The 2028 season was clearly a regression for the Royals, failing to get above .500 and missing the playoffs in a weak AL Central.
Clearly, the performance on the batting side of the clubhouse was the major problem. Despite the failure to record a statistic above 8th (other than in strikeouts and base running) in the AL, the team was still in contention up until September. The pitching cast had a much stronger season with the 5th best ERA in the AL, underpinned by league leading hits allowed, opponents average, BABIP, and defence (1st in efficiency and zone rating).
Catchers
C
Ivan Herrera R Bat 50 Con 45 Gap 45 Pow 60 Eye 65/60/55(-5) C Defence
C
Caleb Lomavita R 40 45 40 50 65 55 65
The catching corps combined for a 2.0 WAR between them, with
Lomavita (.228/.288/.315 / 64 wRC+) not really kicking on in the 2nd half of the season as had been hoped.
Herrera (.223/.317/.307 / 74 wRC+) is a defence first starting catcher (AL : Range – 2nd; Catcher’s ERA – 6th; Framing Runs – 3rd) who will be offered arbitration but his 65/60/60 defensive rating should be replaceable and there is little prospect of a long term deal. Our scouts think
Lomavita still has growth but, with options, it would be great to have competition for the back-up role in 2029.
Infield
1B
Hunter Owen R 45 45 70 55 30 30 55 30
1B
Robert Perez Jr. R 45 45 60 (-5) 50 20 (-5) 20 (-10) 25 (-10) 20 (-5)
1B
Luis Garcia L 65 60 45 45 50 50 65 55
2B
Gregory Barrios R 55 45 20 55 65 65 60 65
2B
Nick Loftin R 60 45 40 50 60 65 55 60
3B
Maikel Garcia R 65 50 35 55 65 65 60 65
SS
Jose Ramos R 50 60 40 50 55 60 55 55
SS
Bobby Witt Jr. R 60 65 55 50 70 70 70 70
The emergence of
Owen (.226/.309/.452 / 101 wRC+), coupled with
Perez Jr.’s (.229/.297/.400 / 86 wRC+) drop in power (.054 drop off in SLG resulting in 33% fewer HRs) likely signals the end of Arbirtation eligible Perez’s time in KC.
Garcia (.268/.322/.407 / 92 wRC+) was adequate in his overpay year and could slot in a 3B while also spending some time at first in 2029.
Nick Loftin (.272/.338/.429 / 107 wRC+) missed over a third of the season through injury but was elite when available and will start in his penultimate arbitration year in 2029.
Barrios (.219/.272/.292 / 51 wRC+) wasn’t able to turn it around but having survived the year, the Rule 5 pick will likely spend some time in AAA to work through his batting as his defense is above average.
Maikel Garcia (.268/.325/.372 / 89 wRC+) provided below average power at 3B and would be better in a back-up role in 2029 to cover the infield but the market will be tested. The likely move is to shift Luis Garcia over to an everyday 3B to see if his defence can stick. FA options will be investigated as this is a major hole in the lineup over the last two years.
Witt Jr. (.266/.309/.436 / 96 wRC+) had his worst season since signing his new deal, missing a third of the season while struggling (relatively) with the bat. However, when fit he remain one of the elite wRC+/ZR shortstops in the game and there are few fears (beyond health) over him moving forward.
Ramos once again came up to play sparingly but competently and will be retained in this role for his final option year.
Luke Adams (2024 Trade with LAA) came up in September to make his ML debut, appearing in 16 games and neither excelling or bombing. He will be on the block but could find a way into Spring Practice if there is no interest, his plus power an asset along with elite defensive skills at 1B.
Jose Caballero and
Kevin Made both had unimpressive stints on the roster, with Made likely reaching the end of the line as a realistic Major League option for the Royals.
Outfield
LF
Matthew Etzel L 50 55 (-5) 40 45 (-5) 65 60 55
LF
Wyatt Langford R 55 70 50 45 60 60 55
CF
Jorge Ruiz L 55 50 40 50 60 75 50
RF
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart L 45 45 60 45 60 60 55
The corner outfielders were the success story of the season on the hitting side of the Royals organisation. Both
Langford (.267/.334/.500 / 121 wRC+) and
Jenkins-Cowart (.295/.342/.539 / 134 wRC+) were brought in over the offseason and produced above averages performances in the corner requirements – slugging and and wRC+. They also played elite defence with a combined 14.7 ZR while outperforming the player (Kwan and Florial) they replaced. Neither played the full season (Langford through injury and Jenkins-Cowart as an in season call up) so big things are expected from them in 2029. Jenkins-Cowart’s ability to cover 1B could be a problem for Luke Adams.
Ruiz (.243/.291/.383 / 79 wRC+) missed the majority of the season through injury and did not impress (-1.0 ZR) on his return. It is unclear if he will return in 2029. His replacement,
Braylin Tavera (.167/.259/.248 / 39 wRC+) was given a 100-game runway but was a disaster. Scouts think there is growth to come so he will try out Omaha again in 2029.
Matt Etzel had the unenviable task of covering all three OF positions and was below average. Offers will be entertained in the offseason but, due to Ruiz’s performances, there could be a position in CF available.
Offseason / Early 2029 Overview
CATCHER
Starter:
Ivan Herrera ARB
Back up:
Caleb Lomavita/ Internal Promotion
INFIELD
1B
Hunter Owen
2B
Nick Loftin ARB
3B
Luis Garcia
SS
Bobby Witt Jr.
INF
Gregory Barrios AAA
INF
Maikel Garcia TRADE?
