Royals 2022 Season Review and Offseason Preview

KC fell short of expectations and now heads into one of the biggest offseasons in franchise history.

The Kansas City Royals sputtered to the finish line as the 2022 season came to a close with six games against the Cleveland Guardians. The Royals lost five of those outings while the Guardians used them as a launching point for their playoff run.

This season was full of ups and downs, with more downs than ups for sure. There were some positives to take away from the season, though, despite the final record of 65-97.

The poor record has led to a multitude of moves that occurred within the past couple of weeks. First, team owner John Sherman announced the firing of former general manager and president of baseball operations Dayton Moore. After 16 years, Moore was out.

At that point, the writing was on the wall for manager Mike Matheny. General manager J.J. Picollo had some conversations with Matheny over the final two weeks of the season, and the final decision officially came shortly after the Royals returned home from Cleveland. Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred, who also received plenty of criticism over the past few years, were fired.

Piccolo is showing early and often that he means business. Kansas City needed to make some big moves, and that process started right after the final game of the season. The player personnel moves that are made in the offseason will be another big part of the equation.

On the field, let’s take a look at some of the good and bad from the 2022 Royals season.

At the beginning of every week, Mark Van Sickle will dive into the latest developments with the Royals. Have something you want to be discussed? Let Mark know on Twitter @MarkTheOverseer or find Inside the Royals @InsideRoyals.

Adalberto Mondesi didn’t stay healthy (again)

It was unfortunate, and many people predicted it, but Adalberto Mondesi’s season ended before the month of May began. Mondesi got 50 at-bats this season, not hitting any home runs and stealing five bases while only hitting .140 in those games. His final game was against the Chicago White Sox on April 26th. Mondesi tore his ACL while trying to get back to first base on a pick play.

Now the conversation turns to the possibility of the Royals bringing him back in 2023. If he returns to the team, the 26-year-old could either be on the bench in a reserve utility infielder role or given a chance at starting shortstop again. There’s a chance that the Royals could try and give him some run in the outfield, but being a backup shortstop or third baseman seems to be the logical play if he stays in Kansas City. Time will tell if that actually ends up being the case. 

Brady Singer breaks out, Zack Greinke does his job

Brady Singer started the season in the bullpen before going to Triple-A Omaha to stretch back out into a starter’s role. He finished the season with a 10-5 record, 3.23 ERA and recorded 150 strikeouts in 153.1 innings of work. Going into the final week of the season, Singer’s ERA was under 3.00, but he gave up several runs in his final two starts to bring that up a bit. His contributions were one of the biggest highlights of the season. He is now undoubtedly one of the core pieces moving forward with this team.

Despite having a couple of stints on the injured list, Zack Greinke did a fantastic job for the Royals this year. He was a leader for a young pitching rotation and his numbers were actually pretty good as well. He started 26 games in 2022 and finished with a 3.68 ERA.

There’s been some talk about bringing Greinke back in 2023, which wouldn’t be a bad move. He can still be a reliable starter, and that's something that every team can use. That's especially true for the Royals, who had a mixed bag of results this season from their other starters not named Greinke or Singer.

The rest of the pitching corps needs help

Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch and Jackson Kowar didn’t take the steps forward that the organization had hoped to see. Carlos Hernandez dealt with injuries throughout the season and was very bad for a big chunk of when he was healthy. Jonathan Heasley had some brilliant moments but was also inconsistent.

Hiring the next pitching coach will be critical in determining whether any of these pieces can get back on track. With that said, the Royals don’t have time to waste another season trying to watch them figure things out. They can hope for improvement while also not holding back on making other moves during the offseason.

The young offensive core looks legit

The Royals' young offensive core came up together after the All-Star break and looks to be growing together. Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez were everyday contributors from early in the year, but there were several other players who made their major league debuts during the summer as well.

Nick Pratto, Vinnie Pasquantino, Drew Waters, Michael Massey and Nate Eaton all made their big-league debuts in 2022. Add other young hitters like Kyle Isbel and Edward Olivares to the mix, and things are looking up with this next core of players. The results were mixed, but Kansas City has plenty to work with there. It starts with Witt.

Witt is a star in the making. This year, he became just the fifth player in MLB history to record 20 stolen bases and 20 home runs in their rookie season. He did have several errors in the field, but he made several "web gem" defensive highlight plays as well. He was bounced from third base to shortstop throughout the season — and more reps in one position should help him in the long run — but this is just the start of a potential future Hall of Fame career.

One additional note that doesn't involve the youngsters but does pertain to the offense: Salvador Perez still rocks. Perez dealt with some injuries this year but when he was healthy, he still showed enough flashes of the player everyone knows to be considered a building block for the (immediate) future of the team. 

More moves still need to be made

During the offseason, there are many moves that need to be made. The new core offensive players seems to be here for the long haul and there likely won’t be any big-bat acquisitions in the offseason. There may not need to be, after all. 

The Royals do need to add pitching. In an ideal world, they add two starters. That could be through either free agency or by trading a few pieces of the young core in exchange for proven starting arms. As mentioned earlier, bringing Grienke back could be also an option. Even if that happens, though, there's still room to add more. With some of the young starters, there’s the option to move some of them to the bullpen as they did with Singer to start the season. Bringing in a new pitching coach and seeing how those proverbial puzzle pieces fit together will be paramount. 

A new manager hire will be the biggest piece as the offseason unfolds. This is a huge moment for the Royals, and they need to get it right. This next manager will help lead this young core toward what they hope will be multiple playoff runs in the future. 

Though the expectations for the 2022 season were much higher than what the Royals ultimately fell well short of, this young group of players still gave the fans some exciting performances in the second half of the season. There is a sense of growing optimism behind these players and the changes happening throughout the organization.

The moves the Royals make this offseason will either open their next window of playoff contention, or it'll keep that window shut for the foreseeable future. The world will be watching closely to see how things unfold over the next few months.