3 Royals with most to gain from hot 2026 spring training performances

Spring training games are right around the corner for the Kansas City Royals, so it's time for the annual note of caution — exhibition season statistics are notoriously suspect. Pitchers, especially veterans, falter when devoting their exhibition game appearances to working on new, or refining old, pitches, hitters are frequently "behind" pitchers, and young, inexperienced hurlers look better than they are by exploiting those same batters.

And some players are essentially immune from glaringly bad Cactus or Grapefruit League performances. Poor springs won't deprive players like Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, recently-extended Maikel Garcia, or Vinnie Pasquantino of their starting jobs.

In isolated cases, though, how they fare in spring training may make or break players on big league roster bubbles, or others fighting to turn their bench spots into everyday roles. At least three Royals have a lot to gain from stellar springs.

Hot spring could hand Michael Massey a big role with the Royals

His good 2025 Cactus League numbers — a .408/.483/.571 line with six doubles, a triple, and six RBI in 19 games — didn't foretell the kind of regular season lying in store for Massey.

Nagged by an ankle injury that kept him out of big league action for over two months, he finished his fourth major league campaign with a .244 average, disappointing .268 OBP, and only three homers and 20 RBI in 77 games.

Unless the Royals find some reasonable, last-minute way to pry Brendan Donovan away from St. Louis, Massey will battle Jonathan India for the starting second base job. But because he needs to demonstrate the kind of work at the plate that two seasons ago produced 14 homers and a serviceable .259 average, and also 15 home runs in 2023, he won't win the Opening Day second base job without hitting well in the Cactus League.

Royals newcomer won't make the club without good spring outings

Veteran big league reliever Héctor Neris is now a Royal. The club signed him to a minor league contract and invited him to spring camp Monday, so he'll be vying for a spot in an already adequate bullpen when pitchers and catchers report to camp Feb. 11.

The task will be tough for Neris. Unfortunately, he wasn't the same pitcher in 2025 that he was the year before when he seemed to be a decent choice for the Royals to pursue at the trade deadline — after winning 10 games and saving 18 in a 2024 season split between the Cubs and Astros, the splitter-throwing right-hander pitched for the Braves, Angels, and Astros last season and was drilled for 25 runs (20 earned for a 6.75 ERA) in 26.2 innings. He also walked an alarming .12.9% of the batters he faced.

It's apparent, then, that Neris needs a good spring. He won't break camp with the Royals without one. And a poor Cactus League showing won't help his chances of catching on with another big league club.

A subpar spring could hurt Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco

After his five-game major league cup of coffee in 2022, Blanco became a fixture on Kansas City's bench. The speedy outfielder stole 24 bases in 2023 and 31 in 2024 and hit .258 both years. He seemed destined for a key reserve role last season.

But it didn't happen. A right Achilles problem limited Blanco to three games in March, forced him out of the lineup for all of April and most of May; he didn't appear in a big league game after June 1, and spent the rest of the season at Triple-A Omaha.

It may be telling, especially considering last year's maddening lack of production from Royals outfielders, that Blanco's serviceable .253/.332/.405 line, 32 steals, and eight homers in 77 Storm Chaser games weren't enough to warrant a recall to Kansas City. And the club's offseason acquisitions of outfielders Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas cast more than just a little doubt on Blanco's KC future.

Mixing in the fact that the club's key backup outfielder-late inning baserunning specialist role may come down to a choice between Blanco and Tyler Tolbert makes one thing perfectly clear — Blanco probably needs a special spring if he plans on being in Atlanta for Opening Day.