Kansas City Royals Team report

Automated SABRhood research report for the Kansas City Royals.
SABRhood team report

Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals ranks 14th in run generation and 27th in pitching performance, with a usable bullpen and 2 recent risers.

League intelligence# 25 34.4 index
Run generation#14
Composite score 51.6
Pitching#27
Composite score 17.1
Recent play#20
2 recent risers
Bullpen readiness#15
Current state usable
Roster construction

Where this club creates, and loses, WAR

Players are split by position and total WAR is calculated; the green border indicates a club is top-ten in positional WAR, the red border indicates a bottom-ten club.

Best value pocketsShortstopClearest upgrade lanesRelief pitching / First base
CNeed

Catcher

1.1WAR#22 of 30
Top valueCarter Jensen2.0 WAR
1BNeed

First base

0.0WAR#25 of 30
Top valueVinnie Pasquantino0.0 WAR
2BMiddle

Second base

1.9WAR#15 of 30
Top valueMichael Massey1.4 WAR
3BMiddle

Third base

1.5WAR#15 of 29
Top valueMaikel Garcia1.5 WAR
SSStrength

Shortstop

4.6WAR#1 of 28
Top valueBobby Witt Jr.4.7 WAR
OFMiddle

Outfield

4.0WAR#14 of 30
Top valueJac Caglianone1.2 WAR
SPNeed

Starting pitching

6.7WAR#21 of 30
Top valueMichael Wacha2.2 WAR
RPNeed

Relief pitching

-3.7WAR#30 of 30
Top valueDaniel Lynch IV0.8 WAR
Broadcast three

Water cooler notes

Three concise, evidence-linked notes to start a broadcast conversation.

  1. 1
    team identity

    Kansas City Royals’s analytical identity

    Kansas City Royals ranks 14th in run generation and 27th in pitching performance, with a usable bullpen and 2 recent risers.

  2. 2
    form driver

    Carter Jensen is the strongest recent hitter signal

    Recent OPS 1.250 versus 0.701 previously.

  3. 3
    matchup edge

    Luinder Avila is limiting left-handed batters more effectively

    Estimated wOBA: 0.304 vs L, 0.413 vs R.

Why it changed

Player movement with league context attached

The recent-window shift and the full-season league standing are separate, so a surge never floats free of the player’s actual level.

Hitter change profile

Carter Jensen

Kansas City Royals | LHB

43.4
Season PA544OPS0.753Est. wOBA0.323Samplestrong
Biggest changeOPS +2.56 z

OPS is the largest recent shift: improving by 2.6 standard deviations versus the MLB change pattern. Season level: 62nd percentile.

Season contextMLB percentile
OPS62nd
0.753
Est. wOBA57th
0.323
Strikeout rate13th
28.1%
Walk rate80th
11.2%
Hard-hit rate76th
45.1%
Run value / PA51st
0.009
What changedRecent vs earlier season
OPS+2.56 z
Recent 1.250 baseline 0.701
Est. wOBA+2.39 z
Recent 0.504 baseline 0.302
Strikeout rate+1.01 z
Recent 21.8% baseline 28.8%
Walk rate+1.54 z
Recent 18.2% baseline 10.4%
Hard-hit rate+2.08 z
Recent 62.5% baseline 43.2%
Run value / PA+2.17 z
Recent 0.172 baseline -0.010
Broadcast read: OPS is the largest recent shift: improving by 2.6 standard deviations versus the MLB change pattern. Season level: 62nd percentile. Recent sample: 55 PA; prior sample: 489 PA.
Pitcher change profile

Seth Lugo

Kansas City Royals | RHP

29.3
Season BF686OPS allowed0.807Est. wOBA allowed0.346Samplestrong
Biggest changerun value allowed per PA -1.79 z

Run value allowed per PA is the largest recent shift: declining by 1.8 standard deviations versus the MLB change pattern. Season level: 20th percentile.

