The Royals have stumbled out to an 8-17 start, the worst record in baseball. Despite playoff aspirations coming out of spring training, they may have already played their way out of contention before the calendar hits May.
The frustrating aspect of their losing is that on paper, this is not a terrible team. They largely returned a team that had winning records in each of the last two seasons, and the only major injury has been to closer Carlos Estévez, who conveniently suffered a foot contusion, allowing
them to buy more time to figure out why his velocity has mysteriously disappeared. You could argue the team didn’t do enough to improve the team, but the talent on this roster was good enough to provide a higher floor than this. This is not the worst collection of talent in baseball.
Instead, what we have seen is a team full of players that aren’t executing. They don’t seem to have a solid approach at the plate. They make mental gaffes. They make physical gaffes. In short, they seem ill-prepared for the regular season. You could blame the World Baseball Classic – many of the struggling performers took part in the March tournament. But that doesn’t explain why they are worse than other WBC players – hey, the one bright spot in the lineup has been Maikel Garcia, the MVP of the tournament.
The other culprit may be poor coaching. They show all the signs of a team that is not stressing fundamentals, focus, or being prepared.
Poor baserunning
Kauffman Stadium has long been a stadium built for speed, to chase down fly balls and wreak havoc on the bases. The Royals have a pretty speedy team, led by Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. But last year, baserunning was an issue as they led baseball in getting picked off. Those issues haven’t subsided, as they have been picked off five times already this season, tied for second-most in baseball.
Only five teams have made more outs on the bases. There have been baffling sends.
And galling decisions, like….whatever this is.
Even with the fences moved in, the Royals are not likely to ever be a power-hitting team. They need to maximize their run-scoring through shrewd, aggressive baserunning. These kind of mistakes set an already struggling offense back.
Defensive miscues
For the most part, Major League players are ridiculously good at defense these days. The left side of the Royals infield is still remarkable – Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. should be in the running for Gold Gloves.
The rest of the defense has been much more suspect. The Royals outfield, in particular, has been a bit of a mess. They’re tied for third-worst in the league in Outs Above Average, and that’s with Kyle Isbel playing pretty well. Jac Caglianone has held his own, about as well as you could hope for a 250 pound first baseman to play.
That means the other guys have been bad. Isaac Collins has been among the worst defenders in baseball so far. That could be a lingering health issue, but his defense has hurt the team so far. Lane Thomas may still be suffering from the leg injuries that have hurt his career, but he has made some head-scratching routes to the ball and poor throws to the infield.
Even players that have performed well have lost their focus at times. Isbel and Caglianone collided on a lazy fly ball in New York, to allow a triple. That shouldn’t happen at the big league level.
The typically solid Garcia had a miscue up in New York, calling off Collins on a ball, only to let it drop. For all his talents, Garcia can sometimes let details escape him, such as failing to touch second base on a force-out double play.
And some of the miscues stem from not being prepared. The Royals lost a ninth inning lead to the Tigers on a double down the right field line with two runners on. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was not guarding the line to protect against a double, the hit that would cost them the lead, on their way to another loss.
Defensive positioning has become such a huge part of the game. The Royals seemed ill-prepared to defend their lead, and let the game slip away.
Hitting preparation
Speaking of preparation, the Royals have looked unready to begin games. They have scored just two first-inning runs, the fewest in baseball. As a team, they are hitting .169/.207/.253 in the first inning, fourth-worst in baseball. The first time they see a starting pitcher, they hit .194/.266/.308, sixth-worst in baseball.
Then there is the situational awareness. Their incompetence with runners in scoring position is pretty well-known at this point. With nobody on base, the Royals hit .236/.320/.396, the eighth-best OPS in baseball. When runners get into scoring position, they hit .203/.277/.272, by far the worst numbers in baseball. Just 25 percent of Royals baserunners score – only the Phillies fare worse.
Fundamentals were a big reason why the 2025 team regressed. Even J.J. Picollo mentioned it in his end-of-the-year press conference last year.
“This is the same group of players, for the most part, that did execute last year, and we didn’t do it at the same level in 2025.”
Now it is 2026. And it is largely the same group of players. And they are once again not executing. The Royals put up a sign in the clubhouse that calls for them to be “accountable to yourself and each other.” It may be time to start holding them, and the coaching staff accountable for the worst record in baseball.
