3 Bold Predictions For Kansas City Royals' 2025 Season: Bobby Witt Jr. 40/40?
A new season is nearly upon us, with spring training set to begin on Monday. Know what that means? It's prediction time, of course.
The Kansas City Royals were one of the surprise teams in Major League Baseball in 2024, but they'll sneak up on nobody in 2025. They've got one of the game's most transcendent superstars, a formidable pitching staff, and just enough supporting talent to threaten the powers-that-be in the American League.
So as they look to improve on last year's 86-win campaign, here are some bold predictions for the Royals as they embark on a 2025 season that has the potential to go all sorts of interesting directions:
Bobby Witt Jr. goes 40/40, wins first career Most Valuable Player Award
The Royals' incredible shortstop finished second behind Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees in MVP voting last season. When Judge is healthy and hitting at his peak, it's hard to imagine anyone challenging his MVP status, but Witt may be the one player who can do it.
It's going to take some sort of milestone for Witt to usurp Judge, so how about a 40-homer, 40-stolen base campaign? He already has 30/30 seasons in each of the last two years, becoming the first shortstop ever to reach that plateau twice in the span of an entire career.
The home runs will be the biggest challenge, as Witt's career-high is 32 and Kauffman Stadium is a tough park to clear the fence at, especially in the gaps. But as Witt enters his age-25 season, he may be arriving at the perfect time in his physical development to increase his power, yet maintain his speed.
Kansas City makes a deadline blockbuster for a big bat
It's painfully obvious that the Royals needed to grab one more slugger to hit in the middle of their lineup, and the cards didn't fall their way in free agency. Teoscar Hernández or Anthony Santander would have made a perfect addition, but the Royals can still find someone of that caliber at the trade deadline.
It's a corner outfielder the Royals will likely be looking for, and though there aren't too many standout impending free agents at the position (save for Kyle Tucker, who already got traded once this offseason), the season usually reveals unexpected trade candidates from teams that fall out of the race.
The Royals win the AL Central, but lose in the Wild Card round
This is a glass half-full/glass half-empty prediction to round things out. With the additions of Jonathan India at the top of the batting order and Carlos Estévez at the back end of the bullpen, the Royals have undoubtedly made themselves a better regular season team. In the weak American League Central, they should be able to rack up wins.
However, there are lots of fringy playoff contenders elsewhere in the AL this season, and if the Royals get the number-three seed as a result of their division win, they could run into a tough first-round matchup. Perhaps it will be the Baltimore Orioles, seeking revenge from their loss to KC in 2024.
The Royals have the talent to go far, but they didn't do enough in this author's estimation to firmly plant themselves as World Series contenders.
More MLB: Mets' Pete Alonso News Gives Royals Perfect Buy-Low Opportunity For 25-Year-Old Bat
Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org