By any measure, the comparison between the Royals’ 2023 and 2024 seasons should be considered dramatic and incredible. The change from a team with 103 losses to a team that reached the second round of the MLB playoffs (by sweeping the wild card round) is significant and historic.
On paper, the 2024 Royals were incredible on the mound with a collective ERA of 3.5. Michael Wacha posted a team-best 3.9 postseason ERA during his streak with Cy Young nominations for Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans.
Their offense was also much improved (which isn’t saying much for 2023. Most of the 10U teams playing in Platte Purchase hit better than the 2023 Royals) and posted a .260 batting average. This was an increase from .240 in 2023. Although Bobby Witt Jr. was in the witness protection program during the postseason, his incredible regular season in which he won the batting title is legendary for the Royals. He gave Aaron Judge a run for his money all season long, and if there wasn’t someone named Shohei Ohtani playing baseball right now, he’d be among the league’s leading MVP candidates.
But the most impressive part of this team reminds us of the teams of the 1970s and has been the defense. The Royals’ championships have always been built on defense in that huge outfield. And the Royals finished in the top 5 in MLB with a .985 fielding percentage and had 45 DRS or defensive runs saved, which ranked 10th in the league. They turned 142 double plays and ranked fifth in earned runs allowed, which speaks to the team’s solid defense.
Of course, on paper, the team has improved a lot. And general manager JJ Piccolo met with the media this week to talk about his watch list for 2025. It included more lineup protection for Vinnie Pasquantino and Bobby Witt Jr. It included more bullpen help in the middle of the order. It included even more starting pitching and late bullpen relief.
But the biggest problem of the offseason went unmentioned. You see, for many of us, on paper it’s the only place we can watch the Royals. If you don’t have the right cable package, many of us don’t have Bally Sports Kansas City and are therefore limited to listening to the Royals on the radio or bouncing signals from Chinese satellites trying to tune in to the team to watch.
Bally and the Royals’ contract no longer exists. They will be on another service (likely streaming) by 2025 and making sure the largest audience of local viewers has access to watch the Boys in Blue has to be paramount this offseason. In the early and mid-2010s, Royals set ratings records, often besting many network shows in prime time. But once Bally (and its partner Diamond Sports) grabbed the rights, it became nearly impossible for a large swath of viewers to watch. This absolutely affected the level of interest in the club.
In 2012, as the Royals approached playoff season, 1.73 million people passed through the turnstiles. In 2024, there were 1.68 million. A season that ended in the playoffs. While there was a lot of talk about the “New K”, simply allowing people to watch them on television at the “Old K” would have generated more interest in the club.
Still, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about what’s to come in 2025. Bobby Witt Jr. is the second most popular athlete in Kansas City right now and has every chance of winning the same number of rings as his opposite number counterpart. side of the parking lot. We just need to stop having to see it on paper.
(Learn more from Chris Kamler, formerly @TheFakeNed but now @ChrisKamler on Twitter)
