Four Takeaways from the Royals' Opening Day Roster Announcement

On Wednesday morning, the Kansas City Royals announced their Opening Day roster for Friday's contest against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Field in Atlanta. 

It was expected that the Royals would announce their roster today, especially with the requirement to do so at least 48 hours before their first game. There aren't a lot of surprises with the Opening Day roster, especially with this Royals team looking to return to the postseason after missing out a year ago. However, there are some key takeaways from the roster announcement, which also included a few transactions on the 40-man roster.

Here are four takeaways from the Royals' Opening Day roster and the corresponding roster moves announced today by Kansas City. 

The Royals Kept Lange and Falter Because of the "Option" Game

Righty Alex Lange and lefty Bailey Falter made the Opening Day roster for the Royals, even though they are both coming off mixed Spring Training campaigns.

In nine appearances and nine innings pitched, Lange posted a 9.00 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. He had a 2.88 FIP, which was good, but he also sported a 9.8% K-BB% and 57.3% strike%, both mediocre marks. He also allowed a 12% barrel rate and 48% hard-hit rate, which are concerning as well. That said, he did showcase some strong whiff rates, velocity, and groundball rates, as illustrated in his TJ Stats summary below.

As for Falter, he was a bit of the opposite of Lange this spring. His stuff and whiff rates weren't as impressive. However, he limited hard contact and walks and demonstrated good extension on his pitches in Cactus League play with the Royals.

As seen above, he ranked only in the 31st percentile for fastball velocity, the 10th percentile for whiff rate, and the 27th percentile for groundball percentage. That's not exactly the profile that one wants to see from a reliever, regardless of their role in the bullpen. 

An interesting dilemma for Falter is how he will adapt to a relief role with the Royals. Prior to coming to Kansas City, he primarily pitched as a starter with the Pirates. Unfortunately, with a crowded Royals rotation, he will start as a long reliever, with the ability to spot start if necessary.

Lange could probably use some time to continue to refine his command, especially since he is coming off an injury in 2024 and only pitched one inning at the Major League level in 2025. As for Falter, he may need more time to develop as a reliever, especially when it comes to playing his stuff up more in limited-inning outings. His 99 TJ Stuff+ this spring ranked in the 52nd percentile.

Unfortunately, Lange and Falter are both out of Minor League options. Thus, to keep them on the 40-man roster, they both need to be on the active roster. While they haven't had great Spring Training campaigns by any means, they certainly did enough to merit longer looks, even if there may be marginally better options in Triple-A, like Luinder Avila, Steven Cruz, and Ryan Bergert. 

At this time of the year, the "option" game often carries a bigger weight, especially since teams do not want to lose possible MLB contributors for nothing on the waiver wire or in free agency. Thus, Lange and Falter will get a little more time at the beginning of the season to show if they can find their roles on the Royals' pitching staff this season, and, perhaps, beyond.

Tolbert's One Tool Wins Out Over More "Veteran" Utility Options

The Royals opted to add Tyler Tolbert to the Opening Day roster over other non-roster invitee "utility" options.

The 28-year-old utility player had an encouraging MLB rookie debut in 2025. In 57 plate appearances, he hit .280 with a .701 OPS and stole 21 bases on 23 attempts. At the very least, Tolbert showed that he could be a pinch-runner off the bench who could also play multiple positions in the field in a pinch.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a great Spring Training for Tolbert.

In 33 plate appearances, the Royals speedster hit .226 with a .563 OPS.. He also struck out eight times and only walked twice. His Statcast percentiles were also pretty mediocre this spring, especially in the exit velocity and hard-hit categories, as seen below.

Tolbert ranked in the 30th percentile in barrel rate, 10th percentile in average EV, 9th percentile in Max EV, and 3rd percentile in hard-hit rate. Furthermore, he ranked in the 39th percentile in chase rate, 37th percentile in K%, and 22nd percentile in BB%. There just wasn't a whole lot to be encouraged about with Tolbert from a batted-ball end in Arizona.

That said, he stole five bases on five attempts. At the very least, he demonstrated in Cactus League play that he can be that pinch-running weapon off the bench that wouldn't require a lot of at-bats.

Josh Rojas, Kevin Newman, Abraham Toro, and Brandon Drury all have Major League experience, and all showed flashes of promise in Cactus League play.

Rojas posted a .381 wOBA while Toro posted a .429 wOBA between his time with the Royals and Team Canada in the WBC (56 plate appearances). Newman and Drury were less impressive at the plate, as they posted wOBA marks of .275 and .246, respectively. That said, both Newman and Drury have succeeded in utility infielder roles for their previous clubs. 