DH
Robert Perez Jr. TRADE/FA
OUTFIELD
LF
Wytt Langford
CF
Jorge Ruiz AAA?
RF
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart
OF/CF
Matthew Etzel
The Royals’ pitchers had a mixed season with the top performers offsetting some serious challengese raised down the order. A couple of strong debut seasons delivered an acceptable starting rotation which remains short of an ace while the bullpen saw multiple changes over the season but improved to finish 4th in the AL overall.
Starters
Mason Barnett 27 R 50 55 55 4 50 93-95 60/50/55/60(+5)
Drew Beam 25 R 55 50 55 4 55 93-95 55/70/55/50
Chase Burns 25 R 65 (+5) 50 45 (+5) 4 55 (+5) 97-99 75/55(+5)/70(+5)/70(+5)
Freddy Peralta 32 R 55 50 50 4 55(+5) 94-96 65/60/70/65
Anthony Veneziano 31 L 40 50 50 3 55 85-87 40/60/45
Barnett had an incredible year, winning the AL ERA Crown (2.61) with the 6th best ERA from a Royal of all time. He held opponents to .190, the lowest ever mark recorded by a Royal while adding top ten season performances in K/9 (9th – 9.0) and WHIP (4th – 1.06). It would be fair to declare year one of his 4-year, $36m contract a success.
Beam (2027 Trade from LAA) and
Burns (2027 MiL FA) both debuted as full-time starters and both won a Rookie of the Month Award – Burns in July, Beam in August. Burns had the more impressive statistics (29.1% K rate, 3.37 FIP, 3.9 WAR) and only missed out on a slew of Royal Top 10s due to a low innings pitched count. Successfully increasing his pitch per game in 2029 will be a priority while maintaining his 11+ K/9 rate. Beam gave up a few too many long balls – 1.4/9 – but he did join Barnett in adding his name to the Royals Records lists, with his 9.1 K/9 good for 7th on the All-Time list.
Veneziano had the feared fall to earth, giving up an ERA of almost 6.00 which saw his HR/9 and BB/9 increase while his K/9 rate dropped.
Peralta had a season very similar to 2027, his 80 ERA+ from a 5.14 FIP not close to what the Royals had hoped for from a player with a TO for 2029. That option will be voided. Along with Veneziano not being offered arbitration, the Royals will be looking for two Starters for 2029, preferably one leftie, one rightie.
Bullpen
DJ Herz 27 L 70 55 40 (+5) 3 45 93-95 65/60/70
Raimon Gomez 27 R 75 45 45 3 40 95-97 70/60/75
Scott Effross 34 R 45 (-5) 50 70 3 35 89-91 (-2) 50/50(-5)/50(-5)
Julian Aguiar 27 R 45 50 65 3 40 91-93 45/50/50
Jose Ruiz 34 R 55 50 50 3 25 97-99 75/55/65
John McMillon 30 R 70 55 40 2 35 98-100 75(-5)/80
Liam Norris 27 L 65 55 30 4 40 92-94 60/50/70/60
Nick Margevicius 32 L 40 50 65 4 55 91-93 45/45/45/45
Frank Mozzicato 25 L 60 50 40 3 55 89-91 45/50/70
Trevor Megill 34 R 60 50 50 3 30 94-96 65/70/60
Cristian Javier 31 R 50 50 50 4 55 94-96 60/50/5/60
Four relievers did not manage a FIP under 4.00, and unfortunately two of them were the stoppers at the start of the season. Both
Herz (4.49) and
Gomez (5.44) struggled in year two of the Stopper role, despite Gomez being named an All-Star for the second time. Both will return but in MR roles in 2029.
Effross had a sorry end to his Royals career as his 6.51 FIP saw him demoted to AAA to finish the season. Finally,
Aguiar struggled with FIP (4.10) but offset this with an impressive 3.30 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. His extreme groundball tendency coupled with strong defence definitely helped and he will return in 2029.
Free Agent acquisition
Ruiz justified his signing, leading the team with a 2.93 FIP and a 21% K-BB% while pitching 50 innings. $6m for two years is his ask which may be a bit rich for a player who doesn’t offer more than one inning of work per game.
McMillon stepped up to a closer role midway through the season after his return from injury and provided a solid 3.54 FIP across 80 innings. Ideally he would have a MR role in 2029.
Norris (acquired as part of the Jenkins-Cowart trade) provided solid relief once he was called up and will be auditioning for a bigger role in 2029, alongside
Margevicius. Joining that group on return from his 9 months out will be
Mozzicato.
Neither midseason acquisition
Megill nor MiL FA signing
Javier will return for the 2029 season.
40 Man Roster
30-year old
Hayden Wesneski (2027 MiL FA) didn’t make it to the roster in 2028 but will be offered arbitration and could replace Peralta in the starting rotation after a solid year in AAA although he will face competition from
Josiah Gray who struggled in relief at the ML level but performed well at AAA.
Cade Cavalli and
Kevin Kelly will not be offered arbitration.
Offseason / Early 2029 Overview
ROTATION
Mason Barnett
Drew Beam
Chase Burns
Freddy Peralta Team Option VOIDED
Anthony Veneziano Trade/FA
BULLPEN
DJ Herz ARB
Raimon Gomez
Scott Effross No QO
Julian Aguiar ARB
Jose Ruiz No QO
John McMillon ARB
Liam Norris
Nick Margevicius ARB
Frank Mozzicato
Trevor Megill FA
Cristian Javier FA