Royals Temperature Check: Bright Spots in a Rough Start

[Philip Ruo]

Image courtesy of © Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Going into Tuesday’s game against the Orioles, the Royals were on an eight-game losing streak and held the worst record in baseball at 7-16. While they were able to snap the skid, they returned to the loss column in Wednesday’s series finale against Baltimore.

With the Royals now sitting at 8–17 and last in the American League, which players are helping push the team forward, and which are still searching for answers?

Who's Hot? 🔥

Bobby Witt Jr.

Witt, unsurprisingly, leads the Royals hitters in bWAR so far with 1.3. Despite the team’s struggles at the plate, Witt had a solid week with a slash line of .304/.370/.391.

You could argue that Witt is still waiting to hit his stride in 2026. His marks for batting average, slugging percentage, and wOBA are significantly under their expected values, showing signs that he has been “unlucky” to start the season. 

He leads the team in walks, OBP, and steals, but scored the fewest runs among all Royals qualified hitters. Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez have so far failed to drive in Witt when he is able to get on base, limiting his impact on the basepaths. Once they each can get out of their early-season slumps, Witt will be on base and ready to score.

Seth Lugo

Lugo leads the team in bWAR overall at 1.4. On Monday, he delivered a dominant outing, seven scoreless innings on one hit and four walks. Unfortunately, the offense provided minimal support, and the Royals ultimately lost to the Orioles in 12 innings.

Lugo once again has a deep pitching arsenal with nine different pitches thrown this season (and he hasn’t yet thrown his splitter). His curveball and slider have particularly stood out with Stuff+ of 104 and 103, respectively, according to TJStats.

In 2026, Lugo is preventing hitters from pulling the ball in the air with a rate of only 11.5%. In addition to his lowered hard-hit rate compared to last season. Together, these trends point to strong run prevention and limited power allowed.

Lugo is slated to make his next start on Sunday against the Angels, where he will look to continue his excellent early-season form.

Carter Jensen

Jensen had a solid week at the plate with a slash line of .467/.619/.933. Going into Wednesday’s game, Jensen led all qualified Royals hitters with a 133 wRC+, and he added more production, going 2 for 3 with another home run.

Jensen is continuing to build on the level of production he displayed in his last-season call-up in 2025. While there is still room to improve his game, namely his contact and strikeout rates, he is providing a spark in the Royals lineup that is otherwise missing.

With Perez continuing to struggle offensively, Jensen might find more time behind the plate rather than just hitting in the DH spot.

Who's Not? 🧊

Alex Lange

Lange had a couple of tough outings this past week, allowing the winning run to score in his first two appearances. While he has not been brought on to protect leads, he was called upon twice in tied games and was unable to keep the Royals in a position to win.

On Friday, he was tasked with facing the middle of the Yankees’ order in a tied game. While he was able to retire the first two hitters of the inning, he allowed a single and a home run before getting out of the inning, putting the Royals down two runs going into the 8th inning.

On Monday, he entered the 11th inning in a tied game with the automatic runner on second. Lange struggled to get the Orioles hitters out, allowing two singles and a walk before giving up a home run, which effectively ended the game. While it is difficult to enter a game in those circumstances, if Lange had limited the damage to only one run, he could have preserved the chance for the Royals to make a comeback.

Lange has been particularly susceptible to hard contact this season. Opponents are averaging 93.8 mph exit velocity against him, with a 20.8% barrel rate (1st percentile) and a 58.3% hard-hit rate (2nd percentile). Lange excels at striking batters out and inducing whiffs; however, when batters have been making contact against Lange, they often do damage.

Lange rebounded with an improved performance against the Orioles on Wednesday with a clean inning and no baserunners allowed.

Noah Cameron

Cameron struggled on Saturday, allowing seven runs (five earned) over four innings of work. He allowed seven hits, three of which were home runs, two walks, and posted a 59% hard-hit rate. 

Cameron was able to get out of the first two innings unscathed before the floodgates opened up in the third inning. He has now suffered back-to-back outings allowing five earned runs after only allowing one earned run in each of his first two starts of the season. 

A concerning trend is now emerging of Cameron being susceptible to hard hits and many fly balls. In 2025, Cameron excelled at inducing soft contact ground balls. In 2026, while his overall contact rate is similar, the quality of contact has worsened significantly, with more barrels and fewer ground balls.

If Cameron wants to repeat his success from his rookie season, he will need to limit the hard contact, and he will get a chance to bounce back at his next start on Friday against the Angels. 

Isaac Collins

Collins continues to struggle offensively, going 2 for 18 in the past week. Collins was given the day on Wednesday off in favor of Lane Thomas despite right-handed Chris Bassitt starting for Baltimore. He suffered a right knee contusion that he had sustained the previous week in Detroit. Even though he has played four games since the injury, this could have been a scheduled day off for maintenance.

There has been much reported on Collins’s tough start in Kansas City. He has displayed uneven offensive metrics and a defensive regression in left field. There is still time for Collins to bounce back, but with many of the Royals' hitters also struggling for consistency, a resurgence from Collins could go a long way in helping the Royals turn the corner.

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[Kevin O'Brien]

I'm curious if they will make a move with Collins sometime soon. He's been pretty poor offensively and defensively and is just not offering much, even at the bottom of the lineup. I wonder if they would call up Rave or Misner and send Collins to Omaha to work on his fielding and approach.