‘Sick’ of hearing about their ‘potential,’ KC Royals are aiming for consistency in 2022
After several years of taking small yet important steps, the Kansas City Royals could be in position to make a leap this season.
They’ve undeniably increased their overall talent level and bolstered their experience from their recent rebuilding cycle. But they also head into the season with some major variables that give them a wide range of potential outcomes.
The progress of their pitching staff, which they’ve worked so hard to develop, will likely be the difference between outperforming expectations by making a realistic run at a playoff spot in the American League, or falling short again.
All-Star catcher Salvador Perez expressed optimism about the team’s potential in a matter-of-fact way. He offered no proclamation or boastful guarantee when asked how good this year’s club can be.
“We’re going to try our best, and we’re going to see what happens,” Perez said. “I think we can make it to the playoffs. Why not? Every team in the major leagues, that’s one of the goals, no? So why not? We’re going to see.”
Last season, the Royals surprised many by getting out of the gate with the best record in the majors through May 1, at 16-9. They actually came within one win of tying the best 25-game start in franchise history.
But they proved to be one of baseball’s streakiest teams after their fast start. An 11-game skid followed May’s surge, and then came a stretch of 13 wins in 19 games. Beginning in June, they lost 27 of 34.
Despite posting a better mark after the All-Star break (38-35), consistency eluded them for most of the year. They still finished 74-88 (.457), their best record since 2017 (80-82) and the third consecutive season in which they improved their win percentage.
This season, they’ll be bolstered by another infusion of young talent, spearheaded by the arrival of top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. as their everyday third baseman.
They figure to have one of the most athletic infield defenses in the AL. Nicky Lopez will play second base after a season as one of the top defensive shortstops in the league. Adalberto Mondesi is back as the everyday shortstop. Witt’s at third base, with Carlos and Santana and Hunter Dozier likely sharing time at first.
They also boast a pair of Gold Glove-winners in the outfield, with Andrew Benintendi in left field and Michael A. Taylor in center. They’ll hope Mondesi and Benintendi remain healthy and on the field for the full season. Both dealt with injuries last year.
Carlos Santana didn’t miss an extended period of time last season, but he played through an ailment that hampered his offensive production after the break.
“We’re going to be exciting,” All-Star infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield said. “We’re going to be an exciting team to watch, an exciting team to follow.
“As far as expectations go, I’m kind of sick of expectations at this point. I’m just ready to go and try to win Game 1 on April 7th and worry about Game 2 after that.”
All eyes on the pitching
Much of the Royals’ inconsistency last season could be attributed to breaking in a crop of talented young pitchers who hadn’t logged many major-league innings — in several cases, none — prior to 2020.
Since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch, Carlos Hernández, Jackson Kowar, Jake Brentz and Dylan Coleman — all of whom appear slated for the Opening Day roster — have made their major-league debuts.
“We’ve got to have a lot of young talent step up and make that big jump to the big leagues and perform for us, offensively, and mainly on the pitching side,” Merrifield said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent. They’re really good pitchers, but for us to be good this year they’ve got to grow up quickly.”
Last season, the Royals’ team ERA of 4.65 ranked 21st of 30 in the majors. Their starters ranked 24th and relievers 19th, respectively. They were in the bottom-half to bottom-third in strikeouts per nine innings (20th), walks per nine innings (26th), WHIP (26th), batting average against (22nd) and runs allowed per game (21st).
“I think our success this year is going to be based on the improvement of our starting pitching,” general manager J.J. Picollo said. “I think we have a good idea what we’re going to get out of our pen, there’s just still some ceiling there. It could be really a fun pen to watch. But I think we know what we’re dealing with there.
“To have a stable rotation and not go through some of the things we went through last year … Our success is going to be based on our rotation. A couple of them take a step forward, I think we’ll be a pretty good team.”
They undoubtedly saw improvements in the second half of last season.
As a staff, the Royals ranked 12th in the majors and seventh in the AL with a 4.05 ERA after the All-Star break. Their starters’ ERA ranked ninth in the AL after the break, and their relievers logged the third-best ERA in the AL post-break behind only Tampa Bay and New York. And they tied the Chicago White Sox bullpen for lowest opponents’ batting average (.224).
The addition of 37-year-old veteran — and former Royals star — Zack Greinke gives the pitching corps a stabilizing force with a Cy Young Award on his resume. Brad Keller enters his fourth season as a full-time member of the rotation here, and Singer, Bubic, Lynch and Hernandez have all shown flashes of brilliance on the mound.
“You take Zack out of that equation and it’s a very young staff,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “There are going to be some challenges for them to all take a step forward. Every one of them proved, with what we’ve seen from them, that they are major-league caliber starters. And they are all sick and tired of hearing about the potential of what they can be.
“Now it’s time for all of them collectively to take that big step forward into the consistency of a front-line major-leaguer.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
