Who are the KC Royals' outfielders as 2025 spring training approaches?

Last season, the woeful offensive production of the Kansas City Royals' outfield was a hot topic of conversation — as was how the team intends to fix it for 2025. At the Royals' end-of-season press conference, general manager J.J. Picollo told reporters that "the offense from the outfield positions has to get better."

“Generally speaking, when you’re looking at left field, right field, that’s where you’re thinking about power guys," he said. "And we know [Kauffman Field] doesn’t lend itself to homers, but it does lend itself to slug. So we’ve got to be more productive there.”

That was over three months ago, and other than a few minor league moves to potentially add depth, very little has been done to improve the outfield before 2025. Players report to spring training in mere weeks, so where does the Royals outfield stand now?

Who are the KC Royals' outfielders as 2025 spring training approaches?

In 2024, the Royals utilized five players in the outfield — MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Hunter Renfroe, Tommy Pham, and Garrett Hampson — but only three will be back this year. After being tendered contracts before the deadline on November 22, Melendez and Isbel both avoided arbitration with the Royals by agreeing to salaries of $2.65 million and $1.75 million, respectively, for this season. Renfroe exercised his contract's $7.5 million player option for 2025 so will also be returning to Kansas City this year. Pham and Hampson both became free agents at the end of the 2024 season.

That means that going into spring training, the Royals' starting outfielders are Melendez in left field, Isbel in center, and Renfroe in right. Considering those three players combined to slash .221/.284/.386 across 1,249 plate appearances while playing the outfield last season — and not one of them managed an OPS over .700 — the news of their return without any major reinforcements is hardly inspiring.

In 2024, Melendez hit an underwhelming .206/.273/.400 for an OPS of just .673 in 451 plate appearances. He still managed a respectable 17 home runs, but his 25.1% strikeout rate and 29.5% whiff rate left plenty to be desired. Unfortunately, Melendez didn't redeem himself on defense, posting a Fielding Run Value (FRV) of -6 to rank in the bottom 12% of all qualified fielders, and -6 Outs Above Average (OAA) to rank in the bottom 9%.

Renfroe didn't fare much better than Melendez. In 424 plate appearances, he slashed .229/.297/.392 for an OPS of .689 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI. On defense, Renfroe's -7 OAA placed him in the bottom 6% of MLB, and his FRV of -4 put him in the bottom 21%.

To round out the three outfielders, Isbel's stats at the plate were just more of the same, with the 27-year-old slashing .229/.287/.367 for an OPS of .654 in 426 plate appearances last season. Fortunately, Isbel had a far more impressive campaign on defense than Melendez or Renfroe, posting 10 OAA and a FRV of 8 to rank in the top 5% and 13% of all qualified MLB fielders, respectively.

Despite admitting that the outfield's offensive production needs to get better in 2025, Picollo has done very little this winter to bolster the group. In November, the Royals acquired outfielder Joey Wiemer — along with second baseman Jonathan India — in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, but he's unlikely to make an immediate impact or even be the first choice of depth at left or center field.

Kansas City is more likely to look to utility men Cavan Biggio and Harold Castro — both of whom were acquired on minor league deals earlier this month — for outfield support this season. Both Castro and Biggio have experience across multiple positions, with Castro having played at every position besides catcher, and Biggio has played first base, second, third, and both corner outfield positions. Still, both will have a lot to prove at spring training.

Biggio played for four different organizations during the 2024 season and made major league appearances for three, posting an abysmal .197/.314/.303 line with just five home runs and 19 RBI in 224 plate appearances. Castro, meanwhile, spent 2024 in the Mexican League and is now hoping to redeem himself in the majors after a career-worst season with the Colorado Rockies in 2023.

If the Royals decide to make an eleventh-hour attempt at bolstering the outfield for 2025, Jurickson Profar is arguably the best fit remaining in free agency, but with spring training now less than a month away, Kansas City is unlikely to look externally for support. For better or worse, the Royals appear to be sticking by their underwhelming squad of outfielders, so perhaps a trade deadline move is the best fans can hope for this year.