The 2023 Kansas City Royals Could Make Some Noise
This is the time of year when every fan base can be optimistic. The hot stove is boiling over, pitchers and catchers are getting ready to report and spring training is just around the corner. Hope springs eternal, even for Kansas City Royals fans if they let themselves believe just a little bit.
Along with the hope of a new season is the hope of a new era in Royals baseball. The end of last season brought changes to the front office and managerial staff. The team will enter the season with a new manager, Matt Quatraro, who brought plenty of new faces to town with him.
The hope within this team also lies with the young core of players, not just for this season, but for the foreseeable future. This group of players has the chance to do something special and make postseason runs and World Series appearances like the Royals of the mid-2010s.
There’s a budding superstar, Bobby Witt Jr, who is projected to be the team’s starting shortstop. He played a mix of both shortstop and third base in his rookie campaign, and it was a year in which Witt posted numbers few other rookies in MLB history had accomplished. He joined the rookie 20-20 club, a club only 13 other first-year players had joined prior to Witt getting there last year. He also became only the fifth player in Royals history to record a 20-20 season. As Witt’s game continues to grow, so will the shine in his star. The Royals will continue to expect big things from him as the team moves forward.
There are several other everyday players who joined the Royals' starting lineup last season after Opening Day. MJ Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino, Michael Massey and Drew Waters could be the "core four" in addition to Witt. There were flashes of brilliance from all of them. Specifically, the power of Melendez and Pasquantino really shined through.
On the pitching side, there are still a lot of unknowns from the young core. The Royals are trying their best to not have to force any of them into action and added veteran arms in Jordan Lyles and Ryan Yarbrough to add some stable presence to the lineup. Zack Greinke will also be returning to the team and could be a wild card if he stays healthy.
Brady Singer is the highest-profile starter of the core of pitchers and he should be near the top of the rotation to start the season. Daniel Lynch flashed in stretches while Brad Keller was up-and-down again. Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar, Carlos Hernandez and Jonathan Heasley all have big-league potential and made several starts for the Royals in 2022, but their roles are still unknown at this time.
The bullpen will be a flame-throwing group with the addition of Aroldis Chapman to an already potent list of arms that includes Josh Staumont, Amir Garrett, Dylan Coleman and Scott Barlow. Throw in Richard Lovelady for good measure, and this bullpen will have quite the group competing for various roles.
Of course, the veteran leadership of Salvador Perez is not lost on anyone. He helps steady the team on both the offensive and defensive sides of the plate. That will play a huge role in how far the team can go this season. With a wide-open American League Central division, the Royals could push the envelope and try to earn a playoff spot.
No one is thinking about the Royals making the playoffs this year, but that’s exactly when a team can sneak up on their opponents. Last year, not many expected Cleveland to be in the picture for the AL race, and they won the division. The Royals could be that team this year.
If the Royals were to win the AL Central, or merely be a part of the wild card race, this would be an exciting development in the town. With a new downtown ballpark proposal on the horizon, a winning season could mean everything to this franchise and the future of baseball in Kansas City.
This latest core of players that just arrived on the scene has a new window of opportunity. There is a playoff window that could bring another World Series championship to Kansas City at the same time as a new downtown stadium is built. Imagine this with me: a playoff baseball series in a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City.
It’s an exciting time to be a Royals fan, with optimism in the air. There are new faces ranging from the front office, to the manager and his staff, to the new core of players. There is playoff potential here and that could be just the beginning of success with this new edition of the Kansas City Royals.
Mark Van Sickle was born in Seattle, Washington, but has lived in the Kansas City area for 30 years. He has followed the city’s sports teams along the way, from the KC Blades to the Chiefs to the Wizards/Sporting KC, now the KC Current and — of course — the Royals. Mark has been a radio producer and on-air talent in Kansas City since 2011 and is currently a producer for morning shows on KCMO Talk Radio. He is a writer and podcast host for the Heartland College Sports Network, a writer for Arrowhead Report on FanNation and a consistent guest on Roughing the Kicker Chiefs podcast. He is also a writer and weekly contributor to FanNation’s InsideTheRoyals.com