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But that doesn\u2019t mean there haven\u2019t been any changes! So here\u2019s the new projection with any changes from the previous projection indicated by italics<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
It\u2019s the same nine guys as last time, though I did rearrange things a bit. Yes, I admit this looks a little crazy, but stick with me for a minute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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With Bobby doing some leading off in Spring Training and projected to do so for Team USA in the WBC, I think he\u2019s finally going to come around to doing it for the Royals in the regular season. Jac Caglianone is having a monster spring \u2014 including laying off a lot of pitches up in the zone, which were something of a kryptonite for him last year \u2014 and he\u2019s been batting second a lot. The smart money is that this is just because the Royals want him to get extra ABs before he also heads off to the WBC, but look at all the fun things we can do with R-L arrangements if he takes over as the number two hitter. For what it\u2019s worth, if he can reach his 80th-percentile projections, he could very easily be the team\u2019s second-best hitter and absolutely belong in that spot. Having Maikel batting behind him could help him get more pitches to hit, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Listen, it\u2019s not any fun if we only say the most obvious things. So yeah, it\u2019s a little crazy, but I think it just might work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The Royals signed Marte to a Major League deal on Saturday, so he \u2014 along with Thomas \u2014 is going to be a lock for the bench. This no longer leaves room for a third catcher, so the Royals are just going to have to live on that edge. Michael Massey takes over from Adam Frazier on the bench after a hot spring, and with Frazier choosing to join the Halos. The last spot could go to Nick Loftin instead of Tyler Tolbert, but I think the Royals will prefer the speed on the bench to Loftin\u2019s batting eye. But also, based on how they approached the offseason, I could be very wrong on that one. Tell me I\u2019m an idiot in the comments if you want, and then ask me again tomorrow because I could change my mind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I don\u2019t think Josh Rojas has a real shot to break camp with the club \u2014 especially not with the Marte signing, with how well Massey has played, and with Tolbert and Loftin already on the 40-man roster. That goes double for all other infielders trying to crack the roster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Last time, I mostly thought Bubic wouldn\u2019t be on the team and that, if he was, they\u2019d consider moving him to the bullpen. But he really was one of the best starters in MLB last year, and since none of the trades materialized and Marte signed, it seems like we get to watch him pitch for KC for at least one more year. Now I just have to pray for my favorite pitcher to get a midseason contract extension, \u00e0 la Seth Lugo last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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With Bubic no longer in the \u2019pen, they need another lefty. Oliv\u00e1rez has really impressed me this spring, especially with his heretofore unseen ability to throw strikes while regularly hitting 98 from the left side. I think that should be enough to get him a big-league job. Alex Lange drops off because he hasn\u2019t impressed me much yet, and his major league money doesn\u2019t kick in until he\u2019s on the major league roster, so starting him in AAA if he doesn\u2019t look ready is a smart move. Black also has options, but he\u2019s looked terrific on the mound so far this spring, and I\u2019d like to see him carry that on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u2019m still not remotely convinced that Bailey Falter will be with KC by the end of Spring Training, but I also haven\u2019t seen anyone else stand out enough to kick him off the team if KC doesn\u2019t find a trade partner. My best guess is that if they do deal Falter, as things stand right now, Daniel Lynch IV would get his spot as the swingman\/mop-up guy. I would like to point out that Danny Coulombe is still looking for a job, though. Come on, Royals, do the fun thing and bring him in! Then we wouldn\u2019t need Lynch or Falter, and Oliv\u00e1rez could become the mop-up guy!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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This still leaves out talented relievers Steven Cruz, James McArthur, and Luinder Avila in the minors to start the year, but expect all of them to appear in KC at various points when the team needs to option someone or someone hits the IL. Dennis Colleran Jr. has looked pretty good, but I just can\u2019t see him in the big leagues earlier than very late this season \u2014 and probably more like next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u2019ve had hours and days to think about this, and I think I\u2019ve finally figured out how Marte fits on this roster. It took so long because, for most of my Royals fandom, they\u2019ve filled their benches with defensive masters or speedsters. The last time I can remember them carrying someone on the bench primarily for his ability to hit was Ryan McBroom in 2021. And McBroom didn\u2019t last the whole season. Before that, it was Dave McCarty in 2000 and 2001 (though he was bad in 2001). So Marte will break with tradition in more ways than one \u2014 being primarily a good hitter on the bench and not having an Irish\/Scottish surname while doing so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for another Royals roster projection! We last did this exercise in December of last year. We\u2019ve got double digits of spring training games played now, so the picture has become perhaps a little bit clearer. Certainly, it seems EXCEPTIONALLY unlikely any of those dream lineups I concocted at the end of the piece […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2341143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[445712,453800,340874],"class_list":["post-2341142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-kansas-city-royals-analysis","tag-kansas-city-royals-roster","tag-royals-editorials-reactions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Royals-Roster-Projection-20-Royals-Review.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2341142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2341144,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341142\/revisions\/2341144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2341143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2341142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2341142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2341142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}