3 Negative Takeaways from 2025

Where things went wrong for the Royals in a downturn from 2024

Photo courtesy of AP/Charlie Riedel

It’s been a while since it felt like the Royals had a real, tangible shot at making the postseason. They, at various times, trailed for the final AL Wild Card seat by 2-4 games, providing a glimmer of hope.

However, with four teams jockeying for that single seat, Kansas City overcoming its depleted starting rotation and stymied offense was never truly in the cards. If you were waiting for that final sign to call it a year, Tuesday night slammed the door.

The Mariners, behind MVP candidate Cal Raleigh’s pair of homers, thumped the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, 12-5, despite rookie Carter Jensen hammering the first two long shots of his career.

Michael Wacha was tattooed for seven runs on nine hits in his return from the injured list with a concussion. Daniel Lynch got the memo, allowing another trio of Mariners to cross home in his 2.1 innings.

So that’s it. There’s your reason to stop shouting at the TV each night. At 75-76, now seven games out with 11 to play, it’s time to plan your tailgates, focus on the fantasy football waiver wire and wait for November to see how JJ Picollo attacks the offseason.

But first… what exactly went wrong this year? Well, plenty, yes, but let’s explore three big-ticket items that dropped the Royals from playoff series winner in 2024 to planning October vacations in 2025.

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A Dearth of Runs

Clearly the most glaring problem in 2025 and one that must be addressed this offseason: the lineup, specifically the bottom half. The overall team numbers are vile, but you’re going to look at them anyway. (As of Wednesday afternoon.)

• 582 runs (28th in MLB)

• 90 wRC+ (26th)

• .244 BA (19th)

• .305 OBP (25th)

• .391 SLG (20th)

• 7.2% BB (29th)

Blame whoever/whatever you’d like — Matt Quatraro’s lineup construction, hitting coaches, JJ Picollo’s swing and miss on Jonathan India (more on this later), Kauffman Stadium’s dimensions, the Gatorade coolers, Coriolis effect, those damn analytics… dealer’s choice.

But the fact is, the talent just isn’t there (or isn’t performing yet, in Jac Caglianone’s case), especially 6-9 in the order. Isolating to those spots in the lineup, the numbers get even uglier relative to the rest of the league.

• 211 runs (29th)

• 68 wRC+ (29th)

• .222 BA (27th)

• .282 OBP (27th)

• .332 SLG (29th)

• 6.8% BB (25th)

Building a roster around upper-tier pitching and Bobby Witt Jr. is a good place to start, but the Royals have to deepen the lineup somehow. A Caglianone breakthrough in 2026 would go a long way. Adding bats this offseason is priority one, two and three.

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Pitching Injuries Popped Up

In 2024, the combination of Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Michael Wacha tossed 739.1 innings, each finishing in the top 50 in MLB with their individual workloads. Kansas City’s rotation enjoyed immaculate health, protecting the bullpen and minimizing the need for depth.

That flipped this season, somewhat predictably, as there’s one guarantee you can make about a pitcher: He will get hurt, sometime, somewhere. It rang true in 2025 with all five of KC’s Opening Day rotation members finding themselves on the sideline at various points.

• Ragans first hit the injured list in May with a groin strain, returned for one start and suffered a rotator cuff injury that knocked him out for the rest of the season, save for a couple too-little-too-late starts scheduled for these final two weeks of action.

• Lugo joined Ragans on the shelf in May when he sprained a finger on his pitching hand and again earlier this month with a back strain.

• Wacha made it a bit further into the season, but missed the most recent week of play before Tuesday’s blowup after suffering an off-field concussion.

• Breakout star Kris Bubic, with a 2.55 ERA across 116.1 innings and an All-Star appearance under his belt, was shut down in July with a rotator cuff strain of his own.

• Michael Lorenzen joined the party in July with an oblique strain and was activated a month later in mid-August.

I’m not sure there’s much we can take away for the future here except we have confirmation the Royals do not employ witch doctors. If you want to spin this in a positive light, KC recognized it can’t count on health outliers like 2024 and stacked a ton of pitching depth at the trade deadline with the additions of Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Bailey Falter.

Heading into 2026, the rotation depth/competition for spots looks like this:

1. Cole Ragans

2. Seth Lugo

3. Michael Wacha

4. Kris Bubic

5. Noah Cameron

6. Ryan Bergert

7. Stephen Kolek

8. Alec Marsh

9. Bailey Falter

10. Kyle Wright

11. Luinder Avila (remains to be seen if the Royals still project him as a starter or will stick with his quality work as a reliever)

That’s a deep list of around seven arms you’re comfortable starting 20+ games, with quality depth in Marsh and Falter who can spot start without it feeling like a forfeit.

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The Jonathan India Experiment

That’s right, my pick for team MVP (Bobby Witt Jr. excluded) was a failed attempt at addressing the leadoff spot. India’s production took a nosedive after swapping out red stockings for blue, posting a .235/.326/.344 slash through Tuesday’s loss in 130 games with the Royals.

That’s an 88 wRC+ following a 109 in his final season in Cincinnati, which included a .248/.357/.392 slash line and 15 homers paired with 13 stolen bases and a 2.9 fWAR.

He’s been a below-replacement-level player for Kansas City. The power dissipated, unsurprisingly, playing his home games at Kauffman rather than Great American Small (Ball) Park. His defensive work turned in more blooper reels than highlights.

But it’s important to separate process from results. Flipping Brady Singer to the Reds for India was undoubtedly the right approach from the front office with a massive hole at the top of the lineup, cashing in starting pitching depth to improve the team’s biggest weakness from 2024.

They’ll have to try again, and can’t shy away from taking another relatively big swing to do so. Whether it includes another swap, like Kris Bubic or (gulp) Noah Cameron, or Kansas City opens the checkbook for a bona fide free agent leadoff man (Bo Bichette, Gleyber Torres?), the Royals need to improve both the very top and very bottom of the lineup.

Buckle up for a critical, as always, offseason.

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