What the Royals learned after a .500 homestand against the Twins and Cubs

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals sputtered to the end of their homestand with a 10-2 loss to the Cubs on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, a disappointing effort after evening the series on Saturday night.

Instead, Sunday ended with position player Josh Rojas on the mound throwing a scoreless ninth inning and the Cubs handing the Royals their 70th loss of the season. The series loss snapped a four-series win streak at The K during which they went 9-3.

Before the Royals head out to the West Coast for a six-game swing against the Dodgers and Angels this week, here are three takeaways from this homestand:

Witt and Cags starred out

If you want to have hope about 2027, you don’t have to look much farther than the Nos. 2 and 3 hitters in the lineup. Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone put together standout performances this past week. Witt returned from his first career injured list stint on Tuesday and went 8-for-22 (.364) with three walks, two doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored.

Caglianone finished the homestand 11-for-19 (.579) with three doubles, two homers and seven RBIs, including his 4-for-4 career night on Saturday. He’s recorded a hit in all eight games this month.

“It was great to have Bobby back, first and foremost, and to be healthy,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “I was really happy to be able to put him in there today. Jac, obviously, had a huge day [Saturday], and we saw a lot of mature at-bats from him throughout the homestand.”

There’s no doubt that the Royals have a lot of work to do this offseason to remake their pitching staff, add to the offense and get back to competing in ‘27, which they’ve stated is their goal. The reason why just played out in front of us this week: Witt is a star, Caglianone is emerging as one, and those two anchor a core the Royals believe they can win with right now.

Rotation stabilizes

The four mainstays in the rotation right now -- Randy Dobnak, Noah Cameron, Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo -- put together a good turn during this homestand with a 3.03 ERA in five games, including two by Dobnak. The right-hander faltered on Sunday with four runs in five innings, but he wasn’t helped by his defense. For Dobnak to be effective, the defense has to be making plays behind him.

“From a pitching standpoint, it was one of my better outings,” Dobnak said. “Some bad luck with some of those weak hits. … Being a contact pitcher like myself, you’re going to run into stretches where balls find grass or find the infield grass.”

Now they need their new member to get going, too. Daniel Lynch IV is a starter again and will be built up accordingly. Lynch was tagged with four runs in 1 2/3 innings Friday night against the Cubs in his first start since May 27, 2025, so add his line into the rotation over this homestand, and the ERA goes up to 4.02. But there were positives to take from Lynch’s outing, and he’ll try to build on those when he starts against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Bullpen makeover

The Royals are giving opportunities to new arms in their bullpen to try and figure out who they can count on as part of the unit or depth next year. Mason Black tossed five innings of two-run ball in relief of Lynch on Friday and utilized some changes that he had been working on in Triple-A Omaha. Nate Pearson picked up his first save as a Royal on Saturday, and, if he can improve his strike-throwing, the team likes the idea of using him in higher leverage spots because of his pure stuff.

Steven Cruz isn’t a new arm, but he’s being used in a new role as the highest-leverage reliever out of the ‘pen. He picked up a save on Wednesday, blazing 100 mph against the Twins. He held the middle of the Cubs’ order scoreless in the eighth inning Saturday. The more experience in the back end of games for the 27-year-old, the better.

There have also been some bumpy outings. Easton McGee, picked up in a trade with the Brewers on July 14, allowed six runs in two innings Sunday.

“Came in [down] 4-2 today,” McGee said. “My job was to keep it there. I just didn’t get it done today.”

This bullpen turnover isn’t ending, either. The Royals, according to a source, agreed to a Major League deal with veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel after Sunday’s game, and he’ll join the team in Los Angeles.