3 Positions The Royals Must Improve to Make Playoffs in 2024

Despite Bobby Witt Jr. and Cole Ragans enjoying superstar breakouts, the Royals slumped to a miserable 56-106 record this season and now face tough offseason questions watching yet another MLB postseason at home.

There were certainly positives, particularly in August and September, but the season was over long before that. Fans have grown sick and tired of the losing, while Kansas City ownership knows the team must get better quickly to improve fan sentiment around the new ballpark.

We saw a few players solidify their positions for 2024, but the Royals must improve three key positions to have any shot at returning to October baseball.

3 Positions The Royals Must Improve to Make Playoffs

1. Bullpen

This goes without saying, as Kansas City's bullpen put forth one of the worst seasons in MLB history. The Royals' bullpen had 25 blown saves in only 53 opportunities while finishing with an AL-worst 5.23 ERA.

Promising stretches from Taylor Clarke and Carlos Hernandez quickly turned to rubble, while proven arms like Scott Barlow and Aroldis Chapman were wisely shipped off. We got Cole Ragans out of it, so that's a huge positive, but now J.J. Picollo must rework the bullpen to get a servicable group together prior to April.

Young arms like Steven Cruz, John McMillon and James McArthur flashed late in the year, providing optimism there are already players in the organization that can positively contribute next season.

Nonetheless, I expect the bullpen to be Picollo's top priority if he's serious about contention.

Perhaps trading away Salvador Perez or Brady Singer could return quality arms or the team could even spend some cash in free agency. No matter what route Picollo chooses, Kansas City flatly cannot enter next year without significant improvements to the bullpen.

Help is needed at the other end of the pitching staff too, though.

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.

3. Corner Outfielder

The Royals' infield feels mostly set with Maikel Garcia's impressive season, Bobby Witt Jr.'s MVP-like performance and solid contributions from players like Vinnie Pasquantino, Freddy Fermin and Michael Massey.

We could use some angels in the outfield, though. MJ Melendez hit just .235 with a negative WAR and Edward Olivares projects more as a utility player. Young guys like Nate Eaton aren't ready and while Nelson Velazquez was spectacular with the Royals, it's difficult to count on that level of production without any back-up plan.

I'm thrilled to see Velazquez's development this season and Tyler Gentry is a developmental piece that should contribute next year as well, but Kansas City still needs another power bat in the outfield.

Drew Waters' development should keep the outfield defense strong, but his offensive struggles make his position uncertain. If he improves with Velazquez and Melendez providing pop, we'll have a promising outfield. That's a lot of "ifs" though, and I'd rather bank on acquiring a player to help lead the development.

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