It seemed like there was a real chance that Rojas would make the Opening Day roster. In 48 plate appearances, he only hit .244, but he had a .354 OBP and .842 OPS. He also had a .244 ISO and 14.6% BB% to just a 20.8% K%. Furthermore, his Statcast summary looked a whole lot better than Tolbert's this spring, as illustrated below.

Instead of Rojas' better overall profile, the Royals opted to go with Tolbert's one premium tool (baserunning). It will be interesting to see whether Rojas will stay with the Royals organization or opt to join another organization that may offer a clearer path to Major League playing time in 2026. 

Massey Still Not Ready for Opening Day

There was some hope that Michael Massey would be ready for Opening Day, even after suffering a calf injury roughly a couple of weeks ago. On March 21st, Anne Rogers of MLB.com mentioned that Massey would play in Minor League games while the Royals played the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, and that they would make a decision based on how he fared in those contests back in Arizona.

Apparently, Massey wasn't ready to play Major League games just yet, and the Royals opted to add him to the IL, along with Stephen Kolek and James McArthur. 

I'm guessing that the Royals are going to play it safe with Massey this season, who's struggled with injuries over his career.

Since debuting in 2022, he's only had one season where he's had 400 or more plate appearances (2024). Last year, in 277 plate appearances, he only hit .244 with a .581 OPS. While he regressed in performance and some skills, injuries also played a role in his overall 2025 campaign.

Massey looked like he was ready for a bounce-back campaign this spring prior to his calf injury. In 24 plate appearances, he hit .364 with a .962 OPS. That included a home run, a .182 ISO, and two walks to four strikeouts. He also showed some intriguing Statcast percentiles in Arizona, according to TJ Stats.

Massey still whiffed a lot (37th percentile), and he didn't barrel a whole lot of balls (21st percentile). However, he pulled the ball effectively (98th percentile PullAir%) and launched it well (91st percentile LA SweetSpot%), while hitting it hard (98th percentile hard-hit rate). It's likely that if Massey were healthy, he would've gotten the Opening Day roster nod over Tolbert. 

Massey's availability and his proximity to returning could be why the Royals opted to go with Tolbert over Rojas.

Yes, Rojas was a better player this spring than Tolbert. However, if Massey is ready to come back quickly after his injury, it would make more sense to option Tolbert to Omaha than to DFA Rojas. Kansas City may be better off holding on to Rojas, with him substituting for Massey if injuries mount or if something else happens to another player. That would guarantee Rojas a longer stint at the Major League level in 2026 with the Royals.

The Waters Era Likely Done in Kansas City

In addition to the Massey comment, Rogers mentioned in the same Twitter thread that the Royals were contemplating adding Drew Waters to the Opening Day roster.

As seen in the transaction announcement in the previous section, the Royals opted to keep Nick Loftin on the Opening Day roster and designated Waters for assignment.

I never understood the "buzz" about keeping Waters on the roster this spring. In 208 games and 684 career plate appearances (all with the Royals), the 27-year-old outfielder has a career .234 average, 84 wRC+, and 0.7 fWAR. He's shown flashes of power, speed, and defense, but there's been no consistency with the former Braves draft pick.

In 219 plate appearances last year, his most since 2023, he hit .243 with a 66 wRC+ and accumulated a -0.6 fWAR. His wRC+ and fWAR were career-worst marks. 

When it comes to this spring, Waters failed to turn heads in a "make or break" Spring Training. In 36 plate appearances, he hit .188 with a .531 OPS. He struck out 22.2% of the time and only had a .094 ISO. Furthermore, his percentiles were pretty lackluster, except for his xwOBA, 90th EV, and LA Sweet-Spot%. 

Loftin didn't show much in terms of his exit velocity and barrel rates this spring, which has been an issue for the former Baylor product over his career (.103 career ISO). However, his plate discipline was much better this spring than Waters', and the Royals likely valued that skill set over anything Waters provided. 

Here's a look at what Loftin did Statcast-wise this spring, via TJ Stats.

Loftin had a whiff% ranking in the 78th percentile, a K% ranking in the 77th percentile, and a BB% ranking in the 59th percentile. Those are all better marks than what Waters produced in those categories in Cactus League play.

Both Loftin and Waters are 27 years old. However, Loftin has 257 fewer plate appearances than Waters at the Major League level.

If one of these guys deserves one last shot to prove himself as an MLB player in 2026, it is Loftin rather than Waters simply because the Baylor product has gotten as many chances with the Royals as Waters.