2 Royals bench options that could still have a role to play in 2026, 2 that shouldn't

The Kansas City Royals have plenty of work to do this offseason if they're going to right the wrongs of 2025 and reach the postseason again next season.

There are some starting roles that could stand to be addressed, but with a bottom 10 offense sporting a 93 wRC+ that experienced the lows that the Royals' did in 2025, the work can't stop at the starting nine.

Good teams have good depth options, just ask the AL pennant winning Toronto Blue Jays and their relentless World Series-caliber offense. And it's no secret that Royals manager Matt Quatraro loves lineup flexibility himself, whether that be platooning players, inserting strong late-inning baserunning options or just having strong traditional bench options at his disposal to get starters off their feet.

So, with such importance placed on the depth of this team, they're needs to be some evaluation on who worked in their reserve roles, who didn't and who has specific skills that are of value to this team moving forward - even if their whole body of work isn't warranting of an everyday role.

2 Royals bench options that could still have a role to play in 2026

2B/OF Michael Massey

There was a point in time during a dreadful start to the season, leading into a lengthy IL stint, that Michael Massey seemed as though he may've been better served with a change of scenery.

But upon his eventual return to the roster, Massey reminded the Royals faithful why hopes were high for him after his solid 2024 regular season and strong postseason. He returned to the lineup on Aug. 25 and was one of the Royals most productive hitters. Of those Royals bats with 50+ plate appearances, he slashed .375/.412/.484 with a 151 wRC+, which trailed only Carter Jensen for the highest on the roster in that span.

During that time, he was also only making soft contact at a 9.4% rate and for the entire 2025 season, he showcased a very good eye in the box after posting just a 15.5% strikeout rate.

He offers defensive upside to his second base counterpart in Jonathan India, while also providing the Royals with the versatility to move him to the corner outfield if needed.

So, long as his bat looks at least marginally as good as he did in the second half and not like he did in the first half, where he posted a 26 wRC+, Massey could still serve as a platoon-worthy regular for Kansas City in 2026.

UTL Tyler Tolbert

Tolbert had a season of mixed results in his rookie campaign in 2025. There were some obvious traits that shined, but other facets of his game were certainly lacking and in need of further development.

That being said for bench piece, the pros really outweighed the cons with Tolbert.

The hard-hit rate was lacking at 38.1% this season, however he didn't need hard contact to still post a very solid .280 batting average last year, A strong average off the bench also made up for the fact that his on-base ability was stunted by a miniscule 1.8% walk rate.

Because when Tolbert gets on base, great things can happen, as fans couldn't help but get flashbacks to the blistering speed they once saw in their mid-2010s glory days with Terrence Gore. In just 64 games, Tolbert an his 88th percentile sprint speed swiped 21 bags and was only caught stealing twice.

To add to his solid bat-to-ball abilities and blistering speed, there's his defensive versatility to play every position but catcher and first base.

It seems that he's warranted a shot to get more run than the 57 plate appearances across 64 games he received this season. At the very least he's primed for a speed and defense type role to utilize in the late innings.

2 Royals bench options that shouldn't play a role on this 2026 roster

UTL Nick Loftin

At some point, the Royals may need to count their losses with Loftin and accept the fact that perhaps he'll never live up to the potential that his 2023 top five organizational prospect status gave him.

The past two seasons, Loftin has received 170+ plate appearances a year and has posted sub-75 wRC+ totals in each.

He may carry the allure of being a utility bat capable of playing at first, second, third and in the corners, but the bat has only briefly had it's moments in the majors that would make it worth Kansas City's while to play him.

In 2025, he posted an underwhelming slash line of .208/.278/.357 with four homers, 20 RBI and a 73 wRC+ in 188 plate appearances. He may not strikeout all that often - he posted a 14.4% K-rate last season - but when you're getting on base well less than 30% of the time, a decent eye for the strike zone becomes less valuable.

And they might've already shown their hand when it comes to how they could plan to handle Loftin moving forward, because when push came to shove and names started returning from the injured list in September, Loftin was one of the early names to get sent back down to the minor league ranks to make space.

OF John Rave

Like Loftin, Royals fans can't deny the fact there were times when it seemed Rave might've been turning the corner as a major leaguer and finally found his footing. However, it would only really be for relatively small spurts and then he'd disappointingly come back down to earth.

Other than a fairly strong walk and chase rates, Rave seemed to be left without answers at the dish, very different from the extremely strong numbers he posted in Triple-A leading up to his first promotion. In 175 plate appearances, he slashed just .196/.283/.307 with four homers, 14 RBI and a 65 wRC+.

On top of not hitting, he was striking out a high 26.3% clip and he was hitting the ball hard at a below average rate of 40.0%.

With how poor the corner outfield situation looked last season, if any position calls for a complete overhaul this winter, it's that one. And with stronger looking utility bats like Massey and Tolbert who are, of course, more positionally versatile, Rave seems increasingly out of place on this Royals roster - and that's without taking into account potential new arrivals that could displace him as well.