Kansas City Royals news: Royals blues are brighter

Matt Quatraro talks about how they’ll handle catching duties between Carter Jensen and Salvador Perez.

“We’ll go day to day with the catching, but Carter’s going to catch,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He and Salvy are going to split — not evenly, 50-50, but game times, travel, the type of game one of them has to catch will dictate what happens the next day. And as far as hitting, [Jensen] will get DH reps as well. We think he’s a really good hitter, so we’re going to find ways to get him in the lineup.”

Sam McDowell writes about how the Royals can become a playoff team.

The Royals scored 84 fewer runs in 2025 than they did in 2024. A few of the above items already covered some ways they can close the gap.

But another? Their swing decisions.

It’s among the items hitting coach Alec Zumwalt and general manager J.J. Picollo mention most frequently. But the Royals swung at the sixth-fewest strikes in baseball — including swinging at the sixth-fewest meatballs — yet they had the ninth-highest chase rate

They had the lowest walk rate in the American League.

Doing more damage at the plate starts with using the pitches on which you can inflict the damage.

Vahe Gregorian writes that the time is now for the Royals.

When I asked him in January about the Royals realizing along the way last year that they needed more veteran leadership, Picollo said he had put a lot of thought into that dynamic — especially when it comes to the young nucleus of Bobby Witt Jr., Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia.

“When you are getting into Year 3, 4 and 5 in the major leagues, at some point it’s your time,” he said. “Right now, Bobby, Vinnie, Maikel, it’s your time.”

Jaylon Thompson writes about how the last time the Royals were in Atlanta, they clinched a playoff spot.

“It was a strange night because we had to wait for some results and we were inside,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro recalled. “And do we stay? You know, there was a rain delay in one of the other games.”

David Lesky gives seven bold predictions for the Royals this year.

Would you believe that the Royals have had four seasons in their history where their offense walked at least 9 percent of the time? Of course you would. The only thing unbelievable about that is that you might have expected it to be fewer than four times. For what it’s worth, the four times are 1973 (10.3%), 1975 (9.5%), 1972 (9.1%) and 1989 (9.0%). This group is one that I believe will join them.

ESPN ranks World Series contenders, with the Royals coming in at #17.

Franchise temperature: 57 degrees. This feels like a good temperature for the Royals, who went into a period of rapid cooling after their contending rosters from the mid-2010s broke up. To the credit of J.J. Picollo and his staff, the Royals have curbed that decline and managed to settle in tepid waters. With a contention-worthy 26-man roster heading into 2026, they hope to wade a little closer to the warm sands of the shoreline ahead.

Did you notice the blue in the Royals uniforms is brighter?

The R&B group CitiLimitz will sing the national anthem for the Royals home opener on Monday.

The Cubs sign infielder Nico Hoerner to a six-year, $141 million deal.

The Orioles sign pitcher Shane Baz to a five-year, $68 million deal.

Kevin Gausman sets a Blue Jays record with 11 Opening Day strikeouts.

Five-time Gold Glover Jason Heyward officially retires.

ABS isn’t embarrassing umpires, its helping them.

Dodgers owner Mark Walter says baseball needs more parity.

The Brewers say ending their agreement with FanDuel Sports cost them $20 million.

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm sues his parents for mismanaging his money.

Former pitcher Mike LaCoss says Giants president Larry Baer is the most-hated in baseball.

DraftKings will allow bettors to bet on historical games.