When the Royals snapped their eight-game losing streak at home against the Baltimore Orioles, it felt like something had shifted. Yeah, they lost the series, but the offense had finally started to score, and that was the primary issue.

Since their win in the Baltimore series, the Royals are 6-3. Their offense is scoring six runs per game. And the bullpen has started to show some teeth. They are only 3.5 games back in the AL Central. If they manage to sweep the Mariners today, they’ll be 15-19, just four games under .500, headed home for a seven-game home stand against the Guardians and Tigers.

It took three weeks, but the Royals are finally playing how fans and commentators imagined they might, and they have an opportunity to turn this thing around.

Note: This Substack exists to enhance the experience of Royals fan, but running a podcast and newsletter isn’t free or easy. It requires equipment, subscriptions, software, time, etc. Subscribers who support us financially support our ability to pay for all that stuff and expand our coverage. We’re not some big corporation; we’re two guys who devote a lot of time and energy to producing this content. Just $5 a month goes a long way. So, please, consider becoming a paid subscriber; it helps a lot.

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The tide has started to turn just a bit for the Kansas City Royals. After an eight-game losing streak pushed them to the worst record in MLB, a win in the Baltimore series and a series win against the Angels (with a chance to sweep today) have given fans a sliver of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy first month.

It’s not overly surprising that the Royals have found a little more success against Baltimore and Los Angeles at home. Both teams are aggressively mediocre with suspect pitching staffs.

The Royals have taken the opportunity to score at least five runs in every game this week. So, is the offense fixed? Are the Royals poised for a run?

Maybe … we’ll see.

Note: This Substack exists to enhance the experience of Royals fan, but running a podcast and newsletter isn’t free or easy. It requires equipment, subscriptions, software, time, etc. Subscribers who support us financially support our ability to pay for all that stuff and expand our coverage. We’re not some big corporation; we’re two guys who devote a lot of time and energy to producing this content. Just $5 a month goes a long way. So, please, consider becoming a paid subscriber; it helps a lot.

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As if a six-game losing streak wasn’t bad enough. As if one of the worst offenses in baseball wasn’t bad enough. As if a bullpen that can’t seem to finish games wasn’t bad enough. The Royals have found a way to make this horrid stretch of baseball even worse for fans with what appears to be a tiff between the club’s captain and team legend Salvador Perez and Manager Matt Quatraro.

That should help pull the boys out of their funk. *sarcastic eye roll*

Royals fans came into the season with playoff hopes. Those hopes look less and less likely to be realized every day. They are now dead last in the AL Central at 7-14 and staring down the prospect of back-to-back series sweeps and a winless road trip.

Buddy Bell once offered a now-famous bit of wisdom: “I never say it can’t get any worse.” I try to follow that wisdom, but damn, it’s as bad as it has been in quite a while.

I’m making this post free for everyone because I’m happy with what I have to say on the Perez-Quatraro tiff, and I want more people to see it. But if you enjoy this content, I encourage you to become a paying subscriber and get more of it.

Note: This Substack exists to enhance the experience of Royals fan, but running a podcast and newsletter isn’t free or easy. It requires equipment, subscriptions, software, time, etc. Subscribers who support us financially support our ability to pay for all that stuff and expand our coverage. We’re not some big corporation; we’re two guys who devote a lot of time and energy to producing this content. Just $5 a month goes a long way. So, please, consider becoming a paid subscriber; it helps a lot.

Yes, I have thoughts on the spat between Salvador Perez and Matt Quatraro

Frankly, the spat shouldn’t be overly surprising. The team is losing a lot. Salvador Perez isn’t performing well at the plate. Those are conditions ripe for a little conflict, as Matt Quatraro has to try to do something to get the team going and Perez surely doesn’t want to lose any playing time or his position in the lineup.

I know many will be quick to defend a team legend over Quatraro, but I think it’s quite clear who is in the wrong here: Perez. And this gets at something I talk about occasionally.

In baseball (and in some other sports as well), fans and commentators have created this narrative around star players that they deserve to take on responsibility outside the role of player. They lionize the pitcher who argues to stay in a game. They assert that certain players deserve special considerations for playing time and spots in the lineup because of their talent or long service for a club.

