Latest power rankings show surprising optimism for Royals despite sizeable plummet

The Kansas City Royals were able to at least mildly save face this weekend, after what was an overall dreadful road trip in Chicago and St. Louis, with a 2-0 victory in the series finale against the rival Cardinals on Sunday. However, this doesn't erase the fact that it snapped a painful six-game losing skid and still sees the Royals with a 3-8 record in their last 11 games, as well as sitting seven games below .500.

After a winning week last week, it was only logical that their 1-5 road-trip would see them plummet significantly in FanSided's most recent MLB power rankings. After clawing their way back into the Top 20 last week, this week saw them fall six places to just outside the bottom five in 25th. However, in his evaluation of the Royals, FanSided's Chris Landers was surprisingly optimistic of their current situation given their near-basement dwelling standing.

"They have run into a few roadblocks, but Kansas City still has Bobby Witt Jr. and a respectable supporting cast," Landers wrote. "All it takes is one run in this putrid division to scare the likes of the Guardians and White Sox."

"Yes, the Royals are 5.5 games back, but that can be made up in a week’s time," he wrote.

And while Royals fans may not be in the most optimistic of mindsets after this week, Landers isn't wrong in his evaluation here. The AL Central and American League in general are wide open. At 26-22 and 24-22 respectively, the Guardians and White Sox aren't exactly the most convincing of division leaders with near .500 records. And as it stands right now, the only two teams who sit five games above .500 in the American League are the blazing-hot 30-15 Tampa Bay Rays and 28-19 New York Yankees.

This implies that the AL Wild Card scene is just as open for Kansas City. As Landers said, a 5.5 game deficit can be made up in a week, making a 2.5 game deficit look that much easier.

Royals risk wasting the season if they don't take improving action now

The likes of Bobby Witt Jr., and likely others within the organization, believe this team is a better team than what they're showing right now. However, the fact of the matter is, the end of May is just around the corner and this team has more often than not shown they aren't a great baseball team.

This doesn't not mean the season is lost though. With over four months left on the regular season calendar, there's still plenty of time for the Royals to rebound and become the team they were thought to be entering the season.

However, simply relying on Bobby Witt Jr. to carry the offense while awaiting the return to form of some struggling stars like Vinnie Pasquantino (73 wRC+) and Salvador Perez (59 wRC+), isn't wise. What also isn't wise is relying on the health of their pitching staff for a full season, when the depth is already dwindling and the major league roster has taken some big hits in recent weeks with both ace Cole Ragans and set-up man Matt Strahm landing on the injured list. They can't sit on their hands much longer.

"If they want to make the AL postseason in 2026, the time is now to start considering short-term fixes," Landers wrote.

Between dwindling pitching depth, a second base position that continues to starve for answers and an outfield that's slowly improving compared to 2025, but is likely still not representative of a postseason unit, there's plenty of areas for the Royals to start looking for those short-term solutions.

Last week, Bob Nightengale of USA Today discussed the trade availability of shorter-term pitchers like Michael Soroka of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Clay Holmes of the New York Mets. And teams lower than Kansas City in the power rankings have names that could be to enticing not to check in on, such as the San Francisco Giants with second baseman Luis Arraez on a one-year deal.

There's moves to be had. Now it's time for the front office to decide whether this season is already over or if they're still as serious as they were this winter in returning to the postseason in 2026.

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