The Royals won a big series over the White Sox in Chicago this week, improving their record to 69-65 and Fangraphs playoff odds to 13.2%, as of Thursday. While the postseason is still a bit of an uphill battle for Kansas City, they are just three games behind Seattle in the Wild Card race and… Read More Four Important Royals Roster Questions For September
The Royals’ baserunning this year has been a hot topic of discussion among frustrated fans this season. Much has been made about their 35 caught-stealing mark, which is fourth-highest in baseball, according to Fangraphs. The same has also been true about their 16 pickoffs on the basepaths, which leads all of baseball, according to Baseball-Reference.… Read More Diving Deep Into The Royals’ Baserunning Woes (With the Help of Baseball Savant)
On Sunday night, the Royals made national headlines with ESPN’s Jeff Passan reporting that Kansas City would be calling up their No. 1 prospect, Jac Caglianone, to the Major Leagues. On Monday morning, the Royals made the news official, not only calling up Caglianone but optioning outfielder Dairon Blanco to Omaha to make room on the roster.… Read More Jac Caglianone Doesn’t Need to Be a Royals Savior (Just Be Good Enough)
I have missed the past two series in my “Three-Star” awards posts. Part of it was due to timing, as graduation weekend made things quite busy last week. Part of it was due to deflating series losses against Boston (at home) and Houston (on the road). Add that to a missed week of the podcast… Read More Crown Talk’s Royals Three-Star Awards: May 16th-18th (St. Louis)
After a 1-2 homestand on Opening Weekend, the Royals bounced back with an 11-1 win in Milwaukee on the Brewers’ Opening Day at American Family Field. Kris Bubic was masterful in this one as he produced the Royals’ first quality start in 2025. In six innings pitched, he allowed zero runs, three hits, and two… Read More “Reporter Jottings”: Crown Talk Podcast; Tolbert Up; India Strong Start
The Royals lost their 2025 opener 7-4 in extra innings to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. That marks the third-straight Opening Day loss for Kansas City, as they lost to the Twins at Kauffman in the previous two seasons (2023 and 2024). Even though the result was disappointing, Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium remains an… Read More Five Takeaways From the Royals’ Opening Day Against the Guardians
The Royals have five Cactus League games remaining, including split-squad contests today against the Mariners and Athletics. At this point, GM JJ Picollo and manager Matt Quatraro seem to be in the final days of roster deliberation. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Opening Day roster announcements either Sunday or Monday, even though two Spring… Read More Predicting the Royals’ 2025 Opening Day Roster (Final Edition)
At the start of Spring Training at the end of February, I shared my initial predictions for the Royals’ Opening Day roster. Now that we are a couple of weeks into the Cactus League season (with 19 games of Spring Training game data), I figured it would be time to re-examine the roster and determine… Read More Predicting the Royals’ 2025 Opening Day Roster (Version 2.0)
Regarding the top of the Royals lineup, it seems things should be pretty easy to predict. Jonathan India should be the Royals’ regular leadoff hitter. Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez will be the batting order’s No. 2-4 hitters. However, after that, there are plenty of question marks, as it is likely that… Read More What is the Royals’ Plan With Hunter Renfroe?
Royals pitchers and catchers participated in their first throwing workouts in Surprise yesterday, an exciting sign that the MLB season is nearly upon us. The Royals will have their first team workout on Monday, February 17th, and participate in their first Cactus League game on February 21st against the Texas Rangers, their fellow Surprise complex… Read More Four Royals Stories to Pay Attention to in Spring Training