This is, and has always been, a ridiculous narrative, and the Perez-Quatraro situation is a great example of why. Perez is the team captain and a team legend, but it’s Quatraro’s job to do whatever he needs to do to get the team winning. So, what’s a manager to do when the team legend is hampering that winning (as Perez certainly has been with his offensive performance so far this season)? Should he do nothing in deference to a team legend and sink the team’s season? Does he owe fealty to Perez over the rest of the team and the fanbase?

Obviously, the answer to that last one is “no.” Quatraro has a job to do, and that job may, at times, involve sitting Perez. And it’s not like Quatraro embarrassed Perez in any way by resting him a day. He has played in every game, and all the data suggests that Perez performs better with more rest. It made all the sense in the world to rest him for a day game after a night game facing a tough right hander. In fact, they should plan to rest him more often.

When Quatraro made his initial statement on the lineup, he mentioned providing Perez with a “mental breather,” completely innocuous language that no one looked twice at. Made perfect sense to everyone.

This whole situation was publicized not by Quatraro but by Perez who, frankly, acted like a spurned 13-year-old kid and went to vent his frustrations on social media. That’s not leadership. That’s childish. If he had a problem with sitting that day, he should express that with Quatraro but ultimately accept it. That’s his role as player. Players play, managers manage. They pay Perez a lot of money to do his role really well; they don’t pay him to do Quatraro’s role. And no, Perez’s years of service and team icon status don’t buy him a quarter share of manager duties because a ship can’t have two captains.

A good leader should accept the day off, sit in the dugout, and cheer on his teammates. A good leader should not drag his unhappiness with the decision into the public discourse.

In the past, we have received hints that Perez has a somewhat selfish streak when it comes to playing time, and we’ve folded those hints into the narrative of a guy who loves baseball so much—the tireless competitor. This moment is when that narrative hits reality, and it negatively impacts the team.

Hopefully, Perez starts acting more like a grownup and Quatraro finds a way to get control of the clubhouse. I’ve seen some people wish casting that this leads to the end of Quatraro’s tenure with the Royals. I don’t think people understand how bad it would be if the team sends the message that Perez is actually the one in charge. Might be tough to get a decent manager in if he thinks he’ll have to tussle with an aging Perez’s desire to play every day.

As I see it, this is Perez’s mistake. A mistake doesn’t end his status as a team legend. It’s just a mistake. But he needs to show some leadership now and quash it.

Some signs of life from Vinnie Pasquantino

Yes, pretty much everything is bad right now, but there is one small speck of light in the black hole that is Royals baseball. Vinnie Pasquantino has done some good things at the plate in this Yankees series.

The turnaround actually started in Detroit with a home run in the final game of that series. It appears that he’s finding his timing, squaring more balls up, and getting them into the fields he wants them in.

For Pasquantino pulling the ball to right field is the only path to success, but attempting to get one’s timing locked in to hit it to one field is tough. He shows wisdom to understand what will work best for him; it’s just extremely frustrating that hit takes him this long to find it.

What tells me he’s probably finding it? Well, the home runs help. But also his squared up percentage has gone up during this Yankees series. That is what allowed Pasquantino to hit two home runs this week with another just missing in deep right-centerfield alley in Detroit.

It hasn’t led to any wins yet, as the bullpen blew game three of the Tigers series and game one of the Yankees series (the two games Pasquantino homered in), but if his pattern holds, this is usually the point at which Pasquantino gets in a groove for a moment and starts hammering balls to right field.

That, coupled with some offensive production from Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone may be giving the Royals a sense of what they need to do to get this team winning a few games occasionally. In the game Saturday, the Royals utilized a lineup that had Pasquantino hitting third, Caglianone hitting fourth, and Jensen hitting fifth. That’s three lefties in a row, but it’s clear that in a close game, Quatraro would pinch hit for Caglianone to breakup the string of lefties.

It makes sense to start moving Jensen and Caglianone (Jensen especially) into the heart of the order. If Pasquantino is turning it on that will help, but Jensen takes the best plate appearances on the team, and Caglianone is looking more comfortable with the new approach and generating some extra base hits. The Royals need all the offense they can get so it’s probably time for a lineup shakeup.

