Bobby Witt Jr. Can’t Do It All By Himself For The Stagnant Royals

Last year, the Kansas City Royals shocked the world by reaching the playoffs with an 86-76 record, then defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Series. This year, they can’t seem to sustain a winning streak, and are languishing in the middle of the pack with a 59-60 record.

They still have Bobby Witt Jr. pulling his weight as one of the best young players in the game. The 25-year-old shortstop hasn’t quite reached the level of his American League MVP runner-up finish last season, but there are no complaints with his .285/.341/.492 batting line, 17 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and league-leading 37 doubles. His 4.8 WAR (Baseball-Reference version) is the highest on the team.

The trouble is that the front office never gave him enough support in the lineup. Their tepid offseason on the heels of a surprising postseason appearance failed to set up the roster for a repeat performance.

Kansas City’s biggest lineup acquisition this winter was Jonathan India, who is hitting .236/.321/.339 with an 85 OPS+, indicating his offense has been 15% below the league average. They also traded for Mark Canha at the end of March, who was batting .212/.272/.265 with a 52 OPS+ before landing on the injured list before the All-Star break.

Third baseman Maikel Garcia has enjoyed a breakout year, and he joined Witt at the All-Star Game. He’s hitting .303/.363/.474 with a 132 OPS+, 11 home runs, and 22 stolen bases. Catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino have 21 and 20 home runs respectively, albeit with less-than-stellar on-base percentages. Other than those players, no one else on the roster with more than 100 plate appearances has an OPS+ above 89.

The Royals tried to patch their lineup at the trade deadline. They acquired outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, utility man Adam Frazier, and platoon bat Randal Grichuk. Those players may increase their level of overall competence, but none of them are going to scare opposing pitchers.

The pitching staff was the main catalyst for the Royals’ success last year—along with Witt—and they’ve been solid this season as well. Rookie left-hander Noah Cameron has a 2.52 ERA in 16 starts, while veterans Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo have ERAs of 3.36 and 3.46.

However, injuries are taking their toll on the rotation. Fireballer Cole Ragans has been out since early June with a rotator cuff injury. Kris Bubic, who was another surprising All-Star and compiled a 2.55 ERA over 20 starts, injured his rotator cuff in July and will miss the rest of the season. The club traded for Ryan Bergert and Bailey Falter last month to fill the two empty rotation spots.

The bullpen has been strong, led by All-Star closer Carlos Estévez, who has a 2.81 ERA and leads the league with 30 saves. Overall, the pitching staff lacks the ability the generate strikeouts. The team’s 21.3% strikeout rate is tied for 20th in MLB, but their two best strikeout artists—Bubic and Ragans—aren’t available.

The main reason the Royals are mired around .500 is that they neglected to build a sufficient lineup around Witt this offseason. They’re fortunate to have one of the most dynamic players in the sport, and a decent enough pitching staff behind him. They need to sign or trade for some impact bats over the winter to boost the team back into the playoffs.