Four Metrics That Stand Out from the Royals’ Recent Seven-Game Stretch – Royals

It was a solid start to June for the Kansas City Royals. After starting the road trip with three straight losses to the Rangers in Arlington, the Royals ended up going 5-2 in a seven-game stretch against the Reds and Twins, respectively. 

Instead of a traditional Week in Review, I will review the past week through the lens of four metrics produced by Royals players. That includes two hitters and two pitchers. Not only will I highlight that number for that particular player, but also what those metrics could mean for them and the Royals as we hit the dog days of summer during the 2026 MLB season. 

When it comes to Royals hitters over the past week, no Kansas City position player was hotter at the plate than Massey.

Over the past seven days, Massey collected 10 hits, which led all Royals hitters over that time frame. In 26 at-bats, he also slashed .385/.385/.615 with a 1.000 OPS. The Kansas City second baseman also led Royals hitters with two home runs this week, with his latest coming on June 4th in Minneapolis against Twins pitcher Mike Paredes. 

In 146 plate appearances this season, Massey is slashing .263/.283/.460 with a .743 OPS. He also has six home runs, 16 runs scored, and 20 RBI in 50 games.

When it comes to his Statcast profile, Massey is barreling the ball and hitting the ball hard, pulling the ball in the air effectively, and not whiffing or striking out a whole lot at the plate. That said, the xwOBA is significantly lagging the wOBA, and he is chasing a lot while not walking much.

While walking is not necessarily a sign of “surefire” success, it can help a hitter when the BABIP isn’t trending in the right direction. Then again, Massey has never been a high-walk hitter over his career, and at least he’s making up for the lack of walks with a low number of strikeouts and power to boot.

With Jonathan India going on the 60-Day IL due to being out for the season because of a shoulder injury, the Royals needed Massey to step up at the keystone if they wanted to make a push toward the postseason. While the Royals are still 12 games under .500, the former Illinois product trending in the right direction is an encouraging development for this Kansas City lineup. 

Now, he just has to stay healthy, which has been a challenge in the past.

15 Strikeouts to Zero Walks for Noah Cameron

After posting a 5.40 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in six starts and 31.2 IP, it looked like Cameron was on his way to some major regression in 2026 after posting a 2.99 ERA in 138.1 IP a season ago. Not only did he give up 40 hits in April, but he also gave up five home runs, a sign that opposing hitters were locked in on his profile and approach.

To Cameron’s credit, he’s been slowly getting better and more efficient with every start this season.

In May, the St. Joseph, Missouri product posted a 3.43 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in four starts and 21 IP. He allowed only 17 hits and didn’t give up a single homer. Cameron also improved his BB/K ratio from 2.55 in April to 3.33 in May. Thus, the lefty was making the proper adjustments after a challenging first month of play.

This past week, Cameron was the Royals’ best pitcher statistically.

In two starts, he posted a 0.69 ERA and 0.31 WHIP in 13 IP. The lefty also only gave up four hits, struck out 15 batters, and didn’t allow a single walk in his past two outings. Those kinds of efforts were a big reason why the Royals won in his last start against the Twins and should’ve won the previous start against the Reds (the bullpen imploded, unsurprisingly). 

Here’s a look at Cameron’s TJ Stuff+ summary from his Sunday start against Minnesota. Royals fans should pay attention to his strong chase and whiff rates, which led to eight strikeouts in six innings of work.

In addition to posting a 31.7% chase and 25% whiff rate, he also had a .208 xwOBACON. That ability by Cameron to limit hard contact is a big reason why he’s not just limited home runs allowed, but runs in general. Cameron’s stuff also looked strong on Sunday, especially his changeup, curveball, cutter, and slider, which all had TJ Stuff+ marks of 100 or higher (he had an overall 99 TJ Stuff+). 

The main issue with Cameron is that he doesn’t have a great four-seamer, as evidenced by the pitch’s 92 TJ Stuff+ mark on Sunday. However, he does an excellent job of locating the pitch, which makes it hard for hitters to square it up despite its lackluster characteristics. Below is his pitch description chart on the four-seam fastball from Sunday’s win, and notice how he peppers the edges and avoids the middle-middle zone.

He only gave up one hit on the four-seamer, which was a mistake up in the zone. However, he limited any other kind of production due to his solid command of the pitch. 

