4 biggest underperformers of the Royals' lackluster start to the 2026 season

After being shutout on Thursday by the perennially rebuilding Chicago White Sox to open their weekend four-game set, the Royals find themselves in a terrible looking slump.

Losing to division rivals is always bad, but doing so by being outscored 14-3 in five games is nothing short of dreadful.

And much like it's been all season, it's been the starting rotation that's saved face for them, as the offense and bullpen have come out flat.

Amidst their lackluster 5-8 start, while some names have offered shimmers of hope, as a losing record indicates, many have come up short, including four very notable names.

The Royals are struggling and four names in particular standout among those performing poorly

Vinnie Pasquantino - First Baseman

While Vinnie Pasquantino's still been a vocal leader in the clubhouse, he has not carried that veteran presence over to the field.

As a matter of fact, there's arguably been no hitter in the Royals lineup who's been as unproductive as the Pasquatch to start the year.

Of Royals hitters with 10 or more plate appearances, Pasquantino's 48 wRC+ ranks as the worst. His .184 AVG, .281 OBP and .204 SLG and -0.1 fWAR all rank amongst the bottom five KC hitters as well.

Slow starts happen, but given the fact that he hits third in the Royals order, Bobby Witt Jr. only just broke out of his slump and four-hole hitter Salvador Perez looks just as bad (we'll discuss momentarily), Pasquantino's sluggish entry to the regular season is magnified that much more, especially after the form he was on in the World Baseball Classic with the Cinderella sweethearts in Team Italy.

Salvador Perez - Catcher

We've mentioned Salvy already, and while he's been very useful behind the dish in the new ABS Challenge System era, his bat has looked concerning to start the year.

His 50 wRC+ is only marginally better than Pasquantino's 48 clip. Apart from two solo homers, there hasn't been a ton to get jazzed about. He's slashing just .146/.226/.313 and while he's not striking out much, he's not capitalizing on that by drawing walks like much of the Royals roster is doing at the moment to make up for some poor batting averages.

After dipping below the average threshold in the eyes of wRC+ for the second time in three seasons last year, he's already in a spot to make it three in four years, which doesn't bode well for how the rest of his twilight years may look.

Matt Strahm - Relief Pitcher

Then, we move to arguably the biggest offseason acquisition GM J.J. Picollo and Co. made this winter in left-handed relief specialist Matt Strahm.

Once thought of to be a key back-end bullpen arm alongside Carlos Estévez and Lucas Erceg, and then potentially a strong candidate to claim the vacant closer's role brought on by Estévez's struggles and subsequent IL trip, Strahm has looked far from that.

Through 4.2 innings of work across five outings, Strahm is sporting a 5.79 ERA, 5.72 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP. His K/9 clip has slipped below 10.00 for the first time since 2021 and he's sporting a BB/9 rate almost one walk higher than his 2025 clip with the Phillies and above 3.00 for the first time since 2022.

Luckily names like Nick Mears and Daniel Lynch IV have been pleasant surprises to start the season, with Estévez on the shelf and now out of favor from a closer's perspective, the Royals need Strahm to be the back-end arm they'd hoped for to help uplift their new closer in Erceg.

Lane Thomas - Outfielder

We round things off with Lane Thomas, who unlike the previous three names on this list, doesn't play a regular role with the team, being a platoon bat versus left-handed pitching.

However, platoons are how this outfield is designed and Thomas was also one of the marquee signings of the Royals' offseason in an outfield unit starving for improvement. Plus, when he's in the lineup, Matt Quatraro has trusted his career righty-on-lefty splits enough to place him in key middle of the order spots in the order.

Through 27 plate appearances so far, Thomas is slashing just .136/.296/.182 with a 54 wRC+.

When you also consider how well his center field platoon partner in Kyle Isbel has hit to start the year, with a .375/.412/.594 slash line and a 195 wRC+, it only magnifies Thomas' shortcomings that much more.