Royals Director of Media Relations Nick Kappel shared an interesting Tweet today after Kansas City’s offensive explosion on Friday night that resulted in a 20-1 victory over the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays (yes, you read that score right).
If one thinks about it, the Royals’ offense has been a bit of an anomaly this season.
On one hand, they have the 30-30 seasons of Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. They also have a player with a 7.4 fWAR (Bobby Witt Jr.) and 5.2 fWAR (Maikel Garcia). Thus, one would think the Royals’ offense would be in the middle of the pack, right?
Unfortunately, Kansas City ranks 27th in runs scored this season, according to Fangraphs.
The Royals’ lackluster run-scoring ability may be a topic worth exploring in more depth this offseason. At the surface level, however, fans can say that while this offense had some talent and production at the top, the rest of the Royals’ lineup was poor, to put it bluntly. That’s a reason why they are 77-77 in a division that was competitive, but entirely winnable.
For the Royals to make a return to the postseason next year, they will need to improve the lineup. Some of that may come through a trade. Some of it may come through free agency. Ultimately, the Royals need certain players currently on the roster, especially young ones, to step up at the plate in 2026.
In this post, I will look at three candidates who are still young and will be key to the Royals’ offensive improvement efforts next season.
Carter Jensen, C
Jensen made his first appearance at leadoff on Friday, and he made the most of it with a 3-for-7 performance that included three doubles in his first three plate appearances.
The sample is small, but what we’re seeing from Jensen as a hitter is nothing short of incredible.
As seen in his TJ Stats summary above, he ranks in the 99th or 100th percentiles in important batted-ball categories like exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and launch angle sweet-spot percentage. He’s walking 17.6% of the time and sporting an O-Swing% of 24.6%, which ranks in the 100th and 73rd percentiles, respectively. He is also pulling the ball in the air 19% of the time, which ranks in the 80th percentile.
In terms of hitting, Jensen offers a mature approach at the plate that is amplified by excellent hard-hit and power skills. He also has shown a strong ability to hit the ball to all fields, as evidenced by his spray chart via Savant.
At the very least, Jensen is showing that he is capable of being a backup to Salvy in 2026. However, I think he may be more valuable than that.
The 22-year-old Park Hill product could be someone who could DH on days when Salvy is behind the plate and then move into the catching slot when Salvy needs that DH spot or on an off day. At this point, it’s not like the Royals have a ton of internal candidates who could be the regular DH in 2026. Furthermore, I think free agency money should be spent on someone with more defensive versatility.
In many ways, I think Jensen’s profile and situation remind me of Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin, a talented young catcher who also shares the position with an established option like Sean Murphy. Baldwin also hits a lot at DH when he’s not catching.
Here’s what Baldwin has done this year, via TJ Stats.
Jensen should NOT just be seen as a backup catcher in 2026. He should be viewed as a key part of this lineup who can also be depended on, even if Salvy is the primary catcher in Kansas City for next season.
Michael Massey, 2B/LF
The surface-level metrics for Massey haven’t been great. In 261 plate appearances, he’s slashing .228/.254/.297 with a .551 OPS. That also includes three home runs.
That said, Massey has been a much different hitter since returning from the IL, as illustrated in his second-half metrics.
In 53 plate appearances, the 27-year-old is slashing .347/.396/.469 with an .865 OPS. He also has four walks to nine strikeouts over that period. For context, he had five walks and 32 strikeouts in 209 plate appearances in the first half. Thus, Massey has made some progress in his plate discipline since returning from the IL.
In the second half, Massey has been pulling the ball more, which correlates with his uptick in production. Here’s a look at his spray chart from the first half.
He pulls the ball a decent amount, but there are a lot of hits to left and left-center field. Now, let’s take a look at what the spray chart looks like in the second half.
After the All-Star break, he has fewer base hits to left and left-center and has more pulled extra base hits as well. That is showing that Massey is seeing the ball better and, consequently, producing better batted-ball results.
I am not sure Massey is an everyday player by any means. That said, he is strong defensively, as he is producing a +1 OAA this year between second and left field. He looks much better naturally as an outfielder than Jonathan India, who briefly played the position to disastrous results at the beginning of the season.
The Royals would benefit from non-tendering India and letting Massey rotate between second base and left field in 2025 as a super utility player.
While the stats aren’t great this year, I think Massey could experience a bounce back in 2026, much like Maikel Garcia did in 2025, albeit to a lesser extent (I don’t see Massey becoming an All-Star like Garcia). Massey makes contact well, and I think he’s demonstrating a better batted-ball ability lately that should result in ticks up in exit velocity, hard-hit, and barrel rate in 2026.
Jac Caglianone, OF/1B
Caglianone hit a massive blast on Friday night, albeit against Jay’s backup catcher, Tyler Heineman.
While it’s easy to dismiss that blast, Cags has looked much better at the plate since his return from the IL.
In September, he’s slashing .217/.333/.370 with a .703 OPS. That’s much better than .131/.209/.311 and .520 OPS in July and .157/.202/.258 and .460 OPS in June. Yes, the batting average hasn’t been excellent, but overall, Cags is showing better plate patience now than he did in his first two months of play. In September, his eight walks to 13 strikeouts further demonstrate that. In June and July combined, he walked eight times and had 34 strikeouts.
Cags has shown a much better job of minimizing the chase since his return, as illustrated by his rolling O-Swing% via TJ Stats.
Granted, we are seeing a tick up for Cags in O-Swing% recently. Nonetheless, he’s been much better overall in minimizing his swings on out-of-zone pitches, which was not just an issue for him at the Major League level, but at the Minor League and College levels as well.
It hasn’t been the best first season for Cags. However, player development isn’t always linear. Cags is still showing that he can hit the ball super hard and that he can make improvements. He may not be Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, but he’s demonstrating enough progress this month to show the Royals that he can be a part of the Royals’ Opening Day plans in 2026.
Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Headed into the post/off-season, it is encouraging that Massey is hitting. Jensen should see more catching and Salvi more DH duty. It should extend Salvi’s career. Cags, in my humble opinion could fill in nicely in LF, where his bat plays nicely and let’s Pasquatch hit. Massey could end up playing RF, as a total bases threat. If I were the GM, I would try to sign Bo Bichette to play 3b and move Maikel to 2b, where his bat looks even better. With one signing and some persuasion, our lineup could improve substantially, bothboffensively and defensively. Beyond that, a few superusub types that offer minimal performance drop off in the event of injury could round up things. Oddly enough, Adam Frazier fits that bill. He is a resourceful hitter.
I think Jensen will see more time behind the plate next year. I think they are taking it slow with him just so he can focus more on hitting. Catching prep is a lot, especially when coming up at end of season on a team with a lot of veteran pitchers. A full off-season and Spring Training will help him get familiarity with the staff. The more DH Salvy plays, the better, especially since his bat is so much more valuable than his defense going forward.