5 ‘feel good’ things from the 2022 KC Royals season

Three weeks have passed since the KC Royals finished another disappointing season with a one-sided 9-2 loss road loss to Cleveland, a defeat punctuated just hours later by the dismissals of manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred.

Kansas City suffered 97 losses and finished last in the American League Central, behind even the long-struggling Detroit Tigers. The Royals too frequently couldn’t pitch, couldn’t hit, and didn’t compete. Now, they enter baseball’s winter without a manager and with an uncertain future.

Fortunately, however, not everything is bleak around Kauffman Stadium. A handful of things about the 2022 season should make fans feel better.

Let’s take a look.

2022 “Feel Good” No. 5: An October home run by a veteran KC Royals star.

Salvador Perez’s 2022 season was a mixed bag, especially for those fans unreasonably expecting it to be a carbon copy of his incredible 2021 campaign. Although he hit 23 home runs and went on a second-half tear, he still hit only .254, and recurring thumb problems forced him out of action for seven weeks.

He played in only 114 games, his lowest total—not counting the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season—since 2012, when he appeared in 76 contests in his second big league season.

But Perez ended the year in style, clubbing this Oct. 1 home run against Cleveland:

It was his last homer of the year—thumb soreness forced him out of the game and he missed the club’s final four contests.

Because Perez didn’t play again, considering this a “feel good” moment might seem strange. But he finished with a homer, giving fans hope he’ll enjoy a good 2023.

2022 “Feel Good” No. 4: A KC Royals rookie established himself at second.

Don’t blame Michael Massey if he might have felt a bit overshadowed by fellow rookies Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Nick Pratto when Kansas City included him in the group that temporarily replaced 10 Royals whose vaccination status disqualified them from traveling across the border to Canada for a mid-July series in Toronto.

After all, Massey hadn’t received big buildups like Witt’s, Pasquantino’s and Pratto’s, and Witt and Pasquantino were already in the majors, well on their way to fine rookie season performances.

Although Massey went 3-for-8 against the Blue Jays, he found himself optioned back to Triple-A Omaha when the disqualified players returned after the All-Star Break. The demotion didn’t last long—Massey, who started the year with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and slashed .305/.359/.496 with nine homers before earning a promotion to Omaha, where he had seven homers and a .325/.392/.595 line, was back with the big club Aug. 3, this time to stay.

Massey went 2-for-3 against the White Sox in his first game and, although he finished the season with a .243 average, played a decent second base, claimed the position as his own, and likely established himself as the club’s second sacker of the future.

2022 “Feel Good” No. 3: A KC Royals starting pitcher put it all together.

When Kansas City jumped Brady Singer, the first player the club chose in the 2018 amateur draft, from Double-A ball to the big leagues to start the 2020 season, few probably expected him to ever return to the minors. His pitches, stuff, and maturity were that good.

Singer stayed in the Royals’ rotation that year, going 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA, but went 5-10, 4.91 in 2021, a season marked by criticism of his reluctance to throw changeups. And after losing his rotation spot to begin this season and allowing four runs in 5.2 relief innings, Singer was back in the minors April 28 when the club optioned him to Omaha to stretch out as a starter, but perhaps with the additional assignment to work on the changeup he seemed to so distrust, dislike, or both.

The righthander was back May 17, but only for a game as the 27th man for a doubleheader against the White Sox. The difference was remarkable—in a scoreless seven-inning start, Singer struck out nine, walked none, and scattered four hits to earn his first win.

Kansas City was forced by rule to send him back down after the game but wasted no time bringing him back. He started against Minnesota May 22 and threw another seven scoreless innings, then beat the Twins six days later.

Singer went 6-1, 2.59 in his last 10 starts to finish 10-5, 3.23. He’s Kansas City’s ace going into 2023.

2022 “Feel Good” No. 2: A pair of KC Royals rookies made the club proud.

The Royals blessed their fanbase with two things it wanted most this season—the major league debuts of Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino.

Neither player disappointed.

Witt began the season with Kansas City and collected his first big league hit and RBI by doubling off Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie Opening Day. And although he hit only .216 in April and didn’t homer until May 3, Witt finished the campaign with 20 homers, 80 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, 31 doubles, six triples, and a .254 average.

His .294 OBP and 30 bases on balls in 632 plate appearances mean he needs to walk more, and his glove needs work, but Witt’s other numbers render him an American League Rookie of the Year candidate.

Although the Royals’ obvious efforts to boost Carlos Santana’s midseason trade value kept Pasquantino out of the majors until a late June deal took Santana to Seattle, he fared quite well. Alternating between first base and DH, Pasquantino slashed .295/.383/.450 with 10 home runs, a 135 OPS+ and a 137 wRC+.

All things considered, the Royals’ top two rookies aren’t going anywhere. Expect Witt to start at either shortstop or third base and, depending on how—and if—first baseman Nick Pratto progresses, Pasquantino to start at first or become the club’s primary DH, in 2023.