What Kansas City Royals must do to avoid franchise loss record, with 15 games left
.jpg "Scenes from a frustrating Royals season in 2023. KC sits five losses from tying the franchise-worst mark (106) for a season.")
The Kansas City Royals debuted a new T-shirt this week.
Prior to their three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, several players and coaches wore the new gear in solidarity. The light blue shirt had one key word that was emblazoned across the chest.
Today.
The Royals have embodied the message. KC sits at 46-101 and is a distant 55 games under .500. There are numerous ways to categorize the 2023 campaign, but the Royals have chosen to focus on the present day.
“There’s a lot of ways this game can beat you down,” Royals second baseman Michael Massey said. “It’s way easier to get beaten down than build yourself up. It’s figuring out ways to proactively stay upbeat and positive.”
The Royals have taken their lumps this season. They have already reached 100 losses for the seventh time in franchise history. If they do not win another game, they will finish with the fourth-most losses (116) in MLB’s modern era.
Now, KC is five losses from tying the franchise record set by the 2005 Royals (56-106) — a team some consider far less talented.
The 2023 Royals have promising prospects. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has taken a significant leap and is pursuing a 30-30 season. Starting pitcher Cole Ragans was named American League Pitcher of the Month for August.
Meanwhile, infielders Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto join Massey, the star of Wednesday’s game, as building blocks for the future.
Still, the Royals have underachieved this season. Players have described the year in varying degrees — frustrating, disappointing and even challenging.
“I think however you try to sugarcoat it, when you are talking about one of the worst records in baseball, it would be insulting to fans to say it’s been a lot of positives,” Royals infielder Matt Duffy said.
Duffy acknowledges growth has been made, but the Royals still have a long journey to avoid a repeat performance next season.
“It’s been hard,” Duffy said. “Everybody comes to work every day and tries to get better. Guys know, even though we are not in it, everybody has a ton to play for in the last few weeks.”
So what must the Royals do to avoid franchise futility?
A historic pace
If the Royals want to avoid setting a new franchise mark, they must win 10 of their next 15 games to pull even with the 2005 squad. With a 10-5 mark, they’ll finish at 56-106.
That could be a tough task with nine games remaining against the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. The Astros visit Kauffman Stadium for a three-game series starting Friday night. It will be the first time the Royals see the Astros this season.
Houston currently leads the AL West and has a postseason berth still in play. The Yankees are playing inspired baseball despite slim playoff hopes.
Additionally, the Royals also have six games remaining with AL Central rivals — the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. KC is a combined 6-14 against both teams this season.
The Royals aren’t focused on the unsightly franchise record. But, they understand that the record won’t change their mindset towards ending the season on a strong note.
“If we put our attention on that, we are losing focus and attention on what we need to be focused on,” Massey said. “Those are the adjustments as a team where we need to continue to grow these last few weeks.”
Misery loves company
The Royals won’t match the 1962 New York Mets, who own the modern-era record for most losses: 40-120. However, they could join some historically bad company, depending on how the remainder of the 2023 campaign unfolds.
Some other notable records:
- If the Royals went 0-15, they’d finish 46-116 — the most losses since 2003 (Detroit Tigers, 119) and fourth-most since 1900.
- KC must go 6-9 or better to avoid a bottom-10 season in losses (111) since 1900.
- At their current pace, the Royals would finish between 50 and 51 wins (111-112 losses).
- Regardless of how they finish the season, the Royals will not have a bottom-20 win percentage in MLB history.
“I think everybody in this clubhouse doesn’t believe we are a 100-loss team, but we are what our record says we are right now,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “We can’t deny that.”
KC is one win shy of matching the 2018 Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles lost 20 or more games in a month on three separate occasions. They also had a nine-game losing streak but finished 47-115.
Similarly, the 2023 Royals have lost 20 games in a month twice — April and June. KC also endured a 10-game losing streak.
Baltimore is a good comparison for the Royals. The Orioles had good veterans in Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. They also had emerging stars in Manny Machado and Cedric Mullins.
A disappointing campaign netted Baltimore a 2019 top draft pick. The Orioles drafted catcher Adley Rutchsman with the No. 1 pick. Ironically, the Royals took Witt with the second pick.
Baltimore developed its young players in the following years. Now, the Orioles are among the best teams in the league.
The Orioles demonstrated patience for their young nucleus. The Royals hope to follow a similar path heading into next season.
“Until we start clicking and everybody hitting on the right cylinder at the same time, the wins are going to be harder to come by,” Picollo said. “We can see some light at the end of the tunnel with where we are headed.”
A reason for hope
It’s possible the Royals could win more often down the stretch. But a clean sweep is, of course, unlikely given the stretch of games left on the schedule.
Instead, the Royals want to find a way to improve through these remaining games.
“Everybody in here needs to get better,” Duffy said. “Myself included. If I want to stay in baseball, I need to get better. It goes for just about everybody. We are always being evaluated and that’s especially true with the position the organization is in and where we are at in the standings.”
There have been glimpses. The Royals’ pitching staff continues to build, make strides and produce encouraging results. KC’s infield defense has vastly improved and the offense is seeing production from unlikely sources, such as Edward Olivares, Nick Loftin and Nelson Velázquez, among others.
The key is putting everything learned into practice next season.
“The last couple of weeks, I just want guys to keep competing,” Picollo said. “That’s what we need them to do. They are still learning a lot. As we reflect on the season, all the things the guys are learning about the length of the season, the highs and the lows, how to keep a level head about themselves, that is an invaluable experience.”
As their shirt says, the Royals know that improvement starts with today.
“There is a lot of work to do and things to be done,” Witt said, “because you don’t want to do this again.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
