The Kansas City Royals used to be the team everyone looked past. For years, the roster felt like a revolving door of "four-A" players and prospects who never quite bloomed, but something shifted in 2024 that has completely rewired how we look at the Kansas City Royals depth chart. It wasn't just Bobby Witt Jr. turning into a superstar, though that definitely helped. It was the front office finally deciding that "competitive" wasn't a bad word. They spent money. They traded for reliability. Now, looking at the roster heading into the 2025 and 2026 stretch, it actually looks like a professional baseball team built to win 85 to 90 games.
Baseball is weird. You can have the best player in the world—like Mike Trout for a decade—and still lose 90 games if the bottom half of your lineup is a black hole. J.J. Picollo, the Royals’ Executive VP and GM, seems to have learned that lesson the hard way. He stopped waiting for every single minor league flyer to work out and started layering the depth chart with veterans who have high floors.
The Witt Factor and the Infield Hierarchy
Let's be real: everything on the Kansas City Royals depth chart starts and ends with Bobby Witt Jr. He is the sun that the rest of the planet-sized egos and role players orbit around. Finding a shortstop who hits for power, runs like a deer, and plays Gold Glove defense is basically like winning the lottery twice in one day. But a shortstop can’t do it alone.
Behind Witt, the middle infield has become a fascinating mix of grit and "wait and see." Michael Massey has solidified himself as a legit second base option when he can stay on the dirt. He's got that sneaky pop that surprises pitchers who try to blow a fastball past him. But the depth there is thin. If Massey goes down, you're looking at guys like Nick Loftin, who is basically the Swiss Army knife of this roster. Loftin can play everywhere, but is he a starter? Probably not on a World Series team. That’s the nuance of this current build.
Third base has been a bit of a headache. Maikel Garcia is an elite defender—maybe the best defensive third baseman the Royals have had since Mike Moustakas, or even earlier—but his bat disappears for weeks at a time. When he’s hitting 105-mph groundballs into double plays, fans want to pull their hair out. But his presence allows the Royals to keep the left side of the infield locked down, which is a massive relief for a pitching staff that relies on ground balls.
The Rotation: From Laughingstock to Legit
If you told a Royals fan three years ago that their starting rotation would be a position of strength, they would have laughed in your face. It was bad. It was "give up five runs in the first inning" bad.
Now? The Kansas City Royals depth chart for pitchers is actually intimidating. Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha were the best investments the team has made in a decade. They aren't flamethrowers who hit 102 mph, but they are "pitchers" in the truest sense. They change speeds, they hit corners, and they chew up innings. Having Cole Ragans at the top of that list is the real game-changer. Ever since the trade with Texas for Aroldis Chapman, Ragans has looked like a legitimate Cy Young contender.
- Cole Ragans: The undisputed Ace. High strikeouts, lefty, nasty stuff.
- Seth Lugo: The veteran stabilizer. He has about 12 different curveballs and uses all of them.
- Michael Wacha: The reliability king. You know exactly what you’re getting.
- Brady Singer: The wild card. When his sinker-slider combo is on, he’s unhittable. When it’s flat, he’s in trouble.
Then you have the backend. This is where the depth gets tested. Alec Marsh has shown flashes of being a solid number five, but the Royals are also looking at guys like Kyle Wright, who they acquired knowing he’d be a long-term project coming off surgery. If Wright returns to his 20-win form, this rotation isn't just good; it’s top-five in the American League.
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The Outfield Problem That Won't Go Away
Honesty is important here. The outfield is still a bit of a mess.
Vinnie Pasquantino (okay, he’s mostly 1B/DH, but he’s part of the core "hitters") is the anchor, but the actual grass-mowers have been a rotating cast of characters. Hunter Renfroe was brought in to provide veteran power, but he's a stopgap. MJ Melendez is one of the most polarizing players on the team. He has the "exit velocity" that scouts drool over, but the actual production hasn't always followed. Is he an outfielder? Is he a catcher? The Royals seem committed to making him a corner outfielder, but the defensive metrics are... unkind.
Dairon Blanco is a fun story. He is arguably the fastest man in baseball not named Elly De La Cruz. As a depth piece, he’s incredible. You bring him in the 8th inning, he steals second, he steals third, and he scores on a fly ball. But you can't start him every day if you want to win a division.
The real hope for the Kansas City Royals depth chart in the outfield lies in the farm system or the trade market. They need a "dude." Someone who can play center field and actually hit above .250 with some gap power. Until that happens, the outfield will remain the Achilles' heel of an otherwise balanced roster.
Relievers: The Volatile Nature of the Pen
Bullpens are basically the stock market of baseball. One year you're up, the next year you're bankrupt. The Royals’ bullpen was a disaster for the first half of 2024, but they patched it together with trades for guys like Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey.
Erceg is the one to watch. He throws absolute gas. When you have a guy in the back of the pen who can just overpower hitters, it changes the way a manager handles the 7th and 8th innings. The depth here includes James McArthur, who had a rough patch as a closer but still has the "stuff" to be a high-leverage arm.
The philosophy has clearly shifted. Instead of hoping a bunch of minor leaguers can suddenly throw strikes, the Royals are now willing to trade prospects for established arms. It’s a "win-now" move that fans haven't seen in Kansas City for a long time.
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Catching: The Legend and the Heir
Salvador Perez is a Hall of Famer. I don't care what the "advanced stats" say about his framing; the man is the heart of the city. But he’s getting older. He can't catch 140 games a year anymore.
This is where Freddy Fermin comes in. Fermin is quietly one of the best backup catchers in the league—honestly, he’d be a starter on about 10 other teams. Having Fermin allows Salvy to slide into the DH spot, keeping his bat in the lineup while saving his knees. This "one-two punch" at catcher is a luxury most teams don't have. It keeps the Kansas City Royals depth chart flexible.
Why This Matters for the Postseason
Depth wins championships. Injuries happen. In 2023, an injury to a key starter would have derailed the Royals for a month. In 2025 and 2026, they have the "next man up" capability.
If a starting pitcher goes down, they have Alec Marsh or Daniel Lynch IV ready to step in. If an infielder gets hurt, Nick Loftin fills the gap. This isn't a "star-heavy" team with nothing behind it. It’s a layered roster. They are finally playing the same game as the Guardians and the Twins—teams that stay competitive by having a deep pool of talent to draw from.
The payroll is higher than it’s ever been, and the expectations have followed suit. Nobody is satisfied with just "avoiding 100 losses" anymore. The expectation in Kansas City is now October baseball.
Actionable Insights for Following the Roster
To truly understand how this team will perform, you have to look past the box score. Keep an eye on the following moves and trends:
- Watch the Waiver Wire: The Royals are now aggressive. If a veteran outfielder becomes available because a big-market team is shedding salary, expect Picollo to be in the mix.
- The 40-Man Shuffle: Pay attention to how they handle their pitching prospects like Ben Kudrna. If these guys are used as trade bait, it means the Royals are "all-in" on the current window.
- Stat to Track: Look at "Innings Pitched per Start." The Royals' success is built on the rotation going deep into games. If that number drops, the bullpen depth will be exposed.
- The Trade Deadline: Unlike the lean years, the Royals are now buyers. Expect them to target a high-contact hitter or a left-handed reliever to balance out the late-inning options.
The Kansas City Royals depth chart is no longer a list of names you’ve never heard of. It’s a calculated, expensive, and surprisingly talented group of players that have turned Kauffman Stadium back into a place where visiting teams actually fear to play. Success in the AL Central is about consistency, and for the first time in a decade, the Royals actually have the pieces to provide it.