3 Positions The Royals Must Improve to Make Playoffs in 2024

2. Starting Pitching

Shoutout to Cole Ragans, because the outlook would be much more miserable had he not displayed top-of-the-rotation ability in one of the. most dominant stretches we've ever seen from a Royals pitcher.

Outside of Ragans, it's much harder to find optimism. Brady Singer was disappointing though still showed flashes, while Jordan Lyles finished with a 6.28 ERA as perhaps MLB's worst full-time starter.

Those are the only guys we can pencil in for next year's rotation, pending Zack Grienke's potential retirement, so Kansas City needs to get busy finding some more starting pitchers. Despite years of drafting high-end pitching prospects, the organization is perilously thin on pitching.

Ragans looks like a bonafide stud, and I'm optimistic Picollo can identify other arms in the offseason that could break through as well. Otherwise, we'll be depending on inconsistent players like Daniel Lynch, Alec Marsh or, gulp, Brad Keller once again.

Kansas City can signal to the fanbase that it's serious about winning by making a splashy acquisition in free agency this offseason. Finding a dependable, top-line arm to pair with Ragans would leave this team in a significantly better spot in 2024.

On the offensive side, there's one glaring weakness that must be addressed.