A return to the postseason should be marked as a success for a Royals team that were challenged to play .500 ball. Another lost playoff series, however, was more disappointing, especially as it was the AL leading bullpen that blew both games.
It was a very up and down season with 3 losing months, 2 winning months, and 1 even month.
The Kansas City bats once again failed to light up the league with only strikeouts (2nd) and stolen bases (7th) making an appearance in the top 7 in the AL. The stolen bases shows a successful implementation of a tweaked strategy although baserunning aggression will be reviewed in the off season.
The pitching staff were fantastic with AL leading totals across a host of categories; most satisfyingly the 3.32 bullpen ERA and the return to the top of the Strikeout list. A slight defensive drop still saw the team post the second-best record in the AL.
Catchers
C
JONATHAN GEREW R Bat 55 Con 45 Gap 45 Pow 45 Eye 75/65/65 Catcher Defence
C
Ivan Herrera R 50 45 40 (-5) 60 55(-10)/55(-5)50(-5)
Last offseason the hope had been to find an internal back up for
Ivan Herrera. The season saw the Royals go through three backups without too much success, as well as seeing high regression from Herrera defensively.
Gerew became the first Stewart draftee to make the Big Leagues during the season and his defence will give him some leeway but a 55 wRC+ won’t be tolerated next season.
Herrera is a free agent and his defensive regression means his standard pedestrian 86 wRC+, despite KC career highs across the batting line, aren’t enough. He won’t return in 2030.
Infield
1B
Luke Adams R 45 50 60 55 45/45/60/40
2B
Nick Loftin R 55 (-5) 45 40 50 60/65/55/60
3B
Spencer Steer R 50 60 55 60 45/60/55/45
SS
Bobby Witt Jr. R 60 60 (-5) 50 (-5) 50 65(-5)/70/70/70
INF
Gregory Barrios R 55 45 20 55 65/65/60/65
INF
Kevin Made R 50 60 40 45 50/65/70/60
INF
Jake Gelof R 45 50 55 50 55/55/65/55
DH
Hunter Owen R 40 (-5) 50 (+5) 70 55 30/30/55/30
The changes continued through the infield as two years of tepid offence took their toll on front office and fans alike. The two Garcia’s moved on while Spencer Steer joined the club and Kevin Made was given another chance.
At 1B,
Luke Adams (77 wRC+) was very up and down (monthly wRC+: 95/75/156/-1/118/-31/) but hit 27 HRs and is elite defensively. He will have the chance to improve his consistency in 2030.
Nick Loftin (99 wRC+) had a .400 slugging percentage, stayed healthy and played solid 2B defence, he is not the problem in this team.
Spencer Steer (62 wRC+) fell off a cliff after joining the Royals, having been registering 33 wRC+ in San Francisco before his July move. A 10% walk rate is about all to try to salvage from a brutal .185/.281/.324 line which will not see him return as he is a free agent.
Bobby Witt Jr. (97 wRC+). What to do with a problem called Bobby Witt Jr. The local legend had a difficult season by his standards, with a batting line .267/.320/.425 that was similar enough to his 2028 line to suggest it might be his new normal rather than an exception. That is still worth almost 4 WAR when coupled with his defence but a loss of power and range from last season has alarm bells ringing in KC. Could Witt Jr. be on the block or is a move to 3B more likely? His 2025 MVP Award certainly seems a long time ago.
DH
Hunter Owen (115 wRC+) struck out an MLB record number of times but also hit the 4th most (38) HRs in a Kansas City season. A slugging % above .500 is exactly what this club needs and, despite his drop in contact, Owen will retain the DH slot in 2030.
Gregory Barrios (79 wRC+) is elite at avoiding strikeouts (12.7%) but can’t hit enough to make it count. Elite defence at 2B may not be enough and it would be ideal to be able to follow through on last year’s plan to give him half a season in AAA to see if he can round out his BABIP potential.
Kevin Made (105 wRC+) did a nice job in limited at bats, improving his OPS by over 150 points from his last trip to the Big Leagues. With Steer’s implosion there is a holding bat position open and Made may well get the chance to make it his own.
Jake Gelof (80 wRC+) was a September call up and split time at 3B and RF. The glove can play but questions remain about what part of his hitting profile keeps him in the Major Leagues. A utility glove may earn him time next season but he looks like a AAAA player so he will need to maximise his league minimum years to justify even a year of arbitration.
Outfield
LF
Wyatt Langford R 55 70 50 45 60/60/55
RF
Jorge Ruiz L 55 50 40 50 60/75/50
LF
Matthew Etzel L 50 60 (+5) 40 45 65/60/55
RF
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart L 45 45 60 45 60/60/55
CF
Enrique Bradfield Jr. L 55 45 30 60 65/70/45
LF
Daulton Varsho L 45 55 60 50 65/70/60
RF
Jake Gelof R 45 50 55 50 50/50/60
To complete the set, the Royals outfield saw plenty of change in 2029 although all the opening day lineup are still at the club.
Wyatt Langford (99 wRC+) provided some pop but missed time with injury and couldn’t reproduce his first season levels. A salary increase to $9m next year brings pressure to increase a slugging percentage that should touch .500 with his above average power potential and ++ Gap Power.
Jorge Ruiz (99 wRC+) benefited from the arrivals of Enrique Bradfield Jr. and then Daulton Varsho as it allowed him to slip over to RF, a better fit for his profile. A nice complement to Langford, Ruiz gets on base more often with less power on the way to an identical wRC+. He is not a long term solution but offers a steady profile and will be back in 2030.
Matthew Etzel (50 wRC+) may have demonstrated the gap between AAA and MLB as he hit .912 OPS in Omaha but was awful for KC, his average a woeful .198. Another year in AAA is Etzel’s immediate future but longer term it is likely to lie away from KC.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart (69 wRC+) struggled even more than Langford in his second season with the team. He was sent down to AAA during the season and did improve on his return. His lack of speed and contact ability limits his tether but he should get another shot in 2030.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. (75 wRC+) arrived via waivers at the beginning of the season as a walk drawing, base stealing CF. He walked in over 10% of his at bats and stole an AL leading 36 bases but that didn’t really cover up a .234 average. Scouts believe he has above average contact and he offered enough defensively to earn a spot as a 4th OF in 2030, especially if he can make contact at the level scouts believe.
Daulton Varsho (66 wRC+) was hitting .855 in Detroit before arriving in Kansas City in the July trade. He hit .650 over his next 56 games, failing to provide the hoped-for lift for the team’s lack of power. A free agent in 2029 it is unlikely Varsho will return.
Offseason / Early 2029 Overview
CATCHER
Starter: JONATHAN GEREW
Back up:
Internal Promotion / FA / Trade
INFIELD
1B Luke Adams
2B Nick Loftin
Arbitration
3B
Internal / FA / Trade
SS Bobby Witt Jr.
???
INF Gregory Barrios
???
INF Kevin Made / Jake Gelof
???
DH Hunter Owen
OUTFIELD
LF Wyatt Langford
CF
Internal / FA / Trade
RF Jorge Ruiz
OF/CF Enrique Bradfield Jr.
Starters
SP
Mason Barnett 28 R 50 55 55 4 55 (+5) 93-95 60/50/55/60
SP
Drew Beam 26 R 55 55 (+5) 55 4 55 93-95 55/70/55/50
SP
Chase Burns 26 R 65 50 45 4 55 97-99 75/55/70/70
SP
Braxton Garrett 32 L 50 50 70 5 60 91-93 50/50/45/55/50
SP
Aiden May 26 R 55 50 50 4 60 95-97 65/50/60/60
SP
JT Brubaker 35 R 50 50 60 4 50 93-95 60/45/50/55
Mason Barnett (124 ERA+) led the 4th best starting rotation in the AL in fine fashion once again. His 7th year with the Royals didn’t set any records but brought 3.6 WAR and another year with a FIP under 4 (3.93). Two more years of Barnett is music to Royals fans ears.
The double B’s (Beam and Burns) returned their double act and improved in their sophomore year.
Beam (104 ERA+) produced Top 10 Royals seasons in both K/BB rate (8th – 3.59) and K/9 (8th – 9.4) over 186 innings while
Burns (127 ERA+) had 203 Ks (8th) and 10.6 K/9, 2nd to only Matthew Boyd’s 2025 season.
Off season acquisition
Aiden May (105 ERA+) offered over 2 WAR while keeping a FIP to a 4.55 while
Brubaker (85 ERA+ as a starter) was the only disappointment as he moved to the pen with the acquisition of
Braxton Garrett (150 ERA+).
Garrett was even better than expected over his 11 starts, posting a 3.58 FIP with 8 Quality Starts. He is looking for 6-years at $20m which is richer than the Royals can afford, especially for a 32-year-old fragile pitcher so it is likely he departs in free agency with thanks from Royals fans.
Bullpen
RP
Liam Norris 28 L 60 (-5) 55 30 4 40 92-94 55(-5)/50/70/60
RP
Jose Quijada 33 L 65 50 50 3 30 94-96 75/55/65
RP
Yusuke Matsumura 28 R 65 55 50 2 25 96-98 75/75
RP
Angel Perdomo 35 L 80 50 40 3 35 94-96 70/65/75
RP
Raimon Gomez 28 R 75 45 50 (+5) 3 40 95-97 70/60/75
RP
Nick Margevicius 33 L 40 50 65 4 55 91-93 45/45/45/45
RP
DJ Herz 28 L 70 55 40 3 45 93-95 65/60/70
RP
John McMillon 31 R 60 (-10) 55 40 2 30 (-5) 97-99 75/75(-5)
RP
Josiah Gray 31 R 55 55 50 4 55 95-97 65/50/60/60
Nine relievers, plus Brubaker, pitched innings for the Royals in 2030, with eight of those pitching at least 50 innings.
Liam Norris (46 ERA+) only pitched 7 innings over 5 games with his ERA skewed by a 0.1 inning outing where he gave up 7 runs on 4 hits. He is on an auto renew contract at $1.1m and his 65-55-30 profile may have a role in 2030, but the Royals may try to sneak him through Waivers to free up a 40-man roster spot.
Off season acquisitions
Quijada (116 ERA+) and
Matsumura (133 ERA+) sit at the bottom of the FIP rankings, 4.67 across 53 and 4.37 across 50 innings respectively. Matsumura has two years left on his contract but Quijada’s $4m TO is likely to voided.
Final acquisition
Angel Perdomo (235 ERA+) had a much better return (postseason meltdown aside) posting a team-leading 3.00 FIP over 51.1 innings of 1.93 ERA. He is looking for 3 years at $1.7m and if the back end can be TO’ed then he may be back.
Raimon Gomez (145 ERA+),
Nick Margevicius (117 ERA+), and
DJ Herz (110 ERA+) had broadly similar profiles with Nick Margevicius striking out fewer but also walking fewer batters. Gomez has eased into the season so pitched 54 innings to Herz and Margevicius’ 76 and 74 respectively. All three are in arbitration with Gomez in his first year and so likely to be retained but there is likely only to be room for one of Herz and Margevicius, with the 5 years younger Herz in the driving seat.
The two 100-innings pitchers,
John McMillon (173 ERA+) and
Josiah Gray (153 ERA+) both had excellent seasons, with FIPs of 3.35 and 3.43 respectively. They combined for almost 4 WAR with McMillon striking out more and Gray walking fewer batters. McMillon is in his final year of arbitration with Gray in his penultimate - $9m may prove too steep to retain both (especially with McMillon’s stuff rating regression) although the most likely outcome is signing and exploring trade options rather than letting either walk for nothing.
40 Man Roster
Starter
Sawyer Gipson-Long and relievers
MacKenzie Gore,
Julian Aguiar,
Liu Fuenmayor, and
Frank Mozzicato never got a chance to pitch for the Royals in 2029 with Aguiar particularly unlucky after being optioned to AAA following the pre-Opening Day acquisition of Angel Perdomo.
Gipson-Long, Gore, and Aguiar are all in arbitration and will not be offered a contract while Fuenmayor has an auto renew contract but will be DFA’ed. Only Aguiar pitched Major League baseball for the Royals and can consider himself reasonably unfortunate to be the victim of a bullpen crunch at the start of the season. Three years and over 200 IP, he was a strong servant at the start of the Stewart era and should have no problem finding a roster for 2030.
Offseason / Early 2029 Overview
Rotation
SP Mason Barnett
SP Drew Beam
SP Chase Burns
SP Aiden May
SP Braxton Garrett
Free Agent
Bullpen
RP Liam Norris
Auto Renew / Trade / DFA
RP Jose Quijada
Free Agent
RP Yusuke Matsumura
RP Angel Perdomo
1 Year Contract / Free Agent
RP Raimon Gomez
Arbitration
RP Nick Margevicius
Free Agent
RP DJ Herz
Arbitration
RP John McMillon
Arbitration / Trade
RP Josiah Gray
Arbitration