The Royals 20-13 start to the season on the heels of an active offseason that saw Kansas City spend more than $100MM on nine Daniel Castano Jersey free agents to say nothing of trades acquiring relievers and has plenty of people buzzing. The Royals are right in the thick of things in a largely improved AL Central that looks more like a four-horse race than the perennially weak division thats been won in a romp in each of the past three seasons (Twins in 2023, Guardians in 2022, White Sox in 2021). Every team except the again-rebuilding White Sox has a legitimate chance at postseason play as of this writing. A frequently maligned Royals pitching staff is at the heart of Kansas Citys early run. Lefty hasnt been quite as dominant as he was following the trade to acquire him from the Rangers last year but has nonethele s looked like a quality big league starter. looks more like the 2022 breakout version of himself than the 2023 version that struggled to a 5.52 ERA. Free-agent signees and have been a needed boon. Lugos strikeout rate is down, and Wacha has been more steady than great, but theyve provided needed, competitive veteran innings. Even fifth starter has been sharp, though his K-BB profile is rather worrying and hes on the shelf at the moment after being struck by a comeback liner. The bullpen has been sound, though free-agent additions and have both struggled. Even still, K.C. relievers are eighth in the majors with a 3.28 ERA. Like some of the starters, their lowly 18.4% strikeout rate (second-lowest in MLB) and 10.2% walk rate call into question whether that ERA can be sustained. But the early results have still contributed to a nice start. The Royals, to no ones surprise, are getting strong offensive commitments from perennial slugger , talented young first baseman and emergent face-of-the-franchise shortstop Put more concisely: a lot is going right in Kansas City! Its a good time to be a Royals fan perhaps not relative to 2014-15 but certainly relative to the eight years since that consecutive pair of World Series appearances. If theres one area that has to remind Royals fans of that eight-year drought, however, its the teams once-again middling outfield. Kansas City outfielders are hitting .190/.254/.323 on the season. The resulting 63 wRC+ indicates theyre 37% worse than league-average at the plate as a group. That ranks last in Major League Baseball. Let's get into the grisly details. Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription BENEFITS Acce s weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco. Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony. Remove ads and support our writers. Acce s GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker Jhonny Pereda Jersey
The Royals 20-13 start to the season on the heels of an active offseason that saw Kansas City spend more than $100MM on nine Daniel Castano Jersey free agents to say nothing of trades acquiring relievers and has plenty of people buzzing. The Royals are right in the thick of things in a largely improved AL Central that looks more like a four-horse race than the perennially weak division thats been won in a romp in each of the past three seasons (Twins in 2023, Guardians in 2022, White Sox in 2021). Every team except the again-rebuilding White Sox has a legitimate chance at postseason play as of this writing. A frequently maligned Royals pitching staff is at the heart of Kansas Citys early run. Lefty hasnt been quite as dominant as he was following the trade to acquire him from the Rangers last year but has nonethele s looked like a quality big league starter. looks more like the 2022 breakout version of himself than the 2023 version that struggled to a 5.52 ERA. Free-agent signees and have been a needed boon. Lugos strikeout rate is down, and Wacha has been more steady than great, but theyve provided needed, competitive veteran innings. Even fifth starter has been sharp, though his K-BB profile is rather worrying and hes on the shelf at the moment after being struck by a comeback liner. The bullpen has been sound, though free-agent additions and have both struggled. Even still, K.C. relievers are eighth in the majors with a 3.28 ERA. Like some of the starters, their lowly 18.4% strikeout rate (second-lowest in MLB) and 10.2% walk rate call into question whether that ERA can be sustained. But the early results have still contributed to a nice start. The Royals, to no ones surprise, are getting strong offensive commitments from perennial slugger , talented young first baseman and emergent face-of-the-franchise shortstop Put more concisely: a lot is going right in Kansas City! Its a good time to be a Royals fan perhaps not relative to 2014-15 but certainly relative to the eight years since that consecutive pair of World Series appearances. If theres one area that has to remind Royals fans of that eight-year drought, however, its the teams once-again middling outfield. Kansas City outfielders are hitting .190/.254/.323 on the season. The resulting 63 wRC+ indicates theyre 37% worse than league-average at the plate as a group. That ranks last in Major League Baseball. Let's get into the grisly details. Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription BENEFITS Acce s weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco. Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony. Remove ads and support our writers. Acce s GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker Jhonny Pereda Jersey