Royals starting rotation grades reveal a mixed bag in 2026

You don’t have to be a diehard Kansas City Royals fan to know that the team was put into a very difficult position to compete early on in the season. With a frustratingly large amount of injuries to the pitching staff, it was simply too much for the Royals to overcome and win ball games consistently throughout the year. 

The Royals’ starting rotation was particularly hard hit by the injury bug. A seemingly endless amount of starters missed significant playing time in 2026. Without the depth at the Major League level, Kansas City limped across the finish line with a 69-93 record on the season. That was well below the expectations that were set before the year began. Next year could even be more of the same if the team doesn’t call in pitching reinforcements.  

It was an especially tough year for Royals fans to watch considering that the team had thrived on strong starting pitching over the previous two seasons. After clinching a postseason berth in 2024 and narrowly missing out on the playoffs last year, the Royals were ready to ride the strength of the starting rotation back to contention this season. 

There were some sizable highs and lows for the Royals’ starting rotation in 2026

The aforementioned rash of injuries to the starting rotation really took the wind out of the Royals’ sail in 2026. With a 22-37 record by the end of May, there wasn’t much hope left in the season for the ball club. But that doesn’t mean that there still weren’t some positives to take away from the pitching staff. As one of the only three teams with multiple complete game shutouts in 2026, the Royals starting rotation still offered brief glimpses of its previous strength. 

Of course one of those shutouts came from the arm of Stephen Kolek, who underwent Tommy John surgery in August. He was actually one of four starting pitchers to undergo season-ending surgery at some point throughout the season. The team also saw a number of starting pitchers miss significant time recovering from an assortment of injuries, including Alec Marsh and former Royals left-hander Kris Bubic. 

So in order to have a large enough classroom of pitchers to grade on the season, pitchers needed to finish the season on the active roster with the Royals and complete at least 40 innings of work in order to receive a report card. Believe it or not, that was actually tougher than it should have been. 

Michael Wacha: B+

When Michael Wacha finishes at the top of the class with his B+, you know it was a tough year for the Royals. That’s not to discredit the year that the 35-year-old pitcher had in 2026. He’s arguably been the Royals most consistently good pitcher over the last three seasons. With 200.2 innings pitched this year, Wacha became the anchor of the starting rotation. He offered the team length in his starts all year, pitching into at least the fifth inning in all but one of his 32 starts. 

Wacha also tossed some absolute gems throughout those 32 starts, completing one of his finest seasons in his 14-year career. While he was never truly dominant on the mound, Wacha stepped up for the Royals when the team struggled with its pitching depth. Although some critics thought that the Royals made a mistake by not unloading Wacha at the trade deadline, the team desperately needed him to finish out the year more than they could have used a handful of prospects.  

Noah Cameron: B-

With another case of a good but not great season, Noah Cameron became one of the Royals top two starting pitchers out of necessity. With a 4.11 ERA and 3.92 FIP, what you see is what you get with Cameron. He won’t blow back hitters with his low to mid-90s fastball, but he still managed to get his fair share of swings and misses. In 177.1 innings, Cameron notched 158 strikeouts while walking 58. 

Again, that type of performance won’t win Cameron any awards for his pitching, but his 2.8 fWAR season was tops among the Royal’s entire pitching staff. He also threw the team’s most impressive outing of the year during his one-hit shutout of the Los Angeles Angels on August 16. It was his third start completing at least eight innings in a span of just 17 days. Although he ended the season on a bit of a sour note, he gives the Royals plenty of hope heading into 2027. 

Randy Dobnak: C

If you would have told fans that the Royals would be giving Randy Dobnak the ball every five days this season, they would have probably laughed directly in your face. But after acquiring the righty from the Seattle Mariners in mid-June, that’s exactly what happened. And while he hit a wall in September, he did a solid job filling in as an emergency starter when the Royals were caught in the midst of an injury catastrophe.     

In 15 appearances as a starter and bulk reliever, Dobnak posted a 3.51 ERA through 74.1 innings. He induced a solid amount of ground balls while avoiding the barrels of opposing batters, Dobnak weaved in and out of trouble in 2026. He stranded just over 78% of base runners this season, meaning he found himself in trouble a lot. But all things considered, Royals fans should be content with the job he did this season. Not great, not terrible.  

Daniel Lynch IV: C- 

This grade was soley based on the work Daniel Lynch IV did as a starting pitcher this year. It seems a little unfair considering that he was actually very good out of the bullpen. So we can at least give him the benefit of the doubt and mention that first. In 46 innings as a reliever, he sported a 1.96 ERA and a very respectable 0.935 WHIP. The team could not ask more out of Lynch as a reliever. 

However, they did ask more from him by asking him to convert back into a starting pitcher in August, a role that he struggled mightily in. In 10 starts to close out the season, Lynch completed just 40 innings, allowing 29 earned runs and nine home runs over that body of work. He also featured an abysmal 4.7 strikeouts per nine rate, the second lowest in all of baseball for a starter with at least 40 innings. It was a monumental task to ask any pitcher to do what Lynch attempted in the majors this season. So this C- was graded on a massive curve to give him some much-needed extra credit. 

Seth Lugo: D  

This may sound like an understatement, but 2026 was not the best season for Seth Lugo. His 5.17 ERA might have already told you that, but his underlying metrics are all trending in the wrong direction at a steady rate since last season. Lugo was actually quite good through the first half of the 2025, posting a 1.079 WHIP through 17 starts. But since the All-Star break last season, he has a 5.65 ERA over his last 41 starts. 

Whether you blame the low back strain Lugo fought through last year or the fact that he’s fast approaching his 37th birthday, it has become clear that he is no longer the same pitcher that he was in 2024. But what is impressive is the fact that Lugo still battled through his tough regression this season and gave the Royals 172.1 innings. He has always been a gritty competitor that gives it his all. That’s something that deserves respect. 

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