Maybe this upsets the apple cart a bit, but (to loop it back to the point I made in the first section) players don’t own spots in the lineup. Players aren’t owed anything other than the money they earn.

And it’s the manager’s job to make changes when the team isn’t winning.

The Royals have a good chance to return to .500 today if they can take a third win from this four-game White Sox series. Taking three of four from the White Sox is expected from a team with playoff aspirations, but the Royals aren’t exactly playing like a playoff team.

They’re pitching well. Their pitching staff has the 11th best ERA in baseball, and the starters have the 2nd best ERA among starters. Starting pitching is their foundation, and it’s carrying them through an early-season offensive drought.

It may feel very similar to 2025, and in some ways it is, but there are key differences, as well.

Note: This Substack exists to enhance the experience of Royals fan, but running a podcast and newsletter isn’t free or easy. It requires equipment, subscriptions, software, time, etc. Subscribers who support us financially support our ability to pay for all that stuff and expand our coverage. We’re not some big corporation; we’re two guys who devote a lot of time and energy to producing this content. Just $5 a month goes a long way. So, please, consider becoming a paid subscriber; it helps a lot.

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Hopefully, everyone remembers the frustration of the 2025 Royals season. Remember how the pitching would keep the Royals in games, but the offense would pass up opportunity after opportunity to score with over aggression and poor swing decisions?

So far, we’re seeing issues with RISP in 2026, as well. There are times when the Royals find a way to string hits together, get a few assists from some poor defense, and score a bunch of runs. But the sustained, offensive growth hasn’t arrived yet. Consequently, the Royals are 4-4 with a game or two in the loss column solely because the offense couldn’t get things in gear.

Let’s look deeper into it ...

Note: This Substack exists to enhance the experience of Royals fan, but running a podcast and newsletter isn’t free or easy. It requires equipment, subscriptions, software, time, etc. Subscribers who support us financially support our ability to pay for all that stuff and expand our coverage. We’re not some big corporation; we’re two guys who devote a lot of time and energy to producing this content. Just $5 a month goes a long way. So, please, consider becoming a paid subscriber; it helps a lot.

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The Royals sure know how to knee cap fan enthusiasm. In a season with high expectations and decent buzz among fans, the brutal fashion in which the Royals lost the first two games is bound to have a few casuals checking out. Getting shutout in game one and then blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of game two will probably trigger some traumatized casuals.

I get it. Casual Royals fans seem to have the impression of the early 2000s baked into their DNA so some will simply think Here we go again and move on.

But the season isn’t over with one series loss. The Royals haven’t played particularly well, but they were poised to tie up the series if they hadn’t made the mistake of thinking Carlos Estévez can pitch. And unlike with teams past, the J.J. Piccolo Royals typically address issues quickly.

Speaking of which …

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The 2026 Cactus League has concluded! Sure, this year’s Cactus League held significantly less interest given teams’ best players were absent for the World Baseball Classic. But the ending of the Cactus League is an important step toward something that actually matters—Opening Day.

The Royals will get two more exhibition games against the Texas Rangers in Arlington before winging their way to Atlanta for Opening Day on Friday. There’s plenty of down time in there so let’s hope the boys don’t get rusty.

Mike and I still haven’t decided if we’re doing anything special for Opening Day. We’re toying with the idea of a live watch-along, but that requires some work on our part, and you know how much we hate work. Be sure, though, that we’ll let you all know if that’s happening so you can tune in if you’d like.

Until then, I offer you a preview of the first week of the regular season and a look back at some Spring Training stats.

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We’re inching closer and closer to Opening Day. The World Baseball Classic has reached the semifinal stage and will be over on Tuesday. The Royals will get all of their best players back after they each helped their teams to very respectable showings.

Then, the Royals will have three-to-four games of Cactus League play, two exhibition games against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, and a few off days before the regular season begins March 27 in Atlanta.

I love the WBC, but I’m also ready for the Royals to be a whole team again. It’s difficult to write and talk about the Royals when the Royals are all scattered onto different teams.

I’ll give it my best shot, though … here we go!

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We’ve made it to the dog days of Spring Training, that point at which I’m ready for the regular season to begin but it won’t for another two weeks. This mixture of anticipation, longing, and excitement.

