Franchise Timeline

The seeds for the Royals’ 2020 season actually were planted during the offseason when the Royals named Mike Matheny to succeed Ned Yost, who retired, as manager. The Royals also made several key acquisitions over the winter, signing third baseman Maikel Franco, and closers Trevor Rosenthal and Greg Holland. Franco led the team in doubles (16) and RBIs (38) and was a key addition to the clubhouse. Both Rosenthal and Holland resurrected their careers in KC this season. Holland went 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 28 games and went 6-for-6 in save opportunities. Rosenthal was dominant for much of his short time with the Royals, going 7-for-7 in save opportunities before being dealt to the Padres for promising outfielder Edward Olivares at the Trade Deadline.

But 2020 will be best remembered for the emergence of rookie hurlers Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Tyler Zuber, Carlos Hernandez and Josh Staumont. Singer, the Royals’ No. 1 pick in 2018, went 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA but will be best remembered in 2020 for nearly throwing a no-hitter -- he no-hit the Indians on Sept. 10 for 7 2/3 innings and settled for eight innings of one-hit shutout ball. Staumont posted a 2.45 ERA in 26 relief outings and his 100-mph heater led to 37 Ks in 25 2/3 innings.

While the Royals finished 26-34 and out of the playoffs, they showed a renewed energy under Matheny and finished strong, winning 12 of their final 18 games.

The 2020 season also will be remembered as the end of the Alex Gordon era. Gordon called it a career after 14 seasons and went out in style, capturing his eighth Gold Glove Award, tying him with Frank White for the most in franchise history.

The Royals finished the 2021 season with a 74-88 record (.457), their best mark since going 80-82 in 2017, improving their win percentage for the third consecutive season. They were a Major League-best 16-9 (.640) through May 1 and went 38-35 (.521) after the All-Star break (2nd best in the division), but they went 20-44 (.313) in between, including losing streaks of 11 and nine games, and a stretch in which they lost 27 of 34. The second-half success came thanks in part to Salvador Perez, who matched the club’s single-season home run record with 48 and led the Majors with 121 RBI. Six different players from the 2018 Draft class appeared with the Royals in 2021, including Brady Singer (18th overall in 2018), Jackson Kowar (33rd), Daniel Lynch (34th), Kris Bubic (40th), Kyle Isbel (3rd round) and Jonathan Heasley (13th round). Five of those six were pitchers who started a game for the Royals, making the 2021 Royals the first team, according to Elias, to have five different pitchers from the same draft class start a game for that team in the same season. As usual, the Royals were among the best in the Majors in 2021 on defense and on the basepaths, as they had five finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, including two first-time winners in left fielder Andrew Benintendi and center fielder Michael A. Taylor. The Royals led the Majors in 2021 with 124 stolen bases for the first time since 2014, including an American League-best 40 steals by Whit Merrifield.

Player of the Year

Salvador Perez earned his second straight Royals Player of the Year honor after he tied the club’s single-season record with 48 home runs in 2021, which also tied for the Major League lead, and led the Majors with 121 RBI, becoming the sixth different player to lead the Majors in both HR and RBI in the last 30 years. His 48 HR were the most in a single season by a player who played at least 75% of his games at catcher, 3 more than Johnny Bench’s 45 HR in 1970.

Pitcher of the Year

Scott Barlow was named Royals Pitcher of the Year after recording career highs across the board in 2021, including 5 wins, 16 saves, 71 appearances and a 2.42 ERA (20 ER in 74.1 IP). Among American League relievers, he ranked 4th in innings, 6th in strikeouts (91), 10th in ERA and tied for 11th in saves.

Special Achievement

Nicky Lopez hit .300 (149-for-497) to become the first Royals left-handed batter to reach that mark since Eric Hosmer hit .318 in 2017, while becoming the first in Royals history to hit .300 while playing at least 75% of his games at shortstop. He had a then-club-record streak of 72 consecutive games at shortstop without an error, which led to a .987 fielding percentage, best among American League shortstops, and he led the Majors at all positions with 25 outs above average.

The 2022 season was all about the kids. Thirteen players made their Major League debuts, including Bobby Witt Jr., MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 ranked prospect in baseball to start the season. The Royals had 21 rookies appear in a game in ’22, which tied for third most in franchise history behind 2004 (23) and ’02 (22). Nine different Royals rookies homered, matching the club record set by the 1969 Royals, and Witt ranked third among rookies in 2022 with MJ Melendez’s 18 homers not far behind at sixth. Witt became just the fifth player in the last 49 years with 20 homers and 30 steals in his age-22 season or younger.

Right-hander Brady Singer emerged as a potential ace, finishing the year with a 3.23 ERA. He began the year in the bullpen and then was optioned, but when he returned on May 17 to join the starting rotation, he looked like a different pitcher. In his next 24 starts to finish the season, he went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA.

With all the hype around the future, though, the Royals still lost 97 games and finished last in the American League Central. What happened off the field in 2022 was as significant as what happened off it; the Royals fired president of baseball operations Dayton Moore in September after 16 years in the organization. Newly promoted general manager J.J. Picollo fired manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred after the final game of the season. A month later, Picollo hired manager Matt Quatraro to usher in a new era of Royals baseball.

The Royals ushered in a new era with general manager J.J. Picollo at the helm for the first full season, as well as first-year manager Matt Quatraro and a slew of new coaches. It didn’t go as well as they hoped, as the club matched its worst season in franchise history with 106 losses. But there still were good moments and flashes of the team the Royals want to be, headlined by superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. The 23-year-old became the first Royal with a 30-homer, 30-stolen base season and finished the year with 30 homers and 49 stolen bases. One of his greatest moments of the season was when he turned on a 102 mph fastball from Twins closer Johan Duran and launched it for a walk-off grand slam that began a seven-game winning streak for Kansas City. He also turned around his defensive metrics and became one of the elite shortstops of the game. Emerging alongside Witt was Cole Ragans after the Royals acquired the lefty starter from the Rangers on June 30 for Aroldis Chapman. Ragans made 12 starts for the Royals, posted a 2.64 ERA and won the AL August Pitcher of the Month award while cementing himself as a future ace for this team. The Royals have plenty of things to improve on moving forward, but they can also feel good about the cornerstones of their franchise to build around.