CLEVELAND -- The Royals' 2022 season featured firing a hitting coach in May, national attention when 10 unvaccinated players couldn’t make the trip to Toronto in July and the dismissal of a longtime top executive in September.

In between, 13 players made their Major League debut, and lineups peppered with rookies injected fun -- and learning experiences -- into the clubhouse and on the field along the way.

The regular season ended with a 9-2 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday afternoon at Progressive Field. And an offseason of change, from roster moves to staff turnover, began as the Royals headed back to Kansas City after a six-game series in Cleveland.

“It was definitely a weird year,” infielder Nicky Lopez said. “We’ve had a lot of stuff happen. But I think what we showed is that we have all the pieces, and now it’s time to take that next step, whatever that may be. It’s a learning process, and we’re all going through it.”

The Royals (65-97) finished nine wins shy of last year’s total. They’re seven years removed from winning the 2015 World Series title and haven’t made it back to the postseason since, which matches the third-longest active drought in the Majors.

The record signals a step back, and changes have already begun. In May, Kansas City fired hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and promoted hitting coordinator Alec Zumwalt.

Two weeks ago, owner John Sherman fired president of baseball operations Dayton Moore and promoted general manager J.J. Picollo to lead baseball ops.

And Picollo has already started making changes to the Royals’ coaching staff and throughout the organization. Manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred were dismissed following the season finale.

“We lost 97 games,” Picollo said. “To sit back and say that our roster is where we need it to be would be incorrect. We have to be deeper in areas. We have to get guys to develop. It’s a combination of roster management, guys getting better and our coaches having healthy conversations. But [there will be] pretty pointed conversations.

“It’s a combination of those things that have to come together in the offseason. We have work to do.”

With the steps back, though, the Royals also believe 2022 signaled a step forward. Eight of the 14 position players on the active roster are rookies, including seven first-year players. The 76 home runs by Kansas City rookies are the most in the Majors this year and in franchise history.

The core of the Royals’ future arrived and established themselves in the Majors in 2022.

“They took advantage of opportunities that were created,” Picollo said. “We found out that we have a pretty resilient group. That will benefit them in the long run. We have some really good pieces in place, and we have some that need to develop and get better in a timeframe that matches our timeframe.”

Bobby Witt Jr. spent the entire season on the active roster and met the high expectations of his rookie season with 20 home runs, 31 doubles and 30 steals. MJ Melendez, who made his debut on May 3, drew 66 walks this year to lead all rookies, and his 18 homers rank sixth among rookies.

Vinnie Pasquantino, who debuted on June 28, reached 10 home runs with his first-inning blast in the season finale, and he finished with a 134 wRC+ across 298 plate appearances, along with more walks (35) than strikeouts (34).

Drew Waters made a strong impression after the Royals acquired him from the Braves in July, making his Major League debut six weeks later. Across 109 plate appearances, the outfielder posted a 134 wRC+ with five homers, including three in this final series.

There were other flashes of success. Nate Eaton emerged as a key piece with his 29.6 feet per second sprint speed, which ranks 18th in MLB among qualified hitters, and 98 mph arm speed, which ranks first.

Isbel proved himself an elite defender in 2022, ranking first among outfielders with a jump that is 4.8 feet better than MLB average (jump is feet covered in correct direction in the first three seconds of the play), and his 12 Outs Above Average rank fifth among all outfielders.

The emergence of Brady Singer as a frontline starter this year, with his 3.23 ERA across 27 appearances, was a huge plus, as well as veteran Zack Greinke (3.68 ERA) performing well in his Royals encore while embracing a teaching role.

The rest of the staff struggled. Including Jonathan Heasley’s five-inning, six-run outing in the finale against Cleveland, Royals starters ranked fifth worst in the Majors with a 4.72 ERA. The bullpen was third worst with a 4.66 ERA.

Overall, the Royals’ 9.5% walk rate was second worst in the Majors entering the regular-season finale, behind Cincinnati’s 9.8%.

Pitching development and improvement will be a major theme for the Royals this offseason.

“The messaging we’ve shared with them is, ‘Consistency is key,’” Piccolo said. “You’ve got to be able to put together a season and not a short stretch.”