After a second consecutive winning season that ended short of a postseason spot, Royals president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo defended the team’s situational hitting while acknowledging areas that need improvement. In an end of the season press conference on Tuesday, Picollo conceded that the team needed better execution to get back to the playoff baseball, not necessarily wholesale changes.
“This is the same group of players, for the most part, that did execute last year, and we didn’t do it at the same level in 2025.”
Manager Matt Quatraro said the team improved in its processes, but ultimately took a step back when judged by the win column. He emphasized small changes the club could take to improve next season to get back to the playoffs. While the team got big seasons out of hitters like Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, and Salvador Perez, they needed to get more production from the rest of the lineup.
“We need to figure out how to get the most out of the rest of the roster. Some adjustments will be small tweaks rather than wholesale changes. It could be managing days off or sequencing in a different way. Baseball is full of a million small decisions that add up over the course of a season.”
Despite some offensive struggles, the Royals will retain hitting coach Alec Zumwalt. Picollo expressed support for the embattled coach, saying the club had a “lot of belief” in him for his past work with Royals hitters in the minors. He cited the development of top young hitters like Witt, Garcia, and Pasaquantino as evidence of success.
”For some of those guys, he’s the only hitting coach they have really ever known. There’s a strong trust in what he does and what he brings. Part of being a good coach is building relationships. If you can’t build relationships, then you don’t have trust. Alec, I know, has the trust of our hitters, and he’s passionate.”
Picollo indicated there may be other changes to the coaching staff, including changes in Zumwalt’s support staff on the hitting side. The Royals finished with the fifth-fewest runs in baseball.
Picollo did address some of the offensive woes, but found a lot of similarities to last year’s club.
“When we look at how our offense performed last year versus this year, it’s very similar in a lot of categories. The only thing we didn’t do, which is the most important thing, is score runs.”
He defended the team against criticism on situational hitting, arguing they improved significantly in the second half of the season. The Royals hit .229 with runners on scoring position before the All-Star break, and .291 in those situations after the break.
But he also addressed the weaknesses on offense, saying hitters needed to execute better. He mentioned hitters coming up from the minor leagues who try to do too much to stay in the big leagues, instead of doing what got them to the big leagues. He also addressed the baserunning, calling it an “unforced error this year.”
“We think about our identity – pitching, defense, situational hitting, and baserunning – that’s where we take a lot of pride in. We just didn’t execute to that level this year.”
The Royals led all of baseball in pickoffs and had the second-lowest success rate in stolen bases.
Picollo also said the team may have to look at whether or not the high-contact, low-strikeout approach gets results.
“We don’t strike out, but we also have to look at that – is that good or bad? Is that getting us where we want to go? Generally speaking, not striking out is good. But if you’re making early outs on weak contact, then we have to address that.”
Picollo announced Salvador Perez will return next year, although his $13.5 million club option has not officially been picked up yet. He seemed to imply there was potential for a longer deal, saying it has “yet to be determined” if Salvy would be in a Royals uniform beyond next year.
Ownership has not given a firm payroll number, but Picollo said they would operate in the same vicinity of this year’s payroll, around $140 million. He said ownership has always given them the flexibility to pursue a free agent late in the off-season if it makes sense, such as last off-season when the Royals signed Carlos Estévez in late January.
The team is open to bringing back free agents Adam Frazier and Mike Yastrzemski, with Picollo describing them as positive clubhouse influences. He called Yaz a “player of interest” who showed a tremendous level of maturity.
He reflected on Jac Caglianone’s struggles by mentioning that the young slugger “beat Triple-A”, and that he has to learn at the big league level. But he warned that the team is in a window of contention, so there would be a competition to earn a spot in next year’s lineup.
“Expectations are high, our standards are high, so it’s not going to be anything where a position is given to him, he’s going to have to earn it.”
As the Royals embark on the off-season, it doesn’t sound like they plan on wholesale changes. The team finished just four wins worse than 2024, and it seems like they like their pitching depth, the core of their lineup, and a bullpen that was solid all season. Picollo did cite the need to upgrade in left field, and is open to a platoon situation like they had at the end of last year with Yaz and Randall Grichuk occupied left field.
Quatraro praised the team for its fight up until the very end of the season. While the players were upset about missing out on the playoffs, he thinks the team has developed a “winning culture and winning environment.” The difference between 80 wins or 82 wins isn’t great, but a winning season does provide a foundation for success, according to Picollo.
“We believe it’s the start of many winning seasons.”