Entering the 2024 MLB season, the Kansas City Royals were hardly on anybody's radar to go any kind of distance down the road, and rightfully so. The Matt Quatraro-managed ballclub, though not without showing some sources of positivity, lost 106 games and placed dead last in the AL Central division.
During the offseason, general manager and EVP J.J. Picollo set out, first and foremost, to fix the team’s severely damaged starting rotation. In 2023, the Royals’ starting pitchers combined for the fourth-highest ERA in Major League Baseball in that aspect.
Picollo showed he was serious about improving an area that KC had notably lacked since the days it was led by the likes of Zack Greinke – in other words, in a long time. He had set out on this endeavor from the very start of free agency and allocated most of his attention to that unit. When the 2024 campaign was all but ready to start, two – the most pricey at that – of the club’s five FA deals valued over $5 million were starting pitchers and just one was a non-pitcher.
The risks in question are named Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Not only have they justified the resources expended on their acquisition but have also helped Quatraro and Picollo build and boast of the most upgraded – and practically improved – teams in all of professional baseball.
As of August 15, The KC Royals stand at 66 wins and 55 losses, third in the Central Division, occupying the third and final Wild Card berth, and projected to gain 32 additional victories in the final standings compared to 2023. Kansas City has proven that it can be a legitimate contender for postseason spots. And they are not slowing down either – the 18-12 record in their last thirty games is the second-best in the American League and number-one in the Central.
The main contributor to that success has of course been the new-look starting rotation, with its grand woes from just twelve months ago now seeming like stuff from the history books. In a complete reversal from 2023, KC’s starting faction now ranks third in all of baseball. Lugo and Wacha have received the primary credit for that upheaval.
Seth Lugo had been a very solid reliever during his seven-year stint with the Mets which ended in 2022 but New York gave him just one season as a full-time member of the rotation (which, for all intends and purposes, was lackluster and injury-ridden). However, the 26 starts he made for the 2023 San Diego Padres prepared him for what is now the prime form of his career. His ERA of 3.09 is the ninth-lowest amongst qualified starters in MLB, with both his walk and homerun rates ranking in the top 20 (out of 59 qualified pitchers). Lugo, Wacha, homegrown sensation-turned-household name Brady Singer, and 2023 deadline incomer Cole Ragans have all thus far turned in Earned Run Averages south of 3.00, completing one of the most solid rotations in MLB and the main driver behind KC’s aspirations.
Kansas City has to a no lesser degree ticked up offensively. Both cornerstone star Bobby Witt Jr. and longtime hero Salvador Perez have hit more than 20 homers, with Witt being one of just four players with an OPS over 1.000. Moreover, Vinne Pasquantino has had a merely modest contribution but his .313 on-base percentage is still on par with the league mean. All in all, the Royals’ batting order has scored the tenth-most runs in the majors with a month and a half to go in the 2024 season.
However, the team’s Achilles Heel – their bullpen – has on occasions significantly impeded their march forward. The unit has the sixth-worst bullpen ERA and all five of its qualified representatives have ERA figures north of 4.00. This includes Chris Stratton and Will Smith, both of whom have turned out to be letdown free-agent signings.
Yet, this downside has not been capable of spoiling the positivity that has characterized the 2024 Kansas City Royals. In a division that is often open for contention to any team that is ready to make an effort to improve its quality, and in an AL more competitive than ever, one cannot help but be excited contemplating the possibilities for the height of the ceiling for the ballclub as the campaign unwinds. Remaining six games out of first-place Cleveland, a division silverware might be too high of a bar but a playoff position shall be well in sight, though red-hot Houston is also in the running for KC’s current berth. Once, and if, KC reaches October, everything is possible, especially for the decently balanced squad that the Royals have wisely constructed.
Teodor Tsenov is an aspiring sportswriter and a HBO Bachelor of Arts graduate in International Sports Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Hague, the Netherlands. Moreover, he has previously covered NFL, MLB, the New York Jets and the Miami Marlins for Franchise Sports (UK) and Overtime Heroics (USA). You can reach out to him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, and via email tedogoshov@gmail.com.
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