MLB.com’s Anne Rogers dives into Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. breaking his 35-game homerless stretch and what changed in Game 28.
“You always want to hit one,” Witt said. “But it just kind of happens. I’m not trying to hit homers up there, so you go up there and get one. I’m not ever worried about not hitting or whatever, so just go up there and enjoy the moment.”
Witt said it “wasn’t really” in his mind that he hadn’t hit a homer yet because “the stats on the board are all in the past.”
“Focus on today,” Witt said. “That’s all we’re worried about.”
Witt said some variation of that a few times last week, a sign of what he’s trying to instill in his teammates as they try to get back on track after an 11-17 start to the season. There are plenty of signs that’s happening after the 4-2 homestand that saw the offense score at least five runs in every game and was capped by a win on Sunday that we’ll be talking about for a long time if the Royals play well through the summer.
David Lesky proposes some fixes for a “leaky” Royals bullpen.
While they are striking guys out a little more out of the bullpen than they did last year, they are also walking guys at a ridiculous rate. Their 22 percent strikeout rate ranks 17th in baseball, tied with the Yankees. That could be worse. But their 14 percent walk rate is fourth-worst in baseball, better than only the Reds, Astros and Marlins. They also have the sixth-lowest average velocity. And the issue remains something that was a problem last year that they tried to address, but it hasn’t worked. Opponents simply don’t chase against the Royals bullpen. Their chase rate is lowest in all of baseball among relievers. And they don’t get a lot of swing and miss with their swinging strike rate sitting ahead of only five other teams.
Caleb Moody makes the case for Noah Cameron not being on the Royals’ big-league roster for much longer after a poor start to 2026.
On top of that, his advanced and expected metrics look rather grim too. From a quality of contact perspective, Cameron sits below the 20th percentile in hard-hit rate, barrel rate and groundball rate and below the 30th percentile in average exit velocity. And his expected numbers look far worse than his already elevated real-time numbers, with a 7.03 xERA and .315 xBA, both ranking well-below the 10th percentile.
He looks far from the arm that only narrowly missed out on being an AL Rookie of the Year finalist a year ago. Given the fact that his rise to success was rather unexpected last season and he still has options remaining, perhaps a brief stint in Omaha may be a way to get him back closer to that sub-3.00 ERA arm he was in 2025.
It’s certainly not a permanent change here, as Cameron projects as part of the future of this rotation. However, if that’s the case, shouldn’t the Royals be trying to protect him from getting consistently battered? And with Stephen Kolek hopefully ready to return from injury soon, perhaps there’s a replacement already set out for him.
The Royals’ run-scoring surge is fueling a Hawaiian Bros promotion, giving fans more than 41,000 plates of food already this season.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we envision that when we welcomed the Royals to the ohana we would see this kind of scoring streak generating this level of excitement,” said Shannon Scott, chief marketing officer at Hawaiian Bros. “It has been incredible to watch the city rally around the team and come together to celebrate with a free plate lunch the next day.”
The promotion runs all season long, so it’s not too late to get a free plate.
Rewards members will see the offer in their account the day after the Royals get 6 runs; that offer is only valid for one day.
“Kansas City is home to Hawaiian Bros, and the Kansas City Royals are a huge part of what makes this city special,” Scott said. “Plates for Plates is our way of giving fans one more reason to cheer. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it brings our ohana together around two things Royals fans across the Midwest love – great food and baseball.”
Kevin O’Brien looks at whether the Royals can take their hot bats on the road to Sacramento and Seattle.
The Royals will face an Athletics team that is first in the AL West with a 15-13 record but a -8 run differential. The Mariners have a 14-16 record and a -1 run differential. Thus, these road opponents will be much easier than those they faced in the previous four series away from Kauffman.
Still, it will be important for Kansas City to demonstrate that they can hit away from the K, especially with the pitching, especially the bullpen, regressing a bit this season. Collins, Isbel, and Massey will be key secondary hitters who need to show that they can hit well, not just at the K, but in other ballparks as well. In terms of primary hitters, Salvy and Maikel need to show that they can be much better on the road, as their struggles have weighed down the Royals at the top of the batting order.
My hope is that the confidence from this past homestand will carry over to this road trip, especially in their first series at Sutter Health Park, which is the second-most hitter-friendly ballpark in baseball over the past two seasons, according to Statcast Park Factors. Thus, this is the kind of ballpark, as well as the opposing pitching staff (the Athletics rotation ranks 26th in ERA), that can help the Royals get out of their offensive funk on the road.
Travis Sawchik has a “modest proposal for a better ballpark” for the Chicago White Sox.
Travis Bazzana, the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, made his MLB debut for the Cleveland Guardians.
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is aware that his hot seat is getting hotter after a slow start and other high-profile firings.
The Philadelphia Phillies fire manager Rom Thomson and name Don Mattingly as his interim replacement.
Will the Phillies or the Boston Red Sox benefit most from their managerial changes?
The NL Central is right in the middle of what competitive baseball looks like.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield names his MLB 2026 April All-Stars. CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder does the same.
Ex-NBA player and coach Damon Jones pleads guilty to sports gambling-related charges, months after more than 30 arrests rocked the sports betting conversation.
Former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling addiction story puts college athletics in another tough spot.
After Heated Rivalry brought more eyes to the sport, is the NHL ready for an openly gay player?
At long last, Anthony Joshua has signed to fight Tyson Fury.
Archaeologists and researchers at Pompeii used artificial intelligence to reconstruct the face of a man killed in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The World Cup is bringing new life to vacant storefronts in Kansas City.
Today’s song of the day is Into Hell by I Prevail.
