The Royals Have Been One of the Biggest Disappointments in Baseball

For the first time in almost a decade, Kansas City Royals fans came into 2025 with a sense of hope. And really who would’ve blamed them?

After eight straight seasons of finishing .500 or worse, the Royals took a huge step forward last season. Led again by superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., they burst onto the scene to become one of the most exciting, young teams in baseball.

Kansas City battled through the AL Central to finish second in the division at 86-76, ultimately securing the second AL wild-card spot. They swept the Orioles in the wild-card round before being eliminated by the Yankees in the ALDS.

Coming off that type of a season would be reason for optimism for nearly every MLB fanbase. Knowing the type of talent present on that team would just reinforce that feeling.

Everything starts with the aforementioned leader of the team, Witt. In his first three MLB seasons, he totaled 18.6 fWAR — fourth highest of any MLB player over that span — and earned a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and All-Star nod while finishing top 10 in AL MVP voting twice.

While Witt leads the group, he’s supported by a promising young group on offense that includes infielders Vinnie Pasquantino, Michael Massey, Freddy Fermin, and others. And helping guide the young squad, like in so many seasons before, is legendary Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

There was plenty on the pitching side to look forward to as well. The younger Cole Ragans and elder Seth Lugo, who combined for 9.5 fWAR last year, were returning to lead the staff once again. Kris Bubic had bounced back well from a 2023 that was almost entirely lost to injury and moving back from the bullpen to the rotation.

There were so many reasons to think that the Royals would be exciting to watch again in 2025. And that makes the results so far this season that much more disappointing.

The 2025 Royals Have Been a Major Disappointment

It’s not as though the Royals have all of a sudden gone back to their basement-dwelling ways of a good portion of the last decade. They’re currently second in the AL Central and a manageable five games out of the wild-card picture.

But that is far from what most were expecting out of the team this season. Many had the Royals stepping up to take the division, and that includes us here at Just Baseball.

Instead, you have a team with a sub-.500 record (44-48) that is 10th in the American League. Their -24 run differential is also 10th in the AL and actually projects them for an even worse 43-49 record. Last year, Kansas City’s run differential was +91.

To see that big of a swing in run differential usually means that a team’s ERA went up and their runs per game average went down. But that has only half been the case for the Royals this year.

After a good 2024 season that saw the Royals finish eighth in MLB with a 3.76 staff ERA, they have actually been even better in 2025, currently sitting third in MLB with a team ERA of 3.47.

Much of this has again been because of the starting rotation, as Bubic and Lugo have been joined by impressive rookie Noah Cameron to all post sub 2.70 ERAs up to this point. In the bullpen, Carlos Estévez, Daniel Lynch, Steven Cruz, and Lucas Erceg have all done the same in 34 appearances or more.

Sadly, for as good as the pitching has been, the offense has been just as bad. Actually, it’s been even worse.

The Offense Has Struggled Yet Again in 2025

Last year, the Royals had a very functional offense that finished 13th in MLB at 4.46 runs per game. This year, with a week to go before the All-Star break, the team is dead last in all of baseball at a measly 3.40 runs per game.

It almost makes it impressive that they’re only five games under .500.

There have been a few bright spots, though not many. Of course Witt has performed well once again, hitting .296 with a .849 OPS, 24 steals, and league-leading 30 doubles. That earned him his second straight All-Star nod.

Pasquantino has overcome a slow start to post a .271 average, .769 OPS, 15 homers, and 56 RBIs through 91 games. And infielder Maikel Garcia has taken a huge leap in his fourth MLB season to hit .306 with a .832 OPS through 90 games.

That’s pretty much where the good vibes end. Those three position players are the only Royals besides catcher Luke Maile, who has all of 10 plate appearances, to have a wRC+ over 100 on the year. Thus the vast majority of the team is considered “below average.”

Massey has taken a big step back and has a lowly OPS of just .479. Perez is on pace to post just the second negative fWAR of his career. Offseason acquisition Jonathan India has just a .672 OPS, four homers, and 23 RBIs in his first year as a Royal.

Even with the amount of talent the team has, that type of overall poor offensive performance is hard to just turn around with a snap of the fingers. And it makes you wonder what general manager J.J. Picollo’s mindset will be at the end of this month.

Are the Royals Going From AL Central Darlings to Trade Deadline Sellers?

Last weekend, Kansas City won a three-game series against the similarly disappointing Arlzona Diamondbacks. It was the team’s first series win since a three-gamer against the Rangers from June 17-19.

It was also just the team’s third series win since the beginning of June. During a pivotal time of year where teams determine whether to make a playoff push or retool at the trade deadline, the Royals don’t exactly have the look of a team ready to compete past the regular season.

Thus, they might end up unexpectedly becoming sellers this year. And while they likely don’t want to mess with too much of their young core, they do have some pieces they can look to move.

Starter Seth Lugo is the most obvious trade chip. He has a $15 million player option that he may not exercise in lieu of trying for a bigger contract this offseason. Even in the rare chance that he did exercise it, it would be big cost savings for Kansas City.

Another less obvious option could be fellow starter Kris Bubic. He has one additional year of control remaining, which also means he could fetch a decent return. His recent success could make him an attractive target, but losing two starters at the deadline could be risky as well.

Becoming trade deadline sellers is considered by some to be a form of admitting defeat, but that might just be what the Royals have to do. It would be worse to have a disappointing season and get nothing out of it in the end.

Stats were taken prior to play on July 8.