With 12 games left in the season, Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco are counting down the games until the Kansas City Royals’ season ends amid a much-needed offseason overhaul.
Carter Jensen is the centerpiece of the on-field conversation after tying the Royals rookie home run record and climbing historic rookie leaderboards in extra-base hits, doubles, RBI, walks, and caught-stealing rate. He may not win AL Rookie of the Year, but Jacob and Jeremy make a real case for him as a catcher Silver Slugger
contender. Bobby Witt Jr.’s pursuit of a 20-40 season keeps the MVP conversation alive, and a quick thought experiment considers whether a Padres roster crunch could open the door to a Freddie Fermin reunion.
The bullpen evaluation dominates the back half of the episode, with the hosts sorting the current arms into keep, depth, or move-on buckets. Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson both earn real support as 2027 pieces based on improved strikeout-minus-walk profiles, while Craig Kimbrel, Alex Lange, Anthony Gose, Jose Cuas, and Easton McGee are all scrutinized as possible non-tender or depth-only candidates. Connor Thomas and Nolan Hoffman emerge as pleasant surprises, drawing praise for strike-throwing and ground-ball rates.
The rotation discussion turns urgent quickly. Noah Cameron looks like the likely Opening Day starter, while Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Randy Dobnak, and Daniel Lynch IV are sorted into very different tiers of trust. Jacob and Jeremy stress that the Royals need multiple starting pitchers before a likely December lockout compresses the free-agent market, and the front office may have no choice but to move fast and overpay this winter.
On the farm, Quad Cities and standout left-hander Kendricho draw praise, LP Longavin’s strikeout totals are turning heads as a future Northwest Arkansas arm, and Carson Roccaforte is putting together a 30-30 season in Omaha.
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