Last offseason, after a stellar debut season with the Royals, Michael Wacha and the front office worked out a deal for him to bypass free agency and return to Kansas City. That proved fruitful for both
player and team as Wacha paced the team in innings pitched and games started, while other veteran starting pitchers spent significant time on the injured list.
Wacha started 31 games in 2025, five more than both Michael Lorenzen (who added a relief appearance) and Seth Lugo. Relatedly, Wacha led the Royals in innings pitched with 172.2, a whopping 27 innings ahead of the next pitcher, Lugo.
For Wacha, those 31 games started were a career-high and the first time he started at least 30 games since 2017, when he was a 25-year-old dealing for the Cardinals. Only once in his 13-year career did Wacha surpass his 2025 innings pitched total—in 2015 as a 23-year-old.
I wrote Wacha’s 2024 season in review, too, and noted how he continued his career’s renaissance as he joined his sixth organization in six years. These past two seasons in Kansas City mark the first time since 2018 and 2019 that Wacha pitched for the same team in consecutive seasons.
Some underlying numbers lagged a bit in 2025, though he still proved pretty effective. His ERA jumped a bit from 3.35 to 3.86 while his FIP barely rose, going from 3.65 to 3.66. His WHIP also rose, but not by much, from 1.194 to 1.222. Perhaps most worryingly, his strikeout-per-nine-innings dropped to the lowest of his career, from 7.8 in 2024 to 6.6. Never before, even during the worst years of his career with the Mets and Rays, did he post such a low number.
Still, his walk rate dropped from 21.2% to 17.6% as his home run rate dropped to its lowest level in any season in which he pitched more than 110 innings—2.1%. Despite batters posting higher batting averages and on-base percentages against him compared to 2024, their OPS dropped from .688 to .685.
Overall, he provided the Royals what they were looking for, which was, essentially, the same exact thing he gave them the previous season. Wacha has two more years on his contract before a club option in 2028 with a low buyout figure.
When we get to season-in-reviews in 2026, which is hopefully in early November instead of early October, I expect Wacha’s numbers to be pretty much in line with this year’s. And last year’s.
He may not be the Royals’ best starting pitcher, but he proved this season to be their most reliable.
Season Grade: B+