Season contextMLB percentile
OPS allowed14th
0.807
Est. wOBA allowed15th
0.346
Strikeout rate19th
17.3%
Walk rate allowed62nd
7.4%
Hard-hit rate allowed12th
42.9%
Run value allowed / PA20th
0.025
What changedRecent vs earlier season
OPS allowed-1.66 z
Recent 1.210 baseline 0.780
Est. wOBA allowed-1.56 z
Recent 0.492 baseline 0.335
Strikeout rate-1.42 z
Recent 6.7% baseline 18.1%
Walk rate allowed-0.35 z
Recent 8.9% baseline 7.3%
Hard-hit rate allowed+0.09 z
Recent 42.1% baseline 43.0%
Run value allowed / PA-1.79 z
Recent 0.179 baseline 0.014
Broadcast read: Run value allowed per PA is the largest recent shift: declining by 1.8 standard deviations versus the MLB change pattern. Season level: 20th percentile. Recent sample: 45 BF; prior sample: 641 BF.
Team highs

The category leaders inside this clubhouse

Familiar production now sits beside tracked force: 100+ mph contact and pitches are shown as both totals and opportunity rates.

Club contact

100+ mph batted balls

Tracked-contact season total

  1. 1Jac CaglianoneKansas City Royals144
  2. 2Bobby Witt Jr.Kansas City Royals138
  3. 3Salvador PerezKansas City Royals107
  4. 4Carter JensenKansas City Royals94
  5. 5Isaac CollinsKansas City Royals74
Club contact

100+ mph contact rate

Minimum 30 tracked batted balls

  1. 1Jac CaglianoneKansas City Royals41.9%
  2. 2Bobby Witt Jr.Kansas City Royals34.6%
  3. 3Carter JensenKansas City Royals28.9%
  4. 4Starling MarteKansas City Royals27.4%
  5. 5John RaveKansas City Royals25.3%
Club velocity

Pitches at 100+ mph

Across every pitch type

  1. 1Steven CruzKansas City Royals48
  2. 2Nate PearsonKansas City Royals15
  3. 3Lucas ErcegKansas City Royals0
  4. 4Luinder AvilaKansas City Royals0
  5. 5Beck WayKansas City Royals0
Club velocity

100+ mph pitch rate

Minimum 100 tracked pitches

  1. 1Steven CruzKansas City Royals5.5%
  2. 2Nate PearsonKansas City Royals2.4%
  3. 3Lucas ErcegKansas City Royals0.0%
  4. 4Luinder AvilaKansas City Royals0.0%
  5. 5Beck WayKansas City Royals0.0%
Club offense

Batting average

Best qualified contact results

  1. 1Tyler TolbertKansas City Royals0.302
  2. 2Jac CaglianoneKansas City Royals0.283
  3. 3Bobby Witt Jr.Kansas City Royals0.278
  4. 4Michael MasseyKansas City Royals0.275
  5. 5Maikel GarciaKansas City Royals0.269
Club offense

Home runs

The club power board

  1. 1Jac CaglianoneKansas City Royals23
  2. 2Carter JensenKansas City Royals22
  3. 3Salvador PerezKansas City Royals19
  4. 4Bobby Witt Jr.Kansas City Royals17
  5. 5Michael MasseyKansas City Royals11
Club offense

OPS

On-base and slugging production

  1. 1Jac CaglianoneKansas City Royals0.822
  2. 2Bobby Witt Jr.Kansas City Royals0.797
  3. 3Tyler TolbertKansas City Royals0.792
  4. 4John RaveKansas City Royals0.759
  5. 5Carter JensenKansas City Royals0.753
Club pitching

Strikeouts

Total batters finished by strikeout

  1. 1Michael WachaKansas City Royals147
  2. 2Noah CameronKansas City Royals145
  3. 3Seth LugoKansas City Royals119
  4. 4Luinder AvilaKansas City Royals61
  5. 5Steven CruzKansas City Royals58
Club pitching

Strikeout rate

Strikeouts per batter faced

  1. 1Cole RagansKansas City Royals29.6%
  2. 2Steven CruzKansas City Royals25.6%
  3. 3Kris BubicKansas City Royals24.6%
  4. 4Jose CuasKansas City Royals22.8%
  5. 5Alex LangeKansas City Royals22.4%
Club pitching

Lowest OPS allowed

Qualified opponent production

  1. 1Nate PearsonKansas City Royals0.536
  2. 2Daniel Lynch IVKansas City Royals0.617
  3. 3Kris BubicKansas City Royals0.627
  4. 4Noah CameronKansas City Royals0.672
  5. 5Michael WachaKansas City Royals0.683
Ace-in-the-Hole

The staff ace’s complete arsenal

The highest-WAR qualified starter leads the card. Every tracked offering is shown with usage, pitch traits, outcomes, and same-pitch MLB percentiles.

