Week in Review: Royals Go .500 in First Homestand of 2026 – Royals

 

Week in a Nutshell

After losing two of three in their Opening Series against Atlanta, the Royals came back to Kansas City for their first homestand of 2026. That included a three-game series against division foe Minnesota, followed by a three-game series against NL Central opponent Milwaukee. 

The Royals won Opening Day against the Twins, their first home opening win since 2022. They also followed that up with 13 runs in game two in monsoon conditions at Kauffman Stadium. However, they lost a chance at a sweep on Thursday afternoon in a game marred by off-field distractions. The main distraction centered on rookie catcher Carter Jensen oversleeping his alarm, showing up late, and getting scratched shortly before first pitch.

The Brewers were expected to be a tougher challenge than the Twins, especially with Milwaukee’s record 5-1 heading into the weekend series at Kauffman Stadium. After being rained out on Friday, they had a doubleheader on Saturday, which both teams split. The Royals had their chances in the rubber game on Easter Sunday, but the Brewers held off Kansas City in the late innings and took the series, improving their record to 7-2 and remaining atop the NL Central. 

A 3-3 homestand isn’t bad at this time of the year, especially with a series against a team that will likely be playing in the postseason. However, it was a homestand that felt like a missed opportunity, and the Royals weren’t helped by the lackluster play of their stars over the six-game span at Kauffman Stadium this past week. 

Record this Series: 3-3

Run Differential for the Series: +2

Record for the Year: 4-5

Run Differential for the Year: -5

Standing: Tied for 3rd in the AL Central

Game 4: KC 3, MIN 1

The Royals win their first Opening Day home game since 2022. Kris Bubic produced a quality start with only one run and two hits allowed in six innings of work (he also struck out four and walked three). Kyle Isbel and Isaac Collins both hit home runs in the two-run victory. 

Game 5: KC 13, MIN 9

In a rainy and sloppy contest, Kansas City tagged starter Joe Ryan and the Twins’ pitching staff for 13 runs, though only nine were earned. The Royals got off to a 12-1 lead, but the bullpen struggled with control and command due to the weather and allowed eight runs after Noah Cameron was pulled. Jac Caglianone led the Royals with three hits. 

Game 6: MIN 5, KC 1

Taj Bradley and the Twins bullpen held the Royals lineup to only one run in the series finale. Cole Ragans matched Bradley with eight strikeouts, four hits, one walk, and zero earned runs allowed. However, a questionable throwing decision by Salvador Perez (thrust into catching at the last minute) ended up costing Ragans the loss. Steven Cruz was tagged in mop-up duty by allowing back-to-back-to-back home runs. 

Game 7: MIL 5, KC 2 (1st Game of Saturday DH)

After getting “rained out” on Friday (it didn’t storm as hard as expected), the Royals dropped the first leg of their afternoon doubleheader. Luinder Avila made his first MLB start, and he was lackluster, allowing five runs on three hits and three walks in three innings of work. While he struck out four batters, he struggled with command, and the Brewers (specifically, Garrett Mitchell, who had all 5 RBI) made him pay. 

Game 8: KC 8, MIL 2 (2nd Game of Saturday DH)

Kansas City bounced back in the nightcap, with Seth Lugo grinding out five innings and allowing two runs while striking out seven. Jensen had a big day, collecting two RBI and two hits, including a double down the foul line. A six-run sixth inning ended up being the difference for Kansas City in game two of the doubleheader. 27th-man Eli Morgan got the rare three-inning save. 

Game 9: MIL 8, KC 5

The Brewers won the rubber match, holding off the Royals despite a modest comeback in the 7th that made it a one-run game. Bubic went five innings and struck out eight, but he allowed four runs due to big hits by the Brewers. Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg struggled in their lone outings of the series, each allowing two runs in their innings of work. 

News and Notes

After struggling in his lone outing in Atlanta, closer Carlos Estevez was put on the 15-Day IL due to a foot contusion from a ball that hit him in the foot during the Braves game. The Royals called up Steven Cruz in his place, and he received a lot of work during the homestand.

 

Michael Wacha was beset by illness this week, which forced him to miss his start against Milwaukee. Avila pitched in his place. Wacha was not added to the IL, and he is expected to make his next start on the road in game one of the upcoming series against the Guardians, as reported by Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

 

 

Avila replaced Bailey Falter on the active roster as Falter was put on the IL due to an elbow injury. Falter struggled on Wednesday, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in 0.1 innings of work (though the weather conditions certainly didn’t help). 

