Expecting internal improvement, or consistency, up and down the lineup
Outside of adding Jonathan India via trade, the Royals’ lineup heading into 2025 relied on the same core that carried them through 2024. Kansas City fans had every reason to be optimistic about shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. building on his breakout season, but they’d also seen firsthand how much a singular, historic-level performance could shoulder an entire offense. Even with two RBI machines behind him in Perez and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, the trio’s production couldn’t fully offset the lackluster output from the other six spots in the order. Still, they managed to scrape together enough to secure a postseason series win last year.
Pasquantino entered 2025 coming off a career year—one that still ended in injury. Perez turned back the clock at the plate, improbably rebounding from the worst season of his long career. And while Witt had cemented himself as a bona fide superstar, it was always going to be tough for him to replicate that level of production.
The Royals not only overlooked those warning signs—they banked on the rest of the lineup improving from 2024. The thinking? When things aren’t great, they can’t get worse… right? Well, as Bobby Bell reminded Royals fans, things can always get worse—and they have.
So far in 2025, the margin for error for those four key players has been razor-thin—widened only slightly by infielder Maikel Garcia taking the step forward the Royals front office had hoped the entire returning lineup would make. Center fielder Kyle Isbel has had his flashes, but there’s a reason he’s still batting ninth most nights. The outfield as a whole has underwhelmed at the plate, and early-season struggles from Fermin and second baseman Michael Massey have only compounded the team’s offensive woes.
The Royals fan base is desperate for an injection of fresh bats. But there’s no promising everyday option waiting in Triple-A Omaha, and top prospect Jac Caglianone is being brought along more slowly than many had hoped. The trade deadline offers a glimmer of hope for reinforcements, but Kansas City hasn’t exactly nailed their recent attempts at acquiring impact hitters—last year’s deadline, or the one before, proved that. Everything about the past offseason signaled the Royals were doubling down on their young core. Unfortunately, that “trust the process” approach hasn’t delivered much to get excited about so far in 2025.
