Why 3 KC Royals may need to find new clubs in 2023

The KC Royals are having a bad season. Little progress is evident and, aside from the exploits of rookies Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez, the product on the field only occasionally captures and holds fans’ attention. And after Texas punished them 10-4 Monday night, the Royals are again 20 games under .500 (26-46) with 90 games remaining in a campaign that probably won’t get much better—the Royals are well on pace to lose over 100 games.

But whether Kansas City loses more or fewer than 100 games, changes are coming. The Royals have made two already—in Monday moves made inevitable by the contract year he’s playing out and the need to promote Vinnie Pasquantino to the majors, Carlos Santana was traded and Pasquantino is now a Royal.

Those won’t be the last personnel changes: left fielder Andrew Benintendi, center fielder Michael A. Taylor, and second baseman-right fielder Whit Merrifield could be gone by the August 2 trade deadline.

And if even if they survive August 2, which they almost certainly will, at least three other Royals may, unless they improve remarkably, be searching for new clubs after the season ends.

The KC Royals may keep Ryan O’Hearn this year, but shouldn’t next season.

That Ryan O’Hearn is still on Kansas City’s roster proves just how defiantly stubborn this club can be. Yes, he once hit for an acceptable average and belted enough home runs to make him worth having, but that was in 2018 when, in 44 games as a rookie, he batted .262 with 12 homers. He hit 14 homers the following year, but batted .195, an atrocious clip he somehow managed to duplicate in 2020.

O’Hearn struggled back above the Mendoza Line in 2021, but at .204 is hovering close to it again. Not even his good pinch hitting—he’s 7-for-15 in that role this season—should render him salvageable. The Royals should cut him loose as soon as today, but no later than this winter.

Kris Bubic and the KC Royals could be nearing the end of their road together.

High draft picks aren’t supposed to be erratic or hard to figure.

But it’s those two characteristics that define the first three seasons of Kris Bubic’s big league career.

Bubic was among the highly-touted collegiate hurlers the Royals grabbed in the 2018 draft; they took him with the 40th-overall selection, a Competitive Balance pick made between the first and second rounds. He went 2-3 with a 4.03 ERA in Rookie ball that summer before going a stellar 11-5, 2.23 across Low-A and High-A the following season.

Then came the short 2020 campaign. Kansas City could have secured work for Bubic by assigning him to their Alternate Training Site, but they promoted him to the majors instead, and almost assuredly too soon. Thrust immediately into the rotation, he won only once, lost six times, and walked a few too many batters (4.0 BB9) in 10 starts.

Despite a poor spring training performance (he gave up eight runs in 7.1 innings) that prevented him from starting last season in Kansas City, he improved to 6-7, but still experienced some control and consistency issues and spent part of the campaign in the bullpen.

And what of 2022? Bubic went 0-3 with a 13.14 ERA in his first five starts and, after giving up a run in one inning of relief May 11, found himself back in the minors the next day. He was 0-2, 6.59 in three starts at Omaha when the Royals recalled him June 4.

Since then, he’s 1-2 in five starts and, after surrendering seven runs in 4.2 innings and losing to Texas Monday night, has an ugly 7.68 ERA for the season.

Bubic can be good—he threw five scoreless, no-decision innings against Houston the day he returned from Omaha, and struck out seven in gaining his first win June 20.

But like Keller, Bubic is inconsistent and pitches badly too frequently.

And also like Keller, he probably won’t attract any serious trade suitors this summer and may well be looking this winter for another place to pitch.

Without significant improvement, Ryan O’Hearn, Brad Keller and Kris Bubic just might be unemployed after the season.