A lot of the time an innings high isn't something that hits you until next year.

If I'm the Royals, my biggest concern for 2025 is if the burden on the rotation actually rears its head next year. And they don't have a ton of ready replacements in the minors.

Feels like the Royals should go into next season with 7 legitimate rotation options because I wouldn't be surprised if at least 2 of those guys that are carrying the water this year end up breaking down next year.
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Blake Mitchell demolishes his 16th homer of the year for the Single-A @ColaFireflies.

Last year's No. 8 pick (@Royals) has the second-most roundtrippers among all players 19 years old or younger in the Minors this season. pic.twitter.com/90xKxWmyfN

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 14, 2024

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Aren’t several of our starters contracts up?
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Wacha has a player option, and I think Lorenzon is the only other starter coming off the books.
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Wacha has a $16 million player option - he'd be wise to decline that and look for a 2-3 year deal if he can finish out the season healthy. He can get $14-15 million per on a 3 year deal pretty easily, IMO.

Lugo is under contract for $15 million (player option for $15 million in '26)

Singer is Arb3 (super 2 player, so still under team control in '26)

Ragans is still pre-arb

I guess Kyle Wright is Arb 2 and could be an option. The Royals traded for him last fall knowing full well they weren't going to have him in '24. It was a pretty savvy little move, actually. I mean Wright may just never recover (shoulder surgeries are scary) but it isn't like they gave up anything with Kowar and Kowar immediately blew up in his own right.

Yeah - Lorenzen is the only UFA the Royals will have from their present starting staff next season.

So at it stands:

Lugo, Ragans, Singer, Wright is a probable 1-4. I'm not sure if the Royals will (or should) be interested in a long-term deal for Wacha. He's been pretty much this same guy for 3 seasons now so he's probably a fair bet to be this guy again next year...for 130 innings or so. Which is about what he usually gives a team. Banking on health for him is a fools errand and at 33 years old next season, he'll be one more injury away from probably on his way out of the league.
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I have some sad news to report. Jac is just doing ok in high A

27 AB, 4 Hits, 1HR, 4 BB, 9 SO, .554 OPS

His HR did come off of a position player in a blow out type game.
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Mariners lose this afternoon, Royals continue to get help securing the WC spot.
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:-) Excellent!

Now Baltimore and Texas need to take care of business.
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Texas tied with the Twins early. Orioles out to a 5-1 lead on Boston.
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2-2 going into the ninth. Come on Rangers!
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Fucking Twins score 1 without getting a hit.
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Well shit, at least the two teams trailing us for the WC lost.
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Off Kirby Yates too. He's been lights out this year.
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Honestly that 3rd Wild Card spot works out the best getting the AL West champion IMO
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I know a lot here are pissing vinegar and trying to turn into lemonade. Then there’s the segment that simply piss vinegar, and they get what they get.

I’m sadly, a biased Royals fan, and even when shit is bad, I’ll try to find something to be optimistic about. My optimism paid off in 2015 when we won the whole damn thing after 20-30 years in the wilderness and mostly irrelevant.

Before the season started, I said we’d win 77 games 5+/5- games. 77 wins would be a pretty remarkable turnaround after only winning 56 games. Certainly not playoff bound, but a reasonable step in the right direction with limited minor league resources.

The demand for excellence and perfection is so ridiculous with people nowadays that too many can’t even enjoy the moment of anything. It’s gotta have some drag to it. The cynicism is palpable, and sure, the Royals have earned your cynicism to an extent.

It gets more acute when things are going well, and suddenly things aren’t. And that’s the hook of it. But man, this team is 11 games OVER .500 right now, and in position to be in the playoffs. If the team totally collapses over the next 41 games and wins 11, well shit man, that’s what I predicted they’d do, and I’d be satisfied in a way. But now that we’ve won, nobody would be satisfied with that at all.

Before the Twins series we had 44 games left. I simply put out there that if we win the series we’re “supposed” to win, lose the series we’re “supposed” to lose, with no sweeps on either side and splitting the two four game series we have left, we’d finish with 88 wins.

I still think it’s reasonable. And shit man, if we finish with 88 wins and we don’t make the playoffs, that says more about whoever else in the AL that got hot at the right time.

This has been a great season, for a lot of reasons. We’re a winning ballclub again. That should mean something. And I think Sherman would be willing to write more checks in the offseason to solidify positions we’ve all bitched about all year.

I guarantee you 15 other teams have it worse off than we do right now, and half of those teams have little hope for the next few years. It’s baseball, and things can go haywire for any team, but man, at least we’re in the mix right now and it should go down to the wire.

Can’t wait for the “fans” to show up if we make the playoffs and we get blown out…. Those assholes will be here, and they’ll be loud, ugly, stupid and shortsighted. You can’t fix that. But I’m looking forward to it!

41 games to go. I think we can still do this!
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