Grading the Royals’ 2026 outfield reveals a weakness they must fix this offseason

As we conclude the post-mortem of the Kansas City Royals’ season, we now turn to the team’s lackluster outfield for answers. With a rising superstar in Jac Caglianone, you might have thought that the organization would have offered up a solid stable of dependable outfielders to compliment him. That was not the case in 2026. The Royals’ outfield has been a weakness for a few years now, and things have yet to improve. 

Royals general manager J.J. Picolo attempted to address the team’s weakness in the outfield by making some very underwhelming moves in the offseason. The team added Lane Thomas, Starling Marte, and Isaac Collins with the hopes that they’d all contribute at a decently-high level. If you watched the Royals this season, you’d know that those players came up well short in hitting that goal.   

Was the Royals’ outfield the biggest reason for the team’s horrible season? Probably not. That title goes to the Royals’ much-maligned bullpen. That doesn’t mean that the outfield gets a pass though. The team had a number of players end the 2026 season on a positive note. Unfortunately, not enough of those players spent time in the outfield. 

The Royals’ outfield had a lone bright spot in Jac Caglianone

After trading away Thomas to the Atlanta Braves and releasing Marte in mid-August, the Royals' outfield was in disarray by the end of the season. You could probably argue that Kansas City had one of the weakest outfields in all of baseball in 2026. With top outfield prospect Angeibel Gomez still at least a full season or two away from having a chance to make the club, the Royals' outfield is in desperate need of a makeover in 2027. 

As a unit, the Royals' outfield receives a D on the season. It's technically a passing grade, but the group shouldn't be out celebrating their triumphant success. Without the emergence of Caglianone lifting up the group, the outfield’s report card would be even worse. 

Only players still on the Royals' roster who received at least 150 plate appearances in 2026 will receive their individual grade. 

Jac Caglianone: B+

Despite another down year for the Royals as a whole, the organization had to have let out a sigh of relief over the progression of Caglianone. After posting an awful wRC+ of 46 last season, there were certainly a few concerns over his ability to settle in with the Royals. Young players can often struggle in their rookie seasons, but Caglianone looked overmatched and completely out of his element. There wasn’t a whole lot to feel optimistic about.  

With a flip of a switch, those concerns have evaporated moving forward. Caglianone wasn’t perfect in 2026, but it appears that he has now settled in just fine. His .289/.340/.494 slash line in 512 at-bats this season made him one of the Royals' top performers on offense and the clear leader in the outfield. While his plate discipline is still lacking, Caglianone took a massive leap forward at the plate in just one year. If he can manage to find that same level of improvement in the field, the Royals would feel much better about him in right. Instead, he could find a new home at first base.   

John Rave: C

Will John Rave become Caglianone’s full-time replacement in the outfield moving forward? That isn't quite clear at the moment. But at the very least, Rave has played his way into the discussion. Although he lacks the arm cannon that Caglianone has, Rave is far superior as a defender. With +3 Outs Above Average in a little over 350 innings this season, the 28-year-old is more than capable of keeping the Royals in games with his glove. The biggest question revolves around his ability to produce on offense. 

After being called up for the second time in 2026, Rave got some of his most consistent playing time of his career in the final two months of the season. While he struggled to find a rhythm at the plate in August, Rave finally started to find success with the bat in 59 at-bats in September. He sported a .254/.353/.458 slash line in the month thanks to his three home runs and three doubles. Rave will never be a major threat in the lineup, but he at least deserves extended playing time in 2027. 

Issac Collins: D 

After acquiring Collins from the Milwaukee Brewers last December, the Royals viewed him as an ideal placeholder in the outfielder as they waited for their high-upside prospects to develop in the minor leagues. Collins had put up 2.6 fWAR in 2025 and showed enough pop in his bat that he seemed like a great addition to the back-end of the Royals lineup. Unfortunately, Collins battled through an extremely tough slump to close out the year, putting his long-term future with the club into jeopardy.  

The 29-year-old outfielder looked okay through most of the spring, but it appeared that he began to figure out his swing in July, smacking three home runs and driving in 10 runs. However, that was as good as things would get for Collins in 2026. He boasted an unacceptable .171 batting average and a .538 OPS in 175 second half at-bats for the Royals. The team was already out of any potential postseason contention by August, but Collins’ ice-cold bat did not help.  

Kyle Isbel: D

Kyle Isbel started the 2026 season on quite an impressive tear in April, putting up a robust .813 OPS. But things would only go downhill from there as the year went on. The center fielder put up just 0.1 fWAR in 100 games this season, making it his worst year in his six-year big league career. Isbel has never been a star for the Royals, but he’s been a valuable player to have on the roster thanks to his strong defense. 

But thanks to a Grade 3 tear of his left plantar fascia in June, he was never quite the same player this year. Isbel missed nearly two full months of action because of the injury to his foot. With -4 Defensive Runs Saved in 2026, Isbel was just not at the same level in the field that the club has come to expect of him over the years. With young players like Carson Roccoforte and Luke Pelzer waiting in the wings, Isbel’s time with the Royals could be up.  

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow