Kansas City Royals 2024 offseason preview: What’s next for Bobby Witt Jr. and Co. as the Royals move out of rebuild mode?
After clinching the American League’s second wild card, the Royals swept the Orioles in the wild-card round and then lost to the Yankees in four games in the ALDS.
Kansas City’s pitching is the main reason they made it past the Orioles and didn’t get swept by the Yankees. Michael Wacha was the only starting pitcher on the team with a postseason ERA over 3.90.
The offense is the reason the Royals didn’t go further. Vinnie Pasquantino couldn’t recover from a long injury layoff and batted just .130 in October. MJ Melendez had a .150 OBP. The biggest blow was that Bobby Witt Jr. was as ineffective in the postseason as any other hitter on the team, with a .192 average and .414 OPS.
The Royals finally turned the corner in a long rebuild, posting their first winning record and making their first postseason appearance since they won the World Series in 2015. Remarkably, Kansas City won 30 more games this season than in 2023.
Bobby Witt Jr. was by far the biggest catalyst of the improvement. The 24-year-old made major improvements for a second straight year and now ranks among baseball’s superstars. Witt led the majors in batting average and finished fourth in OPS. He was one of three 30-30 players, and his 10.4 WAR ranked behind only Yankees superstar Aaron Judge.
Witt was well supported by the veteran Salvador Perez, who logged an impressive .786 OPS, homered 27 times and led all catchers with 104 RBI. Vinnie Pasquantino also made major contributions by driving in 97 runs in 131 games before he suffered a regular-season-ending thumb injury on Aug. 29. He did return in time for the playoffs, but the DH contributed just three hits in Kansas City’s six playoff games.
There were also substantial contributions on the pitching side, as Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Michael Wacha each posted an ERA below 3.75 and threw more than 165 innings. Lugo was especially effective, as he went 16-9 and finished 10th in baseball in ERA.
The bullpen was the most disappointing area for this team, as it ranked 20th in baseball in ERA. Three of the top five Royals in appearances finished with an ERA over 4.90. The acquisition of closer Lucas Erceg at the trade deadline was helpful but not enough to solve all the problems, especially when fellow July acquisition Hunter Harvey landed on the IL after throwing just 5 2/3 innings for his new team.
The outfield was also a constant headache. Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez and Kyle Isbel led the team in outfield appearances, and all three players finished with an OPS below .700. Nelson Velázquez was expected to be a big part of the outfield picture after breaking out in 2023, but he produced a .640 OPS in 64 games and spent half the season in the minors.
