It was technically a winning season for the Kansas City Royals, but it hardly passed any tests in terms of what would have been considered successful.
With an 82-80 record, the Royals regressed by four games from a year ago despite adding more than they lost in the offseason. Injuries certainly took a toll, but no self-respecting team leans on that excuse after coming up short.
In fact, one of the biggest reasons for the Royals’ regression may have been the performance of superstar Bobby Witt Jr., who was worth “only” seven wins above replacement this year, compared to his otherworldly mark of 10 a season ago.
Witt wasn’t mincing words after the Royals wrapped up their season with a win over the Athletics on Sunday. He wanted it to be known that his team’s results were unacceptable this time around, and that Kansas City needed to find whatever motivation it could to make it back to October next season.
“We have our team,” Witt said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “We have our pitchers back. We have our core. Now we’ve got to ask, ‘How motivated can we get because of this year?’ We can’t be satisfied with playing .500. We can’t be satisfied with making the postseason one year. Hopefully it lights a fire under the guys. I’m ready to get to work.”
Though Witt surely expects more of himself, it’s not as though anyone can blame him for the Royals’ failures this year. He led the majors in hits (184) and doubles (47), all while putting up a 136 OPS+ and playing Gold Glove defense at shortstop.
It’s on the Royals’ other returners to pick up the slack next year, and on general manager J.J. Picollo to find better supporting cast mates to fill in key positions like second base and any outfield position.
If those things happen, and if Witt returns to his Most Valuable Player-worthy form, perhaps this Royals team can achieve some special things next season.
More MLB: Ex-Royals Gold Glover Announces Retirement After 12 MLB Seasons
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
