Rival White Sox steal key piece to Royals' 2025 pitching success

The Kansas City Royals may not have had the greatest of seasons overall, missing the postseason with an 82-80 record, but what they did do well was pitch.

Pitching coach Brian Sweeney and his staff navigated obstacles all season and shaped this group into one of the best pitching units in the majors.

Their starting rotation ranked in the Top 10 in ERA (7th at 3.80), FIP (10th at 4.00) and HR/9 (8th at 1.12), while sitting just outside the Top 10 WHIP (T-12th at 1.23) and BAA (13th at .238). Then, their bullpen ranked in the Top 10 in ERA (T-6th at 3.63) and walk rate (4th at 8.3%), while sitting just outside the Top 10 in WHIP (12th at 1.27).

And now one of those key staff members is receiving a promotion elsewhere, as the Royals' division rival in the Chicago White Sox named Zach Bove as their pitching coach on Tuesday.

White Sox hire Zach Bove to be their new big league pitching coach

Bove served as the Royals' assistant pitching coach from 2023 to 2025, with his most notable accolade, as mentioned by MLB.com's Scott Merkin, being the work he did with rookie Noah Cameron, who had a season that put him in the conversation for AL ROY - even if he wasn't a finalist.

And beyond this season this several names have risen to relevancy and even stardom while he's been with the club. Cole Ragans has become the legitimate ace of the staff, Seth Lugo finished as the Cy Young runner-up in 2024 and Kris Bubic got his first career All-Star nod in 2025.

Bove now has a promising young pitching staff at his fingertips in Chicago, headlined by a pair of Top 100 prospects in Noah Schultz (MLB Pipeline's No. 40 prospect) and Hagen Smith (MLB Pipeline's No. 88 prospect). It also includes major league ready talent in Shane Smith, who's fresh of an All-Star appearance this season, along with Grant Taylor and Sean Burke - each of whom are under the age of 26.

While the Royals still have plenty to work with with Sweeney still at the helm, losing an impactful voice like Bove is certainly a loss still - especially when it's too a direct division rival.

Kansas City will now enter the offseason with the big task of finding Sweeney's new right hand man.