3 potential season-wrecking disasters the KC Royals must avoid

Kansas City's new roster acquisitions can't fail

No Royals offseason storyline captured more attention than general manager J.J. Picollo's roster reconstruction project, a long-overdue project that drew far more praise than criticism and ushered Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Will Smith, Hunter Renfroe, Adam Frazier, Nick Anderson, Chris Stratton, and others into Kauffman Stadium.

That infusion of new talent triggered a level of excitement and optimism not seen around the Royals for years; "contention" is suddenly a relevant word, not one associated only with the past or pipedreams.

But with so much riding on that new blood, one thing is clear — it can't fail, at least not to any considerable degree. The revamped starting rotation won't succeed if Wacha and Lugo don't perform well, potentially better run production won't be as good if Renfroe, who's hit at least 20 homers in six of his nine big league seasons, doesn't hit, and the close games can't be won consistently if the bullpen and its new members struggle.

Picollo and principal owner John Sherman deserve credit for the changes the Royals were willing to make, and did make, this winter. The free agent signings and trades were breaths of fresh air for a fanbase tired of losing and longing for better teams.

But it will all go for naught if the new players don't come through.

Moving on again...

Brady Singer can't be too inconsistent again for the KC Royals

When he's "on", Kansas City starter Brady Singer can be frighteningly good, a pitcher capable of mesmerizing and embarrassing opposing hitters. But when he's not on, as too often happens, it's plain for everyone to see, and those same batters beat him more than he beats them.

Singer is, in a word, inconsistent, so much so that, as the time-worn phrase goes, he's consistently inconsistent. He was 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season which, all things considered, wasn't a bad record for a youngster with only 26 minor league starts to his name when that campaign began. His 5-10, 4.91 second season was worse, but he broke out in 2022 when he went 10-5, 3.23 and was the club's Pitcher of the Year. But last year was one of regression — in 29 starts, he lost 11 games, won eight, and posted a distressing and career-worst 5.52 ERA.

And although he pitched superbly at times this spring, he still gave up almost a run an inning (13 in 16 frames) and too many walks. That he worked on things during his Cactus League outings probably accounts for some of the rough times, but might not explain everything.

Singer's maddening ups and downs aren't something the club can easily absorb if they revisit and haunt him again this year — 2024 is a critical season for the Royals, a "put up or shut up" type campaign with the Royals appearing to be going all-in, or close to it, after last year's "evaluation" season.

Singer is a key to the club's success. He needs to be consistent, and the expansion of his pitching weaponry from primarily two pitches to an assortment of five may do the trick.

If it doesn't, the Royals won't accomplish everything they want to this season.

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