Redemption-seeking KC Royals starter listed as 'breakout player to watch'

The clock has ticked over to 2025, players report to spring training in less than six weeks, and the Kansas City Royals are gearing up to prove their 2024 comeback season wasn't just a one-off fluke. While general manager J.J. Picollo is still rightfully focused on adding to the team's offense, the back of the starting rotation remains uncertain, with multiple pitchers contending for the two remaining spots behind Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha. Now, MLB.com's Anne Rogers has named Alec Marsh — a frontrunner to earn a place in the rotation — as the Royals' "breakout player to watch in 2025."

"Marsh will be the first to say he had some good stretches and bad ones in ‘24, but the Royals will be looking for him to take a step forward in ‘25," Rogers wrote. "They’re down a starter after trading Brady Singer to the Reds and will need their other homegrown pitchers to step up and help fill those innings. The 26-year-old Marsh should get every opportunity to do so."

Alec Marsh contending to return to the Royals' rotation in 2025

Marsh began 2024 as Kansas City's fifth starter, but despite the highest of hopes for the right-hander in his second major league season, it didn't take long for cracks to show. Through the months of June and July, Marsh struggled to an underwhelming 6.14 ERA in 11 appearances, and the Royals eventually optioned him to Triple-A on July 31 after adding veteran Michael Lorenzen at the trade deadline.

During his brief stint in the minors, Marsh made four starts for Omaha, allowing just three earned runs and posting 19 strikeouts in 15 innings of work. When he was recalled to the majors just a month later after Lorenzen suffered a hamstring strain, the Royals were hopeful that Marsh's rediscovered control would come with him, but unfortunately, the reset in Triple-A proved to have marginal — if any — lasting benefit. Marsh finished the 2024 season with a 9-9 record, 4.53 ERA, and 1.26 WHIP in 129 innings.

Going into spring training, Marsh is a frontrunner to earn a spot in the Royals' 2025 rotation, despite his struggles in 2024. Kris Bubic, who pitched out of the bullpen in 2024, is likely to snag the other role, which would set the Royals' rotation as Ragans, Lugo, Wacha, Marsh, and Bubic. Still, Kyle Wright, Daniel Lynch IV, and top-prospect Noah Cameron will also be contending for a spot, and any of them could impress enough at spring training to push Marsh or Bubic out.

If Marsh is able to tap into the skills he displayed in Triple-A, he'll be a huge asset to the Royals in 2025, but if not, he's unlikely to get another chance to prove himself. Only time will tell if he really is the breakout star that Kansas City needs to round out the rotation.