The longing is made event worse by the absence of the World Baseball Classic players. Yes, it’s great watching them compete different nations, but it has made Spring Training games a little tougher to watch/listen to. When the Royals are rolling out lineups with Nick Loftin hitting second or third, it kind of breaks the illusion that the Cactus League Royals resemble the regular season Royals in any way.

But, there’s still some interesting stuff to consider. Josh Rojas continues to make a strong argument for making the club. And there’s some interesting swing decision data to look at. So, let’s do that.

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Spring Training games have begun! The Royals are 1-1 (doesn’t matter), and so far, we haven’t seen any significant injuries from the boys in blue.

That’s a good way to start the spring.

We had a chance to hear some of the Royals’ premier players in both of the first two games. We also had a chance to see some intriguing pitchers battling for rotation spot in Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert.

As we all know, stats in spring training are pretty meaningless … top line stats anyway. We may be able to pick up some meaning if we dig into some advanced stats, which don’t need such a huge sample size to have meaning. So, today’s weekly wrap up will (mostly) be a run down of stats from the first two Spring Training games that could signal something interesting heading into 2026.

Enjoy!

OH, and remember, we’re offering 10% off annual subscriptions for new subscribers. Subscribe below!

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In some ways, the last few days before Spring Training games start are the most brutal. I’m so ready for Royals baseball action; I’m jumping out of my skin over here. In just five days, the Royals will play the Texas Rangers, and I’m so pumped I’m planning an impromptu long weekend to Phoenix to catch some action.

The Royals have tried to make this time interesting by making a small trade that I could dig into (thanks for that, J.J.). I dig into that in the first section of this week’s weekly wrap up. Then, I spend the second section considering if Jonathan India could have a bounce-back 2026.

Enjoy!

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We are now less than two weeks away from the Royals first spring training game, and I’m basically white knuckling it at this point. I’d forgotten how hard the stretch from New Years to the start of Spring Training is when your favorite football team isn’t playing anymore.

Brutal.

I’m going to try to sleep as much as possible for the next two weeks, and maybe it will go faster. Until then, check out some thoughts on the World Baseball Classic (WBC), some potential Royals lineups, and a small section on the tragic loss of Terrance Gore.

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It’s weeks like this that I desperately long for baseball. I’ve had enough of Snowpocalypse 2026; I’m ready for the boys to play some ball.

It seems like the colder weather has frozen more than the city streets, though; it’s also frozen the activity at One Royal Way. We’ve heard nary a whisper from the Royals front office lately. Instead, we’re just getting reports and indications that the Royals may be done for the offseason.

If that’s the case, it’s fine, but it doesn’t help tide me over until the sights and sounds of Spring Training in about three weeks. What does? Digging into the Royals to figure some stuff out.

This week’s dig focuses on three pitchers battling for a starting pitching spot and Bobby Witt Jr. Enjoy!

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Sure, the lack of Royals news makes trudging through the winter a little bit of a chore, but it also allows us to dig deep into some issues facing the Royals. I’ve been writing a piece on Jac Caglianone for a while now, and I decided to share it as section two of the weekly round up. It’s extensive and digs into some pretty fine detail on his issues.

Writing deep-dive Caglianone stuff gets me excited on a weekend in January. Hopefully, reading it will get you pumped for baseball too!

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We are roughly five weeks away from the Royals’ first spring training game, and while there have been some scant rumors about Kris Bubic and the Mets, the Royals roster maneuverings have been pretty quiet lately.

But some off-the-field news has piqued my interest this week. As someone who is fascinated by the business and politics of baseball, the last week has delivered a few tidbits of news that I find worth considering. If no other reason, I would think fans would find the media rights of teams and the Royals stadium situation interesting because they will impact the team on the field and the health of the sport generally.

So, let’s get into them.

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A new year is the signal that baseball is just around the corner. The offseason has felt long and slow to me, but as I see the calendar turn to January, I realize that baseball is a mere six weeks away.

Six weeks is nothing. You can’t get a doctor’s appointment that fast. We’re so close.

Pitchers and catchers will report in mid-February with spring training games starting on February 20th.

It’s not clear if the Royals will make any more significant moves before spring training starts. We’ll see. Until then, I’ve got a series of questions that help organize my thinking on the 2026 Kansas City Royals.

