The Royals came into 2025 with high expectations after making it back to the playoffs the year earlier. Kansas City finished the year with a record above .500 but finished the year third in the AL Central, behind the Guardians and Tigers. While the Royals’ pitching was solid yet again, finding offense outside of the big guns was an issue.
The Offense
StatNumberRankRuns Scored65126thHome Runs15926thOPS.70619thWhiff%21.8%2ndHard Hit%40.8%13th
The Pitching
StatNumberRankStarters’ ERA3.807thRelievers’ ERA3.637thStrikeouts1,27126thWhiff%23.9%26thChase%27.5%24th
The Good
Once again, the stars shined for the Royals.
Bobby Witt Jr. finished the year with 76 extra-base hits, eighth-most in the Majors. Forty-seven of those 76 were doubles, a MLB-high. His 184 hits were also a Major League most, solidifying his place among the league’s elite offensive shortstops.
It also helped that Witt Jr., with his speed and range, was an elite defender. The 25-year-old finished with a +24 Outs Above Average, the best among infielders this season. Witt Jr. won another AL Gold Glove, as did Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia.
For Garcia, it was a breakout season. Garcia set career-highs in home runs (16), extra-base hits (60), and OPS (.800).
The Royals also leaned heavily on Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. Perez hit 30 home runs, the second-most in a season for him, behind only the 48-home run campaign he had in 2021. Pasquantino, meanwhile, had a healthy season and flourished. He cracked a career-high 32 home runs and played in 160 games this season.
Another late-season boon was the emergence of Carter Jensen. Jensen posted a .941 OPS after coming up in September, a big sign for the Royals. Kansas City traded Freddy Fermin for pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek in July, which opened the door long-term for Jensen to share catching duties with the recently re-signed Salvador Perez.
Perez has been splitting time between catcher, DH, and first base over the past few seasons.
Pitching, meanwhile, was a strength once more for the Royals.
The risers this season were Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron. Bubic was a key reliever for the Royals who moved back into the rotation for 2025. He flourished, as Bubic struck out 116 over 116.1 IP, induced a lot of chases, and earned himself an All-Star nod.
Cameron, a rookie, posted a 2.99 ERA (137 ERA+) in his first season. The 26-year-old can be considered a junk pitcher. However, Cameron works with a lot of different pitches, can give hitters different looks, and makes hitters’ lives difficult in great part due to his hard, shortened-up curveball.
He limited well-hit contact (6.3% Barrel%) well.
The bullpen was also a strength. Carlos Estevez, signed last winter, notched an MLB-high 42 saves. That was thanks in large part to his ability to get outs but also because the Royals weren’t winning blowout games.
Aside from Estevez, Daniel Lynch IV, Angel Zerpa, and setup Lucas Erceg were leaned upon heavily this year. All three made at least 50 appearances, while John Schreiber made 74 appearances out of the bullpen.
The Bad
This past season saw the meteoric rise of Jac Caglianone through the Royals’ farm. Caglianone had a hot spring and was a late cut in camp before he terrorized Minor League pitching. In May, Caglianone slashed .346/.405/.682 across two levels and blasted 11 home runs. An MLB promotion awaited him in June.
However, Caglianone’s first run in the Majors wasn’t great to say the least. The 22-year-old slashed only .157/.237/.295 in the Majors. Caglianone hit for power, as he cranked seven home runs and 14 extra-base hits. That, though, was when he was able to square up the baseball.
One of the knocks on Caglianone, a first baseman-turned-outfielder, in college was that he was prone to expanding the zone too much. That was a very significant problem in 2025; he hacked outside of pitches 38.5% of the time at the MLB level. That number largely held steady in the second half (38.2%).
Caglianone wasn’t the most egregious when it came to expanding the zone. However, he did it a lot, compared to the league average.
Much like in 2024, outfield offensive production was an issue for the Royals. Kansas City was able to partially address that at the deadline, when Mike Yastrzemski came over. Yastrzemski hit nine home runs and 23 extra-base hits over 50 games. However, it was the likes of Drew Waters (70 OPS+) and Kyle Isbel (83 OPS+) who received the bulk of the playing time this season.
It was a key reason why, even though the Royals had three 20+ home run hitters, the team ranked in the bottom third of the Majors in several major offensive categories.
The Royals did improve marginally in the on-base department. Last year, the Royals had a .306 team on-base percentage. In 2025, that average ticked up slightly to .309. Jonathan India, acquired last November, helped somewhat in that regard, as expected. However, India also posted a career-worst .113 ISO.
As for the pitching, ace Cole Ragans missed most of 2025. Ragans suffered a groin strain in May, followed by a shoulder injury in June. He nearly had 100 strikeouts — 98, to be exact — in 61.2 IP, which was a positive.
The good news, as noted earlier, is that the Royals had plenty of pitching help this season to fill the void.
Early Projected Lineup for 2026
C: Carter Jensen
1B: Vinnie Pasquantino
2B: Jonathan India
3B: Maikel Garcia
SS: Bobby Witt Jr.
OF: Drew Waters (LF), Kyle Isbel (CF), Jac Caglianone (RF)
DH: Salvador Perez
SP: Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Noah Cameron, Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha
RP: Carlos Estevez, Lucas Erceg, Daniel Lynch IV, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Taylor Clarke
Pitching is where the Royals are currently the deepest. Not only do the Royals enter the offseason with a formidable starting five but also with depth to spare. The Freddy Fermin trade netted the Royals right-handers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek, both of whom could easily see more time in the rotation next season.
Where the Royals are the weakest is in the outfield. With Yastrzemski a free agent, the Royals will likely need to add help there.
Check out more of our MLB coverage, including recaps for the Guardians and White Sox.
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