Royals have a real chance to dramatically alter the playoff picture as a spoiler

The Kansas City Royals may be days away from being mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t have any meaningful games left to play to finish the season. In fact, the Royals are in prime position to have a major say in how the playoff picture looks next month. With more than a dozen games lined up against teams currently in control of a postseason spot, the World Series could technically run through Kansas City. 

As of September 7, the Royals find themselves nine games back of the third AL Wild Card spot. Barring a massive collapse from multiple teams ahead of them, Royals’ players will be watching the playoffs from the comfort of their living rooms. Sure, you could look back on the season and consider it to be a massive disappointment. The team took two steps forward in 2024 just to take three larger steps back over the last two years. 

But like any team dealing with the looming aftermath of a failed season, there is one surefire way to deal with the frustrations. And that’s to take down as many other teams with you as possible. If our season is going down in flames, so is yours. And as luck would have it, the Royals have plenty of opportunities to revel in the role of spoiler. Of their 17 remaining games, 14 will be against teams currently in the playoffs. 

Spoiling teams’ postseason plans would be perfect way to cap off Royals’ season 

At 64-81, the Royals are almost assured of their first season below the .500 mark since 2023. That might not seem like that long of a stretch, but it is quite an accomplishment for a team like the Royals, who have been scrambling to rebuild since their World Series run more than a decade ago. The Royals appeared to show signs of major progress over the previous two seasons, but a flurry of injuries and a number of down years for key players ended the 2026 season before it could even really get started. 

While the club won’t be able to clinch an actual postseason berth, the next three weeks will serve as their chance to leave their mark on Major League Baseball. After wrapping up their home series against the Diamondbacks, who are desperately clinging onto the final Wild Card spot in the National League, the Royals will begin their final road trip of the season. And it could be their most important road trip in all of 2026.  

They will first visit Boston to play the Red Sox in a three-game set. While the Red Sox are comfortably settled into the second Wild Card spot, they will have their eyes set on securing the top spot and earning home field advantage for their likely Wild Card Series matchup. The Royals could torpedo those plans and complicate Boston’s path in the playoffs by taking the series win. 

The same could be said about the Royals’ series against the Astros, who own just a two-game lead over the Rangers in the AL West. A sweep of the Astros could create absolute mayhem, flipping that divisional race on its head and adding yet another twist in the Wild Card hunt.      

To end the season, the Royals will head home for a series against the Chicago White Sox and then the Guardians. As of September 7, the White Sox lead the Guardians by just three games. In baseball, a three-game lead can evaporate in the blink of an eye. In two weeks, the Royals could easily have a direct say in which of their divisional rivals take the AL Central title. Not only could the Royals prevent one of those two teams from securing a bye, but they could potentially knock them out of the postseason altogether.  

With a record of 2-4 in September, the Royals haven’t been playing their best baseball this month. But with the opportunity to become a major postseason spoiler for several teams, the Royals could be having some serious fun over the next few weeks. This could also be the perfect time for Carter Jensen to state his case in the AL Rookie of the Year award race.  Anything can happen.  

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