Royals' shocking representation among Silver Slugger finalists sets table for 2026

In a disappointing 82-80 season for the Kansas City Royals that can only be defined by how their stellar pitching staff was brought down by an inconsistent an underperforming offense, that offense received plenty of love from managers and coaches after the AL Silver Slugger finalists were exclusively revealed on FanSided on Thursday.

The Royals saw all four of their key names in the heart of the order nominated for Silver Sluggers this season with Bobby Witt Jr. getting the nod shortstop, Maikel Garcia at utility, Vinnie Pasquantino at first base and Salvador Perez at catcher.

The Royals' 2026 offense took strides of improvement in the second half to at least end the season on somewhat a good note and that seemed to be on full display in this years voting.

The Royals' 2026 offense looks brighter after plenty of AL Silver Slugger finalist recognition

The fact that Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia find themselves on this list should be a surprise to nobody.

Witt Jr. took home the major league hitting crown this season while slashing 295/.351/.501 with 23 HR, 88 RBI and 130 wRC+. Among all qualified shortstops in baseball last season, he ranked within at least the top 10 in each of these categories. He also managed to swipe an AL position leading 38 bags while showcasing his strong plate discipline by keeping his strikeout rate under 20%.

Then there's Garcia, who had a strong case to make in third base department, but was instead recognized for his versaility with a utility nod - thanks to making appearances at shortstop, second base, center field and right field on top of his primary third base role last season.

It's hard to poke any holes in Garcia's game last year as he was truly a brekaout sensation by every stetch, defined primarily by the 50-point jump he made in wRC+ (71 in '24 to a 121 in '25). He slashed .286/.351/.449 with 16 HR. 74 RBI while swiping 20+ bags for the third season in a row and striking out at the 12th lowest rate of any qualified hitter in baseball.

Then more surprising picks came in with Pasquantino and Perez.

The managers and coaches voting obviously really bought into stellar second half the Pasquatch put together, fueled by a 95 point jump in SLG, two more homers and four more XBH in 126 fewer plate appearances.

Overall, Pasquantino's 32 HR placed him in the Top 20 of all hitters in baseball and his 113 RBI placed him sixth. And his marvelous 15.7% K-rate was the fourth lowest total among AL first baseman.

While Pasquantino's run production and plate discipline made him a dark horse, I think few would have expected Salvador Perez in a down year to receive the praise of Silver Slugger consideration.

While the five-time winner is no stranger to being in this spot, he's often never had a season where he was below average hitter. For the year, Perez posted just a 95 wRC+, thanks to a .236/.284/.446 slash line.

However he still belted 30 HR and 100 RBI placing him in the top three among AL catchers in each category. Like Pasquantino, this was largely due to a second half surge, where Perez eclipsed the 100 wRC+ mark at 104 and belted four more homers and and slugged 63 points higher than his first-half marks in 123 fewer plate appearances.

The fact that their core of hitters is recognized by those around the games in such a respected manner puts the Royals in a great spot heading into the offseason, where they'll need to focus on improving the rest of the order in their hopes of getting back to October.