Royals' Away Struggles This Season Tied Directly to Their Offense

[Kevin O'Brien]

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

 

The Kansas City Royals were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh this weekend. Sunday's loss not only finished a 2-7 road trip but also dropped their record to 5-13 in September and 67-89 overall this season. 

This road trip was the Royals' final of the 2026 campaign, and the results away from Kauffman Stadium have not been pretty this year. 

On the road, Kansas City is 28-53. They scored 293 runs and gave up 399, for a run differential of -106. This doesn't feel surprising for a team on pace to go 70-92, according to Fangraphs. 

Conversely, the Royals have been a different team at the K this season. 

At home, the Royals are 39-36. They have scored 363 runs and allowed 359, for a +4 run differential. Scoring 70 more runs and allowing 40 fewer runs at home shows the Royals have the potential to be a good team this year. Unfortunately, they just couldn't carry that home performance to the road, and their overall record suffered as a result.

So what has been the problem for the Royals on the road?

Let's break down the pitching and hitting splits this year and what fans can take away from Kansas City's disappointing 2026 season. 

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The Pitching Has Been Consistent on Both Ends

In terms of FIP, the Royals pitching staff ranks 25th in baseball with a 4.65 mark. That said, the home-and-away FIP split isn't much different.

At Kauffman, Kansas City ranks 25th in pitcher FIP with a 4.59 mark. Away from the K? They rank 27th with a 4.72 mark. Yes, there's a 0.13 FIP difference on the road. However, the gap isn't huge, as they still rank near the bottom of the league in FIP both at home and away. 

Here's how Royals pitchers fare individually in terms of home and away FIP splits. 

Five pitchers have performed much better at home than on the road: Cole Ragans (8.14), Beck Way (6.02), John Schreiber (3.65), Seth Lugo (1.31), and Daniel Lynch IV (0.82). They all have home-favorable FIP differences of 0.50 or higher. Conversely, five pitchers have road-favorable FIP differences of 0.50 or higher: Michael Wacha (0.65), Steven Cruz (0.93), Alex Lange (1.42), Randy Dobank (1.64), and Mason Black (2.23).

What about the pitchers in the middle (within 0.50 either way)? They had seven pitchers: Nate Pearson (0.17), Matt Strahm (0.14), Kris Bubic (0.06), Stephen Kolek (0.09), Luinder Avila (0.15), Noah Cameron (0.28), and Lucas Erceg (0.33). Thus, most of the Royals' pitchers showed little difference in their FIP home/away splits. 

Were the Royals a good pitching team this year? Not at all. However, they were mediocre both at Kauffman and on the road. 

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The Hitting Was Vastly Worse on the Road

While the pitching hasn't differed much in home/away splits, the hitting has been a much different story.

On the hitting end, the Royals have been a top-10 team in terms of home wRC+. Their 109 wRC+ ties for the fifth-best home wRC+ in baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays. They are behind only the Cubs (124), Brewers (117), Yankees (112), and, ironically, the Pirates (111). 

On the road? They have an 88 wRC+. That ranks 28th in baseball, ahead of only the Athletics (85) and Phillies (83). Philadelphia's competing for a playoff spot. The Athletics? Not so much.

So what do the Royals' splits look like on an individual level? Here's a look at those splits of Royals hitters with 20 or more plate appearances below via Fangraphs. 

On the road, only a few hitters have performed better than at Kauffman Stadium this year. Those hitters include Nick Loftin (19-point difference), Vinnie Pasquantino (20-point difference), Tyler Tolbert (70-point difference), and Josh Rojas (96-point difference). The other 12 Royals hitters have been better at Kauffman than on the road.

Now, that isn't completely surprising. This year alone, Kauffman Stadium has a 106 park factor, according to Baseball Savant. Only Sutter Health Park (113) and Coors Field (109) are more hitter-friendly. So it makes sense that Royals hitters would perform better in Kansas City than in other opposing ballparks.

However, the gaps are most concerning, especially for key players. 

Maikel Garcia is the regular with the most notable gap, as he has a 58 wRC+ on the road compared to a 123 wRC+ at the K. Salvador Perez has a 55-point gap, with just a 47 wRC+ on the road. Bobby Witt Jr. has been an MVP at home with a 142 wRC+ at Kauffman. On the road? He's been more pedestrian with a 97 wRC+. 

Other notable gaps: Carter Jensen (30), Michael Massey (27), and Kyle Isbel (26). Isbel hasn't been much of a serviceable hitter at home (72 wRC+), but he's been borderline atrocious on the road. His 46 wRC+ on the road is better than only Jonathan India, who's been out for most of the year. 

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What Can We Take Away From These Hitting Splits?

Interestingly, the data isn't all that clear on Royals hitter splits over a longer sample.

From 2023-2025, the Royals were just as bad on the road as this year. They had an 88 wRC+, which ranked 27th in baseball, ahead of just the Pirates (84), White Sox (83), and Rockies (72). However, at home, they weren't as strong from 2023-2025. Their 98 wRC+ over that three-year span was clearly better, but it ranked 20th. 

Still, these splits show that the Royals hitters are at least somewhat responding to the new hitting coach staff this year. The Royals have an 11-point difference in home wRC+ from their 2023-2025 mark, illustrating that new assistant hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames are having some impact. It would be nice to see the road hitting splits better, but it's not like the Royals aren't hitting AT ALL. They're just not doing it away from their comfortable home confines. 

They're making progress. The key will be how they progress further as a hitting group in 2027. 

The Royals have bigger issues to fix this offseason if they want to return to respectability. The bullpen needs an overhaul. The rotation needs a couple of fixes, maybe an ace to solidify the staff. However, the offense needs a few tweaks, especially on the road.

The talent is there, but another hitter or two is needed to really help the Royals' offense become a Top-10 unit in 2027, which it has the capability of being if healthy. And they don't need to be dramatically better on the road either. The Royals made the postseason in 2024 with a lineup that posted a 92 wRC+ on the road, ranking 21st. Their home wRC+ ranked 13th at 104. 

If Royals President of Baseball Operations JJ Picollo is looking for a free-agent hitter or to acquire one via trade, a hitter with a proven track record on the road would be a good start. 

 

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