What we learned about the Kansas City Royals in shortened 2020 season

Matheny wasn’t terrible!

Not many Royals fans were excited when Mike Matheny was hired as the next manager of the organization. He had made a lot of really bad mistakes during his time in St. Louis, but it really does appear that he’s learned from those mistakes, at least in year one with the Royals.

One of Matheny’s biggest issues in St. Louis was his mishandling of the bullpen, but he proved he can run a bullpen properly. It helped that he had a lot of talented relievers to work with, but to take something that plagued him with the Cardinals and make it a strength in Kansas City shows that Matheny is willing to work at his weaknesses.

Matheny proving he can run a bullpen and also not be afraid to pinch hit for guys shows that he’s learned from his mistakes and if he continues to build on that, he very well might be the right manager for the Kansas City Royals.

Not quite there, but getting there

As I mentioned early on, the Royals didn’t suck in 2020 and actually gave fans confidence that the rebuild is heading in the right direction. The bullpen was a highlight, the rotation showed glimpses of potential, and if the offense can pick it up and get a few more young bats for their lineup, the Royals could be in business in the next two or three years for sure.

It’ll be interesting to see how this team does in a full 162 game season next year (hopefully we can have this in 2021) because they showed promise in 60 games, especially near season’s end.

What takeaways did you have regarding the Royals in 2020?