What a city, what a story, what a KC masterpiece! The Kansas City Royals, you read that right, your KANSAS CITY ROYALS have made it BACK to the Postseason for the first time since 2015.

With Minnesota falling to Baltimore tonight, the Royals have guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2024 postseason! We have to wait for the final two games of the season to see whether they are the 5th or 6th seed, but for right now we’re celebrating. It really is a remarkable story for this team who only won 56 games a year ago, have had the biggest turnaround in major league history, and now they’re going to be fighting with the big dogs in the playoffs for the right to go to the World Series. We all thought that this team was going to be better, but I don’t think we all anticipated a playoff spot in year one. 

What a turnaround for this squad, who made it a priority to get better and compete in a division that looked like it was for the taking. During the offseason nobody expected four teams from the AL Central fighting for playoff spots headed into the final weekend of the regular season. So, General Manager J.J Picollo set out to put together a squad to fill the holes, and they did more than that. Now, they’re where they thought they were going to be at the beginning of the season, batting in October.

First, a hats off to the eventual AL Manager of the Year, Matt Quatraro. If he doesn’t win, he is at least in the top three. He endured a tough first year in 2023, winning only 56 games, but stood true to the team message that it was an evaluation season, and now he’s reaped those rewards. It is also a credit to everyone involved that they stuck to their word and actually spent money to get the team better. Instead of just telling everyone it was “an evaluation season”, and then you do nothing. In 2024 we really saw how great Matt Quatraro can be at managing a baseball game. To start, every single one of his players have the same mentality that he has, which is to stay in the ballgame. Anything can happen when you just keep yourself in it. Second, it proved that Q knew what he was doing, and knows this team. You don’t go from 56 wins to 85+ without having an incredible system that your players buy into. Third, all the times people would complain about Adam Frazier, Garrett Hampson, or Sam Long,  and then they would come through in some weird way, Matt Quatraro knows ball everyone. Hopefully he stays in KC for the immediate future. 

This team is of course headlined by one of, if not THE best player in baseball, Bobby Witt Jr. The 24-year-old phenom just had his second straight 30-30 season at shortstop. That list only includes him. And only at the age of 24, this dude is locked up for the future in KC and honestly is the reason the Royals are here today. He is responsible for close to 10 WAR on the season, and the Royals have 85 wins. This team is absolutely nowhere without Junior. Then there’s of course, the last remaining player FROM that 2015 World Series Championship squad, the World Series MVP El Niño turned Captain, Salvador Perez. Who has just put up yet another career season for the potential future hall of famer. The heart and soul of this Kansas City squad, and everyone can’t resist his infectious smile. That leads us to this starting pitching staff that leads this team to victory, and consistently keeps this team competitive in games. The quartet of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Brady Singer has been excellent this season. And you could make the case that they have the best rotation headed into the tournament. Every single one of these pitchers have an ERA in the 3s, and have been incredibly efficient all year. The backbone of this Royals team is the starting pitching, proving that this team could be competitive if they were given a chance. Then the shutdown man? Lucas Erceg. A midseason trade acquisition who has been lights out for Kansas City while he’s been here. Being very in shape of late, closing down every game of the three game sweep of the Nationals, so he’ll be ready. 

This team has a dangerous flair for the dramatic and they’re lethal when they get baserunners on. They’re extremely fast, smart, and quick on the base paths, and their defense is air tight. The Royals do a lot of the little things right, and nowadays that will get you somewhere. The Royals play their brand of baseball very well, and when they get hot it’s tough to stop. Lately they have been struggling though, but they made it into the dance, so nothing from before matters anyway. As they continue their run down the stretch, we’ll see who they end up playing. But all that matters now is that THEY ARE IN! 

The way I look at it, it’s good that they went through their lumps in the month of September. You gotta find the bottom before you make your way to the top, and now none of the crappy losses in September or the 7-game losing streaks matter. It is a whole new season, and everyone has to turn the page. Which is why I think these Royals can be sneaky dangerous. If you’re a higher seed in the playoffs, you don’t want to go against a team that has been battling in one score games all year, has a gritty personality with veteran players that have been in the postseason. And not to mention the Royals also have a top three player in the entire sport that can destroy you in every facet of the game. I think a few teams should be nervous with the Royals getting in, cause someone won’t respect them enough, and brutally underestimate them.

Although this team has been slumping a bit of late, there’s reason to be hopeful. Vinnie Pasquantino was seen in Washington taking some live batting practice. I don’t think he’ll be back until a potential ALDS appearance, but who knows. This offense will get a huge volt of