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3 reasons to be optimistic about the KC Royals this year

By Mike Gillespie |
/ Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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Last year's edition of the KC Royals did little well, and it showed dramatically. The Royals lost 97 games, a total better than the 104 defeats they suffered in 2018 and the 103 times they didn't win in 2019, but worse than their 88 losses in 2021.

Together with its so-far uninspiring free agent and trade efforts this winter, that this club hasn't posted a winning record since it won the 2015 World Series makes being encouraged about the upcoming season difficult.

There are, however, reasons to be at least somewhat optimistic about 2023. The Royals won't contend, but the pitching, long a Kansas City sore spot, can't get much worse than it was last year when the staff had the American League's highest ERA and four different starters lost at least 10 games. (In case you've forgotten, Brad Keller, Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch lost 13 apiece as starters, and Jonathan Heasley was beaten 10 times). And the club's hitting should improve.

Let's look at three other reasons to feel better about 2023.

No matter what, the KC Royals will have a big role for Vinnie Pasquantino.

We recently discussed the merits of Vinnie Pasquantino, but what we said then in the broader context of Kansas City's first base situation bears repeating: regardless of what happens at first, new manager Matt Quatraro will, without fail, find an everyday spot for Pasquantino.

And with good reason. Pasquantino's performance as a rookie last year was excellent: he played roughly half the season but still hit .295 with a superb .383 OBP and 10 home runs. The Royals can't afford being without Pasquantino's bat, so if he doesn't play first, he'll DH; barring a case of the infamous sophomore jinx, he'll play, and that's a good thing.

KC Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. now has a full MLB season under his belt.

Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City's can't-miss, five-tool future of the franchise, made his big league debut last year after playing only two professional seasons. He served notice of his arrival by driving in the winning run in the Royals' Opening Day victory over Cleveland.

Witt went on to have a good rookie campaign. It was so good, in fact, that he had more hits, RBIs, doubles, triples, and steals than any other Royal and won the club's Les Milgram Player of the Year Award.

But Witt, KC's presumptive shortstop entering the new season, still has work to do. He hit a passable, but improvable, .254 last year. His substandard .294 OBP proves he needs to find more ways to get on base so he can fully exploit the baserunning skills that allowed him to steal 30 bases last season. And his defense, while occasionally excellent, is a definite work in progress: he had a -18 DRS in 98 games at short and a -4 DRS in 55 appearances at third base.

The good news, of course, is that Witt now has a full season's big league experience. He knows the grind, the routine, and what aspects of his game require refinement. That collective knowledge should serve him well and make his and the Royals' 2023 better than their 2022.

The KC Royals will start the 2023 campaign with a new dugout brain trust.

General Manager J.J. Picollo charged into the winter by making two immediate and necessary moves fans had long clamored for: before the final 24-hour period of his club's season was over, he fired manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred. Less than a month later, he hired Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro as his new manager, and the pair set about the business of rebuilding Kansas City's coaching staff.

Theirs was an important and formidable task, especially considering the losses of highly-respected bench coach Pedro Grifol, who became manager of the White Sox, and hitting assistant Mike Tosar, who joined Grifol in Chicag.

But by Christmas, Quatraro and Picollo had their men:

Notably, and in addition to naming Paul Hoover, who worked with Quatraro at Tampa Bay, as bench coach, Alec Zumwalt returns as hitting coach and Keoni De Renne is back to assist him. Together with Tosar, they oversaw KC batters who began to show signs of needed improvement under their tutelage.

Perhaps the most critical coaching hires were new pitching coach Brian Sweeney and Zach Bove, who'll help Sweeney and also serve as Director of Major League Pitching Strategy. Sweeney checks boxes the club wanted in a new pitching coach and Bove could complement him well.

So it is that Quatraro will head up a staff composed of some competent holdovers (including in-game replay guru Bill Duplissea) and some promising new blood. That alone should give KC fans cause to be optimistic.

Next. Injuries have hindered new players. dark

There are reasons to be optimistic about the 2023 Royals.

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