If Cameron keeps this up, he could make a push to be a Royals’ All-Star pitching representative. 

Caglianone was pulled from Saturday’s game and didn’t play Sunday due to a shoulder injury he suffered when colliding with the wall in Friday night’s game. That said, though he had only 18 at-bats this week, Cags was the best overall Royals hitter this week.

In his weeklong sample, the former Florida Gator slashed .389/.522/.611 with a 1.113 OPS. Cags also launched a home run, scored three runs, collected four RBI, and stole a base. Another positive from this week was his plate discipline, as he walked four times and struck out five times.

Here’s a look at his home run, which came against Cincinnati pitcher Brandon Leibrandt on June 1st. 

Not only has Cags changed his look with high socks (which look good on him), but he is also hitting the ball harder than ever. When looking at his TJ Statcast summary since June 1st, he’s looking elite in his barrel, hard-hit rate, exit velocity, launch angle, and walk metrics. 

The only drawbacks with Cags’ profile from this past week are that he’s chasing a lot (12th percentile O-Swing%) and not making a ton of contact on pitches in the strike zone (22nd percentile Z-Contact%). However, it’s hard to be too nitpicky, especially when so many of his percentiles rank in the 98th percentile or higher. 

Hopefully, getting some rest today and the day off tomorrow will help Cags come back close to 100 percent for this upcoming homestand against the Rangers and Astros. The Royals need his power and bat in the lineup, especially with Salvador Perez nursing a thumb injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the past two days.

Manager Matt Quatraro inserted Caglianone in the cleanup spot against righties recently, and Cags will likely keep that spot if he continues to produce at the plate like he did over the past seven days. 

Three Saves in Three Opportunities for Alex Lange

With Lucas Erceg imploding over the past month, Quatraro has been open to utilizing anyone in the bullpen to close out games. Well, the Royals may have found their solution, and it didn’t take all that long.

Lange has taken over closer duties recently, and he’s thrived in his return to the role (he saved 26 games for the Tigers in 2023). In four outings and four IP this week, Lange didn’t allow a run, had a 1.25 ERA, and struck out seven batters while only walking two. Most importantly, he collected three saves in three opportunities, with his most recent coming in Saturday’s 3-2 comeback win.

Lange has always been a pitcher with strikeout ability and a propensity for generating swing-and-miss. While he has struggled with walks (12.1% BB%) and barrels allowed (14.7% barrel rate), his 25% K% ranks in the 67th percentile, and his 31% whiff rate ranks in the 88th percentile. That strikeout and whiff rate is an upgrade over what they were getting with Erceg this season (30th percentile K% and 17th percentile whiff%). 

When looking at his TJ Stats summary from June 1st to June 6th, many of his other metrics have been even more impressive, which shows why he’s been so trusted by Quatraro in the ninth inning recently. 

In addition to a 1.90 FIP, Lange produced a 38.9% K%, 27.8% K-BB%, and 39.4% whiff%. Those are great results, though his TJ Stuff+ numbers weren’t quite as impressive, as evidenced by his 100 overall TJ Stuff+. His changeup and sinker were good pitches; however, this week. They had grades of 56 and 64, respectively. Thus, Lange has at least a couple of pitches in his arsenal that can be put away offerings. 

Whether Lange keeps the closer job long-term will depend on his ability to throw strikes and limit the hard contact. His 47.9% zone rate was slightly below average, and .491 xwOBACON was REALLY below average. It will be hard for Lange to have consistent success in the closer’s position unless he’s able to show improvement in at least one of those categories going forward.

Still, the former Lee’s Summit West High School product has been a great pickup by GM JJ Picollo, especially since he only cost the Royals about $1 million. 

While he started slowly, that could’ve been because he pitched fewer than 20 IP over the past two seasons due to injury. His first month of play could’ve been an “extended Spring Training” of sorts, especially after such a long layoff against Major League hitters. After posting a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 IP in April, he posted a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 IP and has a 0.00 ERA in four IP.

Hence, Lange has demonstrated that he has gotten some of the rust off and could be the kind of reliever who could get back to his 2023 form. If that’s the case, the Royals could not just have their closer for the remainder of the 2026 season, but a reliever who could be key for Kansas City in 2027 and beyond.