 

Even though he started, manager Matt Quatraro said that the Royals plan to keep Avila up for now as a reliever. It hasn’t been determined if Avila will return to Triple-A when Falter is eligible to come off the IL. 

Morgan came up as the 27th man for the Saturday doubleheader against Milwaukee. Morgan pitched three innings and allowed no runs on one hit and one walk while striking out five. The save was Morgan’s first since 2023. He was returned to Triple-A Omaha after Saturday’s game, per MLB policy. 

Highlights

After averaging only two runs per game in their first series in Atlanta, the Royals averaged 5.3 runs over the homestand. Their 32 runs scored were tied for the 7th-highest total in baseball over the past week, according to MLB.com. Kansas City also ranked second in OBP over the past week with a .373 mark and tied sixth for walks with 26.

Last year, the Royals ranked 22nd in OBP, 29th in BB%, and 26th in runs scored. Thus, this week was a nice step in the right direction for this offense.

Isbel, Collins, and Garcia paced the Royals’ offense over the past week. They were the only players with OPS marks over 1.000 this week, with Isbel having a 1.563 OPS, Collins having a 1.011 OPS, and Garcia having a 1.053 OPS. Garcia had two hits on Sunday and launched his first home run of the season against Brewers starter Kyle Harrison. It was Garcia’s first home run since September 5th of 2025.

 

Another solid performer was Jonathan India, who hit .294 with an .871 OPS in 17 plate appearances. India had five hits and five RBI this week, with four of them coming on a grand slam on Wednesday in the Sonic Slam inning. 

 

The Royals would like to see India bounce back after he hit .233 with a .669 OPS. While his numbers overall are still a bit meager (.208 average; .654 OPS), his performance this past week should be a good sign that India is starting to lock in again as a hitter at the bottom of the lineup. 

In terms of pitching, the Royals staff did pretty well when it came to generating strikeouts. Over the past seven days, Kansas City struck out 64 batters, second-most in baseball, according to MLB.com. Individually, Bubic led all Royals pitchers with 12 strikeouts in 11 IP. Ragans and Lugo were second and third with eight and seven strikeouts, respectively. 

Noah Cameron had a nice 2026 debut, allowing only one run on four hits and one walk while striking out five in five innings of work in Wednesday’s 13-9 win. The St. Joseph, Missouri product didn’t generate a whole lot of chase (21.1%) or whiff (20.5%), but he flooded the strike zone (54.2% zone rate) and limited hard contact (.335 xwOBACON), as seen below from his TJ Stats summary. 

A couple of relievers who stuck out this week were Nick Mears and Daniel Lynch IV, who appeared four and three times, respectively, this week.

In four innings of work, Mears didn’t allow a run, posted a 0.75 WHIP, and struck out three while walking one. Like Cameron, the former Brewers reliever has limited hard contact while flooding the strike zone, but could do a better job generating chases and whiffs. On a positive note, his TJ Stuff+ has looked good thus far this season, so he may be a slight adjustment away from improving those chase and whiff rates. 

As for Lynch, he posted a 2.25 ERA and 1.25 WHIP this week in four innings of work. Lynch neutralized things a bit after Avila was pulled and made an incredible play at first base to end the inning (though he was taken out after the game as a precaution). 

 

Lynch isn’t generating a ton of chase as a reliever, as evidenced by his 22.2% chase rate. However, his whiff rate is solid at 31.3%, and he’s limiting hard contact with a .227 xwOBACON. His stuff isn’t overwhelming, according to TJ Stuff+, but it’s good enough, especially when the command is on.

The former Virginia product is the kind of lefty reliever who can excel in both short and long-relief appearances. The Royals will need that, especially with Falter and Estevez both on the IL. 

Lowlights

It was a brutal series for Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino, the No. 2 and 3 hitters in the Royals lineup. 

The Royals’ shortstop was the worst of the regular players during the six-game homestand. In 22 plate appearances, Witt only hit .182 with no extra-base hits. While he had four walks, he also struck out six times, the third-most of any Royals hitter over the past week. His .478 OPS and .182 slugging percentage were the lowest marks of any Royals hitter with more than one plate appearance over the past seven days, according to MLB.com. 

Witt is still hitting the ball hard, as evidenced by his exit velocity and hard-hit Statcast percentiles below. That said, he is chasing a lot, ranking in the 10th percentile in O-Swing%. That approach hasn’t helped him barrel the ball either, as evidenced by his 4.3% barrel rate, which ranks in the 30th percentile. 

