4 Royals that could be playing their way off the roster by May 1

Sitting tied for last in the AL Central and only just eclipsing the double-digit win plateau this past weekend against the Angels, after achieving just their second series win of the season, the Kansas City Royals have certainly seen better days overall. Regardless of how a team starts the year though, there are always weakest links on every roster. A slow start though will surface more of those weak links and also gives teams more of an incentive to switch things up in the early going to find a way to right the ship before it's too late.

For Kansas City, there are no shortage of areas where they could use some revitalization that making a switch could potentially offer. The lineup and the bullpen are likely the first place Royals fans look at, but even their stronger-looking rotation could potentially use a bit of a change.

Not all of these choices will warrant dramatic changes, such as a DFA or a release. Some may simply need a brief option down to the minors to gather their footing. However, changes are changes and there are three names that the Royals could very well be forced to have difficult conversations with sooner rather than later.

A tough conversation might need to be had about Noah Cameron

I know this sounds dramatic, especially after Cameron didn't look terrible in his most recent start on Friday, where he went 6.1 innings of three run ball. However, the fact remains, even the strongest links in the Royals staff have shown their flaws recently and there's no denying that out of the Royals' five starters, Cameron's been the weakest link.

On top of that, his advanced and expected metrics look rather grim too. From a quality of contact perspective, Cameron sits below the 20th percentile in hard-hit rate, barrel rate and groundball rate and below the 30th percentile in average exit velocity. And his expected numbers look far worse than his already elevated real-time numbers, with a 7.03 xERA and .315 xBA, both ranking well-below the 10th percentile.

He looks far from the arm that only narrowly missed out on being an AL Rookie of the Year finalist a year ago. Given the fact that his rise to success was rather unexpected last season and he still has options remaining, perhaps a brief stint in Omaha may be a way to get him back closer to that sub-3.00 ERA arm he was in 2025.

It's certainly not a permanent change here, as Cameron projects as part of the future of this rotation. However, if that's the case, shouldn't the Royals be trying to protect him from getting consistently battered? And with Stephen Kolek hopefully ready to return from injury soon, perhaps there's a replacement already set out for him.

John Schreiber and Alex Lange are the Royals bullpen's weakest links

Moving on to some names that could require some more drastic fates, there's two names in the bullpen that have stuck out like sore thumbs this year. John Schreiber and Alex Lange have simply done the Royals little to no favors so far.

While Schreiber has looked better in his last three outings, pitching to scoreless innings each time, his early blowups have left him with an unappealing stat line still and left Royals fans with the angst that he could revert back to his old ways.

Through 9.0 innings of work acorss 11 outings, Schreiber is throwing to the unsavory tune of a 5.00 ERA along with a 1.67 WHIP and .250 BAA. And the fact that he boasts stats like a 7.26 FIP, it only shows the "luck" he's been having - which at a 5.00 ERA is scary to think of. On top of that, he's not dominating hitters with just 5.00 K/9 and isn't even making up for that with control, sporting a higher 6.00 BB/9 clip.

Speaking of lack of control, let's discuss the arm that was bailed out by some ninth inning and extra innings heroics by the offense on Sunday evening in Alex Lange, who in the top of the frame walked in a run to put the Angels up by three again.

Entering Sunday's contest, the former Tigers' closer is showing off his strikeout repertoire with 14.34 K/9, which could end up being his saving grace this season. However, he pairs that with his usually high walk rates, in this case a 5.09 BB/9 clip and the rest of his stat line reflects that. In 10.2 innings of work across nine outings, Lange is sporting a 7.59 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and .279 BAA.

Both of these guys are without minor league options so any change the Royals make here would have to be more permanent, whether that be a DFA or straight release. But at this point, with a bullpen as shambolic as there's, with a second-to-last 5.89 ERA, can they really afford to have multiple underperforming vets?

Royals' Starling Marte gamble hasn't paid off

Now we move to the offense, which after their high scoring series sweep is looking a lot more promising with a new month just around the corner. That being said, many eyes have turned to their outfield again, as after a year of underperformance out there in 2025, they still haven't looked consistently more appealing in 2026.

One name that's been especially underwhelming has been their late offseason addition of Starling Marte, who was supposed to bring the veteran consistency to the lineup. Instead though, he's looked like a liability rather than a former All-Star.

Entering Sunday's series finale against the Angels, Marte was slashing .231/.250/.308 with no homers, just a single RBI, a near-30% K-rate and hadn't drawn walked a single time, all culminating in a woeful 47 wRC+. And while he may've picked up a hit in Sunday's game, a 1-for-3 night with a pair of strikeouts isn't the greatest day at the office - especially when the guy who pinch-hit for him in the ninth in Jac Caglianone belted a homer to send the game to extras.

Considering he's on a one-year, low-money deal, cutting ties with him in the near-future doesn't seem like the biggest deal in the world. And with plenty of names performing well in Triple-A like Kameron Misner or John Rave - who both happen to be on the 40-man roster already - the Royals don't have to look far or get overly creative in finding his potential replacement.

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