5 KC Royals who’ll be the difference between success, failure

With four weeks until pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring training, KC Royals fans are beginning to stir. A nasty winter makes Opening Day seem like a distant milestone, but what is two more months after all?

Before spring training starts, let's look at a few integral KC Royals in 2024.

Any MLB roster starts at its 26-man roster, with the 40-man providing reinforcements if needed. But, every team has a handful of players that impact the season's performance more than most. The Los Angeles Dodgers notoriously added plenty of those impact players this offseason, but Kansas City already had some in-house options to drive the ship in 2024.

Let's take a look at five such players and how their roles affect the Royals so much.

Catcher Salvador Perez

What a tough 2023 season it was for catcher Salvador Perez. With the Royals captain returning, will fans see him rebound, or will it be another year in the inevitable decline?

Salvy posted the first negative fWAR of his career last year, thanks to baseball's new rules negating his defensive value behind the plate and struggling to produce with his bat. On a young team, Perez is the experienced veteran, the final reminder of the 2015 World Series championship. He has value in the locker room with his leadership and is still immensely popular among the fanbase. But his sizeable contract begs him to perform on the diamond, not just be a feel-good player.

Fans all know that Perez needs to turn things around at the plate. His 86 wRC+ was a career low but also showed a slugger performing well below league average. The hope is that Perez will find a sliver of the 2021 magic where he set career highs with 48 home runs and 121 RBI.

Frankly, all he needs to do is better than he was last year. This squad has players returning from injury, new blood in the lineup, and hopefully more consistency in the batting order. Perez is a cornerstone in all those facets. He is the captain; it's time to see why again in 2024.

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had an outstanding performance in the 2023 season, making him the top player for the Royals. Now, he faces the challenge of proving that his exceptional performance was not a fluke.

There is nothing new left to be said about Witt's 2023 season. He received AL MVP votes, just like he did in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022. He came very close to hitting 30 home runs and stealing 50 bases. His 4.4 bWAR was the highest among Royals players aged 23 or younger since 1999. It was an amazing season. But a franchise is only as good as its sequel. What will Witt have in store for his 2024 season?

Kings of Kauffman will begin making predictions and projections for every Royals player in late February, so no spoiling that. But all of baseball is expecting big things out of Bobby Baseball in 2024. At least statistically speaking. Royals fans shouldn't expect Witt to be a vocal leader, but his ability to set an example for his peers will have a significant impact on the team in the 2024 season. This intangible quality will greatly influence the performance and dynamics of the Kansas City Royals.

Bill James has not figured out how to quantify leadership or vibes, but multiple players will say that playing winning baseball is more fun. But what happens when the losses pile up and the season is going nowhere? That is when competitors like Witt step up and keep players focused and accountable to each other and themselves. That is the way, off the diamond, that Witt will help these Royals improve in the coming season.

Reliever Carlos Hernández

A singular reliever's value waxes and wanes, with the overall bullpen's performance mattering most. However, if the Royals need one reliever to rebound most of all, it has to be Carlos Hernández.

Hernández has shown flashes of brilliance in his outings, with a strong fastball that can keep hitters off balance. His average fastball velo sat at 99.1 last season, ranking in the 99th percentile among all MLB pitchers. That pitch led him to a stellar first half, posting a 0.99 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 in his first 37 games. That stretch, after Kansas City traded away several relievers, had Hernández in line for more high-leverage opportunities.

Those opportunities did not turn out very well for the fireballer. He flamed out, posting a 1.93 WHIP and 7.82 WHIP in the season's final 30 games. In the matter of 25⅓ innings, Hernández went from the Royals' future closer to one of the worst relievers in baseball.

Hernández rediscovering himself would be a major boost to the Royals bullpen in 2024. He is entering his fifth season with Kansas City, so something has to give this year. The Royals' closer job is still up for grabs, despite the Royals adding plenty of bullpen arms this offseason. A successful Hernández could not only help Kansas City win games but also become a valuable trade chip.

Starter Cole Ragans

There was no hotter and more surprising Royals starter down the stretch than the newly acquired Cole Ragans. Now, he has a chance to prove he can be an elite pitcher across a whole season.

Ragans had a historic start with the Royals last season, performing like an ace in the season's latter half. However, the same could be said of Brady Singer, and Royals fans know how that turned out. Ragans has plenty of expectations for 2024, starting by being the team's Opening Day starter.

Any team's top pitcher plays a massive role in their team's success or failure. Ragans' role in Kansas City feels even bigger than most, though. His 2024 season will be a prime example of how the Royals organization has changed for the better or not. Remember, the majority of fans reacted poorly to Cole Ragans being the primary return for Aroldis Chapman? That opinion changed quickly once he made his Royals debut, but the negative reaction was warranted because Kansas City has a history of losing trades.

Ragans continuing to dominate in 2024 fuels optimism in the scouting department while giving Kansas City their long-awaited ace. Like Pasquantino, Ragans can carry the rotation far and protect a middling bullpen in 2024.