning 1 win with a 5.96 ERA, while allowing only 17 runs on 30 hits and striking out 24 while holding batters to only a .283 batting average.
Royals Head Coach
Addison Rouse had this to say about McLendon, "This is awesome! Extremely proud of Harper. And that's an understatement. He embraced Warner and made it home and we are so grateful for him, his leadership, work ethic, and joy he brought to the yard every single day. He's a guy that in one year cemented his legacy and it had nothing to do with his right arm. He's worked tirelessly to reach this point in his career and to see his dreams come true is extremely gratifying to me, my family, our coaching staff, and everybody connected to this program. He overcame a ton of adversity & for him to persevere and reach this destination is a blessing and truly fitting!"
Since signing with the Raptors on June 30th, McLendon has already made 3 appearances including his professional debut on July 2nd against the Boise Hawks where he recorded his 1st professional strikeout while allowing no earned runs over 1 Inning of work.
Warner University and the Royals Baseball Program want to wish McLendon the best in this exciting next chapter of his baseball career!
#GodBlessGoRoyals | #TogetherAsOne
