Royals eye postseason with important stretch ahead
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are currently in a spot not many expected them to be this late into the season.
With 44 games remaining, the Royals sit at 65-53, three games up on the Boston Red Sox for the final Wild Card spot and trailing their AL Central counterpart, Minnesota Twins by just half a game.
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Speaking of the AL Central, conquering the division is still in the Royals’ sights as well. They sit just four games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot.
What makes the Royals’ turnaround so impressive is the swiftness of it. Just a season ago, the Royals went 56-105, tying their lowest win percentage in franchise history (.346).
It was an exclamation point on nearly a decade of ineptitude since the Royals won the World Series in 2015.
But the Royals seemed to take a different approach in the offseason than in years past. They were aggressive. In fact, they spent $109.5 million on free agents, more than any offseason in franchise history.
John Sherman, JJ Picollo and the rest of the Royals front office seemed to have a win-now approach for a team that looked miles away from winning now.
But here we are, in the middle of August with the Royals right in the thick of the playoff race.
Despite the Royals’ lack of success, they didn’t lack talent and had a foundational piece to build around: Bobby Witt Jr.
Back in February, the Royals locked Witt up long-term, signing him to an 11-year, $288.7 million contract extension, the largest in franchise history.
While Witt’s career trajectory was on pace for an MVP-caliber player after his first two seasons, his rapid ascension into arguably the best player in baseball was unexpected.
He currently leads the majors in batting average, hits and runs and is near the top of nearly every major batting category.
It hasn’t all just been Witt either; Seth Lugo has been one of the best starters in baseball this season and is a legitimate Cy Young candidate. Salvador Perez has shown he still has something left in the tank and players like Vinnie Pasquantino and Freddy Fermín have shown major improvements.
The Royals have also had one of the best starting rotations in baseball, headlined by Lugo and Cole Ragans.
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While the Royals are in a good spot, there is still plenty of baseball left as the season winds down. They have a tough schedule ahead that includes series against the Twins, Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and New York Yankees.
If the Royals can hold their own during that span, postseason baseball will likely be returning to Kansas City for the first time since 2015.
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