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 free agents – to say nothing of trades acquiring relievers John Schreiber and Nick Anderson – 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 that’s 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 City’s early run. Lefty Cole Ragans hasn’t been quite as dominant as he was following the trade to acquire him from the Rangers last year but has nonetheless looked like a quality big league starter. Brady Singer looks more like the 2022 breakout version of himself than the 2023 version that struggled to a 5.52 ERA.
Free-agent signees Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha have been a needed boon. Lugo’s strikeout rate is down, and Wacha has been more steady than great, but they’ve provided needed, competitive veteran innings. Even fifth starter Alec Marsh has been sharp, though his K-BB profile is rather worrying and he’s on the shelf at the moment after being struck by a comeback liner.
The bullpen has been sound, though free-agent additions Chris Stratton and Will Smith 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 one’s surprise, are getting strong offensive commitments from perennial slugger Salvador Perez, talented young first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and emergent face-of-the-franchise shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
Put more concisely: a lot is going right in Kansas City! It’s 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 there’s one area that has to remind Royals fans of that eight-year drought, however, it’s the team’s once-again middling outfield. Kansas City outfielders are hitting .190/.254/.323 on the season. The resulting 63 wRC+ indicates they’re 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.
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