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It’s been all quiet on the Royals front for the last week or so. The holidays … I get it. But for those of us excited to see this new-look Royals roster in action, it’s a slow, agonizing crawl to Spring Training. News helps lift our spirits as the cold, gray monotony of winter chills our bones. In the absence of news, I go back and watch games from 2025 (the condensed versions; I’m not a psycho) waiting for J.J. and the team to give me another nugget to chew on before the appetizer hits in February.

And there are still moves that can be made. The Royals probably don’t have a ton of money to throw around. In fact, they’ve stated that they’d need to shed payroll to make any significant additions, and frankly there isn’t much payroll to shed. They could MAYBE trade Jonathan India (if they can find someone willing to take his salary). It would be a pure salary dump, though. They could trade Kris Bubic, but he’s not set to make that much money. They could trade Carlos Estévez, but they’d just need to replace him … so that’s unlikely.

Other than that, I can’t see another way of shedding significant salary.

So, what can they do?

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The Royals are in an interesting place right now. J.J. Piccolo has met all the team’s big offseason needs. He obtained an every day outfielder in Isaac Collins. He obtained a right handed, platoon outfield bat in Lane Thomas. He obtained more swing-and-miss in the bullpen with Alex Lange, Nick Mears, and Matt Strahm.

But he did all this without giving up the team’s most valuable trade assets. He has spent a significant portion of what many saw as the team’s allotted budget for the offseason. Thomas’ $5.25M and Strahm’s $7.5M contracts take up a bulk of the team’s offseason spending money, but it’s not all gone.

Recent reports indicate that if the Royals want to add another significant piece, they’ll need to trim some payroll, but it’s unclear where that could come from. If they could swing a trade for Jonathan India or Carlos Estévez, that would free up some significant cash, but that seems unlikely given India’s low value and Estévez’s important role with the team.

But they have trade capital. So, what might if look like if they decide to make another move?

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I wrote this post Saturday morning. Originally, this opening section was about how I wanted the Royals to target a little-discussed outfielder for the Brewers in trade. His name? Isaac Collins.

About eight hours later, they made me a prophet and traded Angel Zerpa for Collins and reliever Nick Mears.

If you don’t know him, Collins is a 28-year-old outfielder for the Brewers. Last season—his rookie season—he put up a 122 wRC+ in 441 plate appearances with average defense in left field. He’s a switch hitter with a great approach at the plate (12.9% walk rate) and plenty of bat speed.

Collins was a little older than most rookies last season, and he may not have the ceiling some hitters do because of a relatively diminutive stature (he’s listed at 5’8”, 188 lbs). He has good bat speed, but struggles to square the ball up as much as he should. Ultimately, though, his excellent approach covers up what may be a slightly below average hit tool, and he understands what he needs to maximize his power output, as evidenced by his 20.4% air-pull rate.

Collins isn’t a superstar, but the Royals don’t need a super star. They’re looking for consistent, above-average production and years of control, which he has five of. Collins’ flaws made him a great match for the Royals who only had to give up Zerpa for him and Mears. Initially, I expected Kris Bubic would be the center piece of a deal for Collins.

Losing Zerpa matters, and I suspect Milwaukee has plans to turn him back into a starter. But the Royals can fairly easily replace a left handed reliever. Collins will likely play every day in left field for them and should slot very nicely into the six or seventh spot in the lineup.

This is a huge trade for Piccolo and the Royals. Grade? A+++++. (for more on this trade, check out our Monday episode).

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Last off-season ended in disappointment, as the Royals failed to land an impact hitter. Consequently, their offense struggled for the first four months of the season, and it was that offensive ineptitude that ultimately kept them from the playoffs.

This off-season it looked like a more determined disposition from the front office would land the team their much-coveted bat. And yet, sitting in my living room on November 30th, I feel less confident about that prospect than I did a month ago.

I’m confident to the Royals will add a hitter, perhaps multiple hitters. I’m not confident that they will add an every day hitter. I put the percentage chance at 50-50 at this point.

I also feel like that’s not the end of the world. The emergence of Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone, to me, represent far greater potential than the addition of previously sought after hitters like Taylor Ward.

Still, offensive additions wouldn’t hurt, and the landscape is getting bleaker every day.

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