Staff ace · RHP

Michael Wacha

138.1 IP · 3.51 ERA · 2.2 WAR

2,726 tracked pitches
Pitch Use Velo Whiff Chase Zone Putaway Hard hit
Four-Seam FastballFF · 742 pitches 27.2% 93.225th pct 16.0%38th pct 30.9%73rd pct 53.4%58th pct 0.0%100th pct 42.1%57th pct
ChangeupCH · 685 pitches 25.1% 80.78th pct 26.1%36th pct 38.0%66th pct 50.1%99th pct 0.0%100th pct 24.8%75th pct
CutterFC · 410 pitches 15.0% 89.542nd pct 12.8%6th pct 24.0%25th pct 56.3%82nd pct 0.0%100th pct 38.3%44th pct
SinkerSI · 379 pitches 13.9% 93.232nd pct 11.9%61st pct 25.4%49th pct 51.2%16th pct 0.0%100th pct 45.2%34th pct
CurveballCU · 275 pitches 10.1% 76.010th pct 26.5%45th pct 21.3%14th pct 40.4%49th pct 0.0%100th pct 36.7%42nd pct
SliderSL · 235 pitches 8.6% 84.921st pct 28.6%38th pct 27.5%20th pct 39.6%27th pct 0.0%100th pct 30.6%72nd pct
Percentiles compare each pitch only with the same MLB pitch type and a minimum 50-pitch peer sample. Hard-hit percentile is reversed so a higher percentile is better.
Matchup intelligence

The largest qualified handedness edges

pitcher edge76.1

Luinder Avila

Kansas City Royals

Luinder Avila is limiting left-handed batters more effectively

vs L0.304
vs R0.413

Estimated wOBA: 0.304 vs L, 0.413 vs R.

pitcher edge74.0

Craig Kimbrel

Kansas City Royals

Craig Kimbrel is limiting right-handed batters more effectively

vs L0.366
vs R0.231

Estimated wOBA: 0.366 vs L, 0.231 vs R.

pitcher edge73.4

Daniel Lynch IV

Kansas City Royals

Daniel Lynch IV is limiting left-handed batters more effectively

vs L0.208
vs R0.313

Estimated wOBA: 0.207 vs L, 0.313 vs R.

Bullpen decision board

Best available matchup for either side

The board now shows only the highest-ranked active reliever against a left-handed hitter and a right-handed hitter. Workload availability, role, season performance, and handedness all remain visible.

Left-handed batter81.1

Anthony Gose

LHP · available · 2 days rest

Availability83.9%Matchup100.0%Performance50.0%
Right-handed batter81.5

Easton McGee

RHP · available · 4 days rest

Availability100.0%Matchup70.0%Performance50.0%
Story leads

Team Headlines

Subject Reporting lead Score
Jac Caglianone Jac Caglianone is building one of baseball’s strongest offensive cases 87.6
Bobby Witt Jr. Bobby Witt Jr. is building one of baseball’s strongest offensive cases 84.1
Nate Pearson Nate Pearson is limiting opponent production at an elite rate 73.7
Carter Jensen Carter Jensen is changing the recent-performance baseline 73.5
Carter Jensen Carter Jensen is building one of baseball’s strongest offensive cases 73.4
Michael Wacha Michael Wacha’s Changeup: 80.7 mph, 26.1% whiffs 70.4
Research status: this automated report is a reporting foundation, not a finished scouting report. Active rosters are date-stamped; injuries, same-day transactions, probable pitchers, and opponent context still require pregame confirmation.