Witt is allowed to have a bad stretch every now and then. However, he’s the most important hitter on this team, and the Royals are lucky they went 3-3 on a homestand where he performed so poorly.

Pasquantino was a little better than Witt during this homestand, but not by much.

In 23 at-bats, Vinnie hit .217 with a .582 OPS. He only had one extra-base hit (a double), and he struck out seven times. He walked four times and drove in four RBI, with two coming on Sunday, helping the Royals get within one run of the Brewers in the bottom of the seventh. 

 

While Sunday was a step in the right direction (he had two hits), it has been a brutal start for the Royals’ first baseman.

In 40 plate appearances, he is hitting .206 with a .535 OPS. He’s known for being a slow starter, as he has a career .216 average and an 89 wRC+ in March/April, according to Fangraphs splits. Thus, this stretch won’t last forever, and he should heat up offensively as the weather gets hotter. Nonetheless, it would be nice for Vinnie to snap out of his typical early-season funk sooner rather than later. 

In terms of pitching, Erceg and Strahm were nails in the Atlanta series, but had lackluster performances this week. 

In two games and two innings of work, Strahm posted a 9.00 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. He allowed his first home run of the year, which inflated his metrics. He did have three strikeouts to only one walk, but Strahm’s first homestand of 2026 left a bit to be desired, though he wasn’t helped by inconsistent work in the Brewers series. 

Erceg didn’t have a great week either, though both of his outings were in non-traditional situations. The 30-year-old reliever probably shouldn’t have appeared on Wednesday (it was 12-1 at one point), but the Royals bullpen couldn’t mop things up. On Sunday, he struggled to generate chase or whiff against a tough Brewers lineup. As a result, he posted a 10.80 ERA and 2.40 WHIP in 1.2 IP. The stuff has been great for Erceg so far this year, but he is struggling to generate CSW and whiffs, an issue for him a season ago.

While the whiffs and chase haven’t been there for Erceg, the TJ Stuff+ is good (103), and he’s limiting barrels and hard hits at the very least. If he wants to claim the closer’s spot for Estevez full-time, he will need to generate more strikes, especially of the swing-and-miss variety. 

The last pitcher to focus on is Avila, who was absolutely rocked in his first MLB start and MLB appearance in 2026. The stuff was good from Avila in his outing on Saturday afternoon. However, he failed to generate much chase or whiff, and he was hit hard. That is not exactly a good trio to see together, as illustrated in his TJ Stats summary below. 

Avila will get a chance to face easier opponents, with the Guardians (21st in wRC+) and White Sox (24th in wRC+) looming this week. However, Avila will need to iron things out with his command to avoid another outing like his 2026 debut. 

Looking Ahead

The Royals hit the road for a three-game series against the Guardians in Cleveland and then come back home for a four-game homestand against the White Sox. Kansas City went 15-11 against both opponents last year, so continuing those winning ways in 2026 will be important for the Royals if they want to return to the postseason. 

Two key position players in this series will be Witt and Pasquantino. Bobby and Vinnie do have some good history in Cleveland, historically. Witt has a career .830 OPS in Progressive Field, while Vinnie has an .860 career OPS. For the Royals to take the series in Cleveland, they will need solid performances from their No. 2 and 3 hitters in the lineup. 

In terms of pitching, the Royals struggled with walks as a pitching staff this past week. This is an atypical trend, as they ranked 9th in BB/9 a year ago. 

Kansas City issued 32 walks, fourth-most in the MLB over the past seven days. Their 1.44 WHIP was fifth-highest in baseball over the past week, and their 4.50 team ERA ranked 21st. Getting control again of the strike zone will be crucial for Kansas City’s pitching staff, especially against two divisional opponents this week. 

A good sign for the Royals is that Cleveland and Chicago chase a lot.

According to Fangraphs, the White Sox have the sixth-highest O-Swing% (34.6%), and the Guardians have the eighth-highest (34.5%). Conversely, the Twins (30.9%) and Brewers (30.8%) ranked 10th and 9th, respectively, in O-Swing%. On paper, Cleveland and Chicago should be easier opponents for this pitching staff.

Thus, this upcoming week could be an opportunity for the Royals not just to cut down on walks but to get their overall command as a pitching staff back on track. As this past week (and series against the Brewers) demonstrated, the Royals will have a tough time winning games when their pitching staff is allowing too many free passes on base.