2022 MLB season preview: Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals haven't had a winning season since winning it all in 2015. They haven’t finished higher than fourth in any of the last four seasons. This looks like the year Whit Merrifield is traded. Carlos Santana, Zack Greinke and Andrew Benintendi are likely to be on the move as well. Adalberto Mondesi is up for a contract extension.
The Royals had a disappointing offense last season. They were one of the worst teams in baseball in terms of batting average, hard hit percentage and exit velocity. Some of their key players had bad years. Salvador Perez hit 48 home runs. Nicky Lopez had 4.4-win season with great offensive production and terrific defense. Bobby Witt Jr. is one the best prospects in the game. He slashed .290/.361/.576 and hit 33 homers across two levels last year. He's one to watch for the Opening Day roster. The team has a lot of young players. It's hard to see them being used as a catcher.
The Kansas City Royals had a difficult season in 2020. Brady Singer and Kris Bubic had to play fewer games in 2021. Brad Keller had an up-and-down season. Jackson Kowar and Carlos Hernandez are the only players with more upside. Greinke has a lot of mileage on his arm. He allowed home runs at the highest rate of his career last season and his command was bad. The Royals signed him to help their rotation. They may have success with Jackson and Hernandez. It's not so good with Greinck. His numbers were skewed by the 14 runs he allowed in 11.1 innings in September.
The Royals were fifth in Defensive Runs Above Average last season. Brady Singer had the second-biggest difference in actual batting average allowed vs. expected battingaverage. He will be underpriced in his starts and would be a pitcher to consider backing on a bad team.
The Opening Day lineup and the end-of-season lineup should look different for the Royals. Witt Jr. might start from Day 1, but the team should find ways to get Pratto and Melendez in the lineup as the season goes along. The team is not very deep and its pitching staff is lacking depth.
