Kansas City Royals: What went wrong in 2017 season

WHAT WENT WRONG IN 2017 – ROTATION CRUMBLING TO PIECES

The rotation at the beginning of the year was supposed to consist of Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Jason Vargas, and Nate Karns. By season’s end, three of those guys would spend time on the disabled list, and Karns would miss nearly the entire year.

When both the starting rotation and bullpen are shaky, that’s never a good situation.

With Duffy and Karns both out an extended period of time, the Royals had to turn to no names or rookies to fill their spot in the rotation and the end result was not great. Jake Junis had a nice time as a starter, but that was about the only good to come out of it.

Eric Skoglund started way too many games for my liking and we got to see the lone start for one Luke Farrell, who was designated for assignment not long after. While the 2015 Royals didn’t have a great rotation, they could rely on that bullpen to pick them up.

The 2017 Royals rotation didn’t have that luxury and when both the starting rotation and bullpen are shaky, that’s never a good situation. Next year, the Royals should have four out of five guys back assuming Karns is good to go, but Vargas should be signed elsewhere. Junis will be an easy pitcher to slide into Vargas’ vacant spot though, so at least something good came out of the rotation not being the most steady.