3 KC Royals that put up eye-catching numbers this spring

Put spring training on the shelf. Opening Day is nearly here! The KC Royals thankfully start the 2024 season at Kauffman Stadium, a common occurrence in recent years. Royals fans have plenty to be excited for after an active offseason and a promising spring. Kansas City finished Cactus League action at a cool 13-13-3, finishing .500 or better in spring training games seven times in the last eight iterations.

The KC Royals had some spring standouts for all the right reasons.

On Monday, the Royals play their final exhibition game before Opening Day against their Double-A affiliate, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. But, in three days, Kansas City opens up the season against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins won the AL Central in 2023, making them the team to beat in 2024. Kansas City needs to come out and set the tone against Minnesota, behind the arm of Cole Ragans and proving their batting potency beyond Bobby Witt Jr.

The Royals are a team to watch this season, and it is not just local fans saying that. MLB.com canvassed MLB clubhouses this spring and players voted the Royals as the team that will surprise fans the most in 2024. One National League pitcher even said he "wouldn't be surprised if the Royals are in first place in the [American League] Central." That is high praise, considering Kansas City has only won the Central once since the league realignment in 1994. Everything is looking up for the Royals ahead of Opening Day.

There are some interesting stats that historically transition well from spring training to the regular season, coming from Royals role players. These numbers stand out in the field for all the right reasons. If Kansas City wants to compete over a 162-game season rather than just have a good month or two, they need every edge they can get. Let's look at three players whose stats offer them, and Kansas City, hope for 2024.

Nick Pratto's 19% strikeout rate

When the Royals optioned Nick Pratto down to Triple-A Omaha, most fans rightfully had a negative reaction to the move. Pratto had done everything within his power to break camp with the Royals and begin 2024 at Kauffman Stadium. Many numbers will show how great Nick Pratto's spring was, but one stands out as the most important.

Pratto had plenty of question marks heading into spring training this year. He played a career-high 95 games in 2023 but posted his second consecutive season of negative fWAR. The 2017 first round selection recaptured fans' attention with an electric 2021 in the minors but has failed to produce since then. A staggering 40% strikeout rate in 2023 only exacerbated the problem.

The 2023 Pratto was not the one who showed up in Arizona, though. Whether it was a renewed focus or finally getting healthy for the first time in two years, Pratto was red-hot in the Arizona desert. He led the Royals in batting average (.421), OPS (1.292), wRC+ (237), and RBI (13) His four home runs tied with Bobby Witt Jr. for the team lead as well. Whenever Pratto was at the plate, he had a great chance of producing.

Pratto's plate approach was the real catching point for his spring success. He didn't start drawing walks suddenly, but cutting his strikeout rate in half in 2023 is impressive. Sure, it is spring, but not striking out as often and being more aggressive at the plate when needed are two things Pratto can control.

Royals fans need to watch how he performs in Triple-A very closely. If he carries over his spring performance to Omaha, Pratto could force his way back to the majors. Pratto's MLB story isn't over, and his spring made sure of that.

Sam Long's 45.3% swinging strike rate

Non-roster invitee Sam Long barely has more than one year of MLB service time while bouncing around organizations. The lefty was ready to move on from baseball ahead of 2019, having been hip-deep in starting his EMT career. He was hardly a game-changing addition to the Royals' spring training roster. But, ever since Long joined the team on December 10, 2023, he has done nothing but impress.

Long was a strikeout machine in his 8 2/3 innings this spring. He struck out 15 batters while only walking one and allowing five hits. Ultimately, it all came down to a 1.04 ERA and 0.62 FIP against a normal level of spring training competition. But the truly impressive stat is Long's 45.3% swinging strike rate.

If you haven't heard of this stat, I can't blame you. It is another niche metric, but a valuable one when evaluating a pitcher's efficacy. Swinging strike rate (SwStr%) is a metric in baseball that measures the percentage of total pitches that result in the batter swinging and missing. We calculate it by dividing the number of swings and misses by the total number of pitches a pitcher throws.

Swinging strikes, unlike called strikes, rely solely on the pitcher's skill and the batter's decision to swing. That may seem simple but think about Long's rate like this: every time Long threw a pitch, it had nearly a 50/50 chance of making the batter swing and miss at the offering.

That, to me, is very impressive, no matter the level of competition. Long's 45.3% rate ranked as the third-best among spring training pitchers with at least five innings pitched. 627 pitchers reached that benchmark around MLB, but Long quietly had one of baseball's most dominant springs.

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