The 2026 Kansas City Royals are an indisputably bad baseball team. On pace for an eye-watering 102 losses, they have one of the worst bullpens and one of the worst offenses in baseball. They run into a bunch of outs on the bases. They have lost 16 out of their last 19 games one month after losing 11 of 13. This isn’t just a good team playing poorly. We crossed that Rubicon a long time ago.
The big question: why? Why is the team bad, especially when lots of people thought that the Royals would be competitive – maybe even a playoff team – this year? Well, after such a protracted string of losing, general manager J.J. Picollo finally talked to MLB.com about all the losing. And wouldn’t you know it, but no one’s at fault here. Everyone’s doing great. According to Picollo, the front office accomplished their goals in the offseason.
“We felt like there’s a core here that we could rely on for offense,” Picollo said. “Surrounding them with a deeper, better group and more balanced group was the goal. I think we did that.”
Oh, and it’s not the coaching staff at fault either, either. They’re doing a great job, and besides, changing staff in the middle of the year doesn’t do anything, silly.
“I have a lot of confidence in our staff,” Picollo said. “You can go back and look at all the historical research on changing coaching staffs. There’s not a lot of strong data on changing coaching staffs mid-season leading to what you need to do. It appeases the fanbase because you’ve made a change, but we have to be logical in our thinking.”
We’ve already established that the front office did a great job assembling the team, so player quality isn’t the issue here. What about player attitude and teamwork and camaraderie? The good news is that’s not a problem, either.
“Is the work getting done?” Picollo said. “Are the [coaches’] conversations productive with the players? Are they still eager to get to the ballpark and learn and work and play? Are they motivated? Right now, all of my observations are: Yes, they are. If anything, they’re saying, ‘I’ve got to be more accountable, I’ve got to be better. I’m the one not executing.’”
At this point, we’re getting pretty thin on reasons why the Royals are on a 102-loss pace in June. According to Picollo, it’s not the front office, it’s not the coaches, and it’s not the players. No one is responsible for the state of Royals baseball right now. So if no one is responsible, something else must be at fault. And I fear we are going to hear more and more excuses about this being an injury-bit season, especially after Maikel Garcia’s hamstring injury from Saturday’s game.
It is true that the Royals have had their fair share of injuries this season. Closer Carlos Estévez pitched one game this year and has been sidelined with injuries since. Second baseman Jonathan India had season-ending shoulder surgery at the end of April. Starting pitcher Cole Ragans first went on the injured list in early May and had a setback during rehab. Fellow starting pitcher Kris Bubic went on the injured list in mid-May, too. Newly acquired reliever Matt Strahm hit the injured list in mid-May, as did Nick Mears a few days ago. And though we don’t know how long Garcia could be out, hamstring injuries are fickle and he could be out anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
But I don’t buy this excuse and you shouldn’t either, even though I’m sure the team will use it for why they’re selling at the trade deadline and at the end of the year when the Royals finalize a 90-something loss season.
The main reason is that the Royals have had objectively fewer injuries compared to other teams. Spotrac keeps a list of total players, total days, and cash total per days missed for the injured list by team. Kansas City ranks 20th in total players on the IL (10, median of 14), 20th in total days missed on the IL (392, median of 518) and 19th in cash total per days missed ($8.49 million, median of $11.1 million).
And the other reason is that most of the guys who have landed on the injured list are players who the Royals should have expected not to stay healthy all year. Estevez is 33 and his fastball velo has been declining since 2022. Strahm is 34 and his fastball velo has also been declining since 2022. India’s shoulder injury was well known to the club, and he’s only averaged 131 games played per year prior to this season. Ragans only made 13 starts last year. Bubic only made 20 starts last year.
Are injuries a factor to this season? Yes they are. But the Royals don’t play in a vacuum; they are playing other teams who are also dealing with injuries, and most other teams have had more injuries. But the Royals have backed themselves into a corner here with answering the core question of why they’re bad. According to Picollo, the Royals may have the second worst record in all of baseball despite a solid roster, good coaching, and prepared players. It doesn’t add up.
James Wood
Rafael Devers
Jonathan Aranda
