'Comes down to us': Royals' expectations remain high

KANSAS CITY – On Oct. 10, 2024, several Royals players sat quietly on their dugout bench at Kauffman Stadium, watching the Yankees celebrate an American League Division Series win.

The Royals were dissatisfied with the way that season ended, but there was an overwhelming sense of optimism about where the franchise was headed. They had completed a 30-win turnaround from 2023, the young core was emerging and they were establishing themselves as contenders.

On Wednesday, several players, including Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia, stayed a tick extra in the dugout after the Royals’ 7-0 loss to the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Some finished their conversations, some watched the Yankees across the field, some stared at the floor.

It hasn’t quite been two years since the 2024 postseason, but the Royals are still chasing the feeling of that season. They missed October in ‘25, but they still had high expectations entering ‘26 with the same core of players that delivered all that optimism back in ‘24.

One-third of the way through this season, the Royals are 22-34. They’ve lost 13 of their past 16. They were just swept twice on this 2-7 homestand, including by the Yankees, who have beaten Kansas City 14 consecutive times since Game 3 of the ALDS back in 2024.

“It sucks,” Witt said. “Getting swept at home and losing however many games in a row to those guys. Just a tough pill to swallow. But you move on and you get better from it.

“... Comes down to us. How much do we want it? How bad do we want it? We can keep digging ourselves a hole, or we can come out of it.”

Kansas City wasted a solid start from Noah Cameron, who pitched five-plus innings of two-run ball, to suffer its fifth shutout loss of the season and second on this homestand. After Thursday’s off-day, the Royals head on a 10-game, three-city road trip. Perhaps an off-day reset helps. Perhaps a change of scenery helps.

“We need to play better,” Salvador Perez said. “There’s frustration. We’re not that kind of team, and I know that. But we need to show that. We need to prove that we’re better. We need to figure it out. We’ve got to win some games.”

Fan angst has reached a fever pitch. The clubhouse is clearly frustrated, no matter how many things players try to do to keep the vibes high and focus on the work. There was a sign on the clubhouse door Wednesday that stated, “Be ready to [expletive] win.” Energetic music blasted. Every day, meetings and conversations happen from the moment players walk in the door until the game begins.

The Royals have preached patience, mainly because their roster is built around core hitters who have struggled to begin the year. This team doesn’t go very far without Witt, Perez, Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino clicking at the top of the lineup.

But calls for change have intensified. Manager Matt Quatraro mentioned the “honest conversations” they’ve had as a group to figure out the right buttons to push.

“Trying to evaluate our processes, our performance, how we’re utilizing players,” Quatraro said. “Am I putting them in the best spots to succeed? Are there other things that I can do to get the best out of the team? A tremendous amount of the responsibility I feel is how I’m handling it, and what the coaching staff – how we come together as a group to support the players the best we can.”

Quatraro maintained he was still confident in the messaging and processes he’s seeing behind the scenes.

“We’re getting challenged, we’ve lost some games, but we believe in the things that we have in place,” Quatraro said. “We believe in the people we have in place. This is a tough business. It’s a tough job. When you’re losing, you got to fight through it.”

No matter what changes are made, it doesn’t alter the fact that improvement must come from the roster the Royals have now – the same group that has done it before.

“There’s nobody else playing,” Michael Massey said. “We’re the guys going out there every night, and the other team keeps scoring more runs than we do. We can point fingers all over, but there’s nine guys in the lineup, and there’s a guy that takes the bump every day, and the guys that come pitch after him. It’s on all of us. We need to get better.

“We make a lot of money to win games, so I don’t think anybody really cares about the effort, but guys are grinding. And we’re working really hard. It’s just not going our way.”