3 obstacles that could prevent the Royals from contending in 2027

After finishing the 2026 season well below the .500 mark, the Kansas City Royals will have a lot to prove next season. As a franchise recently considered to be an up-and-comer in the league, seeing the team trip and fall flat on its face was not easy for fans. In order to prevent that from happening again in 2027, the Royals will have a handful of obstacles they will desperately need to avoid. 

Obviously if there was a magical blueprint for teams to adhere to, nobody would struggle through an embarrassing season. But as the saying goes, that’s baseball, Suzyn. No matter how much you prepare in the offseason or how solid you believe that your roster is, you have to win ball games on the field. 

For the Royals to succeed next season, they will need to recapture the magic formula from 2024 that saw them win 86 games and advance to the postseason. That team enjoyed an impressive mix of young talent, top-notch starting pitching, and just a splash of veteran leadership. They might not be able to replicate that exact formula in 2027, but they can come close.   

The Royals can’t afford to trip over any hurdles in 2027

As we’ve seen with the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox this postseason, the AL Central is not as far behind the rest of baseball as some may have thought. While the division is wide open for any team to take the title, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a high-level of talent. 

The Royals are a team that has the talent necessary in order to ascend to the top of the AL Central next season. The club just needs a little boost to make it all happen. Without a massive payroll, that can be a little easier said than done. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. 

These three obstacles could prevent them from getting that boost though. They have to be avoided at all costs.

The young Royals core sees a regression in their development 

The future success of the Royals starts and stops with its young core of players. With Bobby Witt Jr. now advancing to the next stage of his career as a respected veteran on the club, it is up to him to help guide the other young players to the postseason. At just 26 years old, he is just now entering the prime of his career. It’s hard to imagine considering he’s already played at such a high-level for five seasons.   

But with players like Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen ready to take their game to the next level, it is vital that they continue to progress as ball players. In addition, Blake Mitchell and the next wave of young Royals prospects are waiting in the wings for their chance to contribute to their team. Without their success in the near future, the Royals could once again falter and finish at the bottom of the division. 

Salvador Perez continues to receive close to 600 at-bats

Almost as a continuation to ensuring the development of the young core, the Royals cannot afford to give Salvador Perez a full season of at-bats again. He is a franchise legend and a player who had a big role in the team’s World Series run in 2015. However, at 36 years old, his best years are firmly behind him. And that’s putting it lightly. While it was tough to watch, it’s also problematic considering his at-bats could be given to a younger player in need of MLB at-bats. 

Last season was the worst in Perez’s distinguished 15-year career. He saw a sharp regression across the board offensively. While he was still able to barrel up a ball every now and then, his .656 OPS was nearly 100 points below his career average. That was due in part to a lack of plate discipline. His 44.6% chase rate put him as one of the worst in all of baseball. If the Royals continue to run Perez out there for his four at-bats a game in 2027, the offense will simply not be able to hit its full potential. 

The Royals' front office doesn’t replenish the diminished pitching staff  

The Royals offense showed signs of life in 2026, with more to look forward to next season. The pitching staff was another story. The team allowed an unsightly 5.00 runs a game on the nose. That hardly gave the Royals a chance to remain competitive in a number of games in 2026. It ranked as the fifth most runs allowed per game in all of baseball. The pitching staff also coughed up the third most hits in the league while striking out the third fewest. That is simply not a winning combination for any MLB pitching staff. 

Following a number of injuries to key pitchers and a couple of horrible seasons from top arms in the bullpen, it seemed like the Royals didn’t have much of a chance to overcome their struggles. As we look ahead to 2027, the only way for the team to avoid similar struggles is to go out and acquire strong pitching in the offseason.

Whether through trades or free agent signings, the Royals have no choice but to add viable options to the pitching staff. If they are unable to, fans could once again be looking ahead to football season by May.   

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