What have the Royals shown fans so far? Breaking down a rough start

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Six straight losses and just one series win have the Kansas City Royals at 7-14 after 21 games, tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in baseball and last place in the American League Central as of Saturday afternoon.

With a winless road trip looming after being swept in Detroit and dropping the first two of a three-game series to the New York Yankees, Royals fans have had little to cheer for over the last five games. It’s a long season, and the Royals are well below a quarter of the way through the year, but so far, the 2026 Royals have left a lot to be desired from a club expected to compete for the division.

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So, what have the first 21 games told Royals fans about this team? And, more importantly, what do they mean for the other 141 remaining?

Offensive struggles cannot persist

One of the most frustrating aspects of the Royals’ play of late has been the lack of run production. The Royals have already wasted a handful of stellar outings from the starting rotation and gotten blown out in a few where the starter couldn’t provide them a quality start.

After a dreadfully slow start from a number of the key offensive contributors like Vinnie Pasquantino, Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez, offensive numbers have started to improve. However, the team still isn’t scoring enough runs to win consistently.

Yes, numbers like the greatly improved walk rate, average exit velocity and barrel percentage show that the improvement will continue, but a 13-4 beatdown at the hands of the Yankees on Saturday gives the Royals a dreadful -25 run differential just 21 games into the season.

It goes without saying that if the Royals want to correct course, the offense will have to improve.

Caglianone and Jensen were ready

On a positive note, the two young sluggers in KC’s lineup are performing as-advertised.

Caglianone clearly worked on his plate discipline during his first pro offseason, and it’s paying off. Caglianone’s average exit velocity, bat speed and hard hit rate are all in the 90th percentile according to Baseball Savant. Swinging the bat like that while holding off on pitches well out of the zone will serve him and his team well.

That’s not all with Cags, though. The last two series in particular have shown fans (and baserunners rounding third) that he’s a more-than-competent right fielder. He’s also in the 90th percentile for fielding run value and arm value, meaning he’s keeping runs from scoring with his arm.

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Jensen, on the other hand, leads the team in home runs with five. He’s only batting for a .237 average, but the Royals clearly need batters who can leave the yard. So far, the rookie has been the best on the team to do so.

If Jensen and Caglianone can continue their productive starts, it’ll make the jobs of Bobby Witt Jr. and company all the easier and solidify them both as solid middle-order bats.

The bullpen isn’t as deep as expected

As good as the Royals’ starting rotation has been, the same can’t be said about the bullpen. Beginning with Carlos Estevez’s horrific outing during the opening series vs. the Atlanta Braves to Lucas Erceg’s blown save against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, the bullpen’s struggles haven’t gone unnoticed.

There are more concerns with who the Royals are currently sending to the mound, though.

First off, the previously mentioned Erceg isn’t getting enough swing and miss. He’s got just five strikeouts in seven and a third innings. If he’s going to be the closer, or a high-leverage relief pitcher at all for that matter, his high-powered stuff will need to get batters out swinging.

The new additions in the KC bullpen, outside of Matt Strahm, haven’t been great so far either. The Royals hoped that Nick Mears and Alex Lange could improve on the offerings Angel Zerpa and Jonathan Bowlan provided in 2025. That hasn’t been the case, though.

A big reason why the bullpen is struggling is the fact that they can’t get out of innings; with two outs, it seems like teams are scoring at will against the Royals’ relievers.

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The worst part of the bullpen becoming a problem is the fact that the pitching staff is not nearly as deep as expected. Steven Cruz and Luinder Avila have both come from AAA Omaha and been sent back down and Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek are both dealing with injuries.

Part of this comes back to the offense struggling as well. Relievers are incredibly volatile in the MLB, and the most successful bullpens are rarely the ones tasked with protecting one or two-run leads. Walk-off losses and blown leads are demoralizing, though, and the Royals have already suffered more than their fair share in the young season.

Starters carry the load

Frankly, the main reason to tune in to watch a Kansas City Royals game so far in 2026 has been the starting pitching. Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron have all looked good to great for their respective roles so far.

As a collective unit, the Royals starters have been one of the best in baseball with an ERA under three. While every start isn’t going to go the Royals’ way, like Cameron’s start on Saturday vs. the Yankees, the rotation is the last thing to worry about for now.

A highlight has been the resurgence, if you can call it that, of the veterans– Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Lugo looks like his 2024 self so far in 2026 after retooling his massive arsenal and selection and Wacha has been as good as any pitcher in the majors through four starts.

Bubic has looked stellar as well, outside of a one shaky start against the Tigers. Cameron is the most likely for regression, but has held his own outside of his outing vs. the Yankees Saturday.

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Ragans, on the other hand, is an odd one, though. He has an 0-3 record and an ERA nearing four through four starts, but he left one of those early after being hit on the throwing hand by a Jose Ramirez line drive. Outside of the consistency aspect, it’s looking like Ragans can front another solid Royals rotation in 2026 if he can stay healthy.

With all of that taken into account, it’s worth noting that these starters will need to be excellent if KC wants to be a winning team. It’s clear this offense still lacks the firepower to will the team into the playoffs, even if they do break out. The Royals should look to lean on the pitching staff and focus on what they can control to win games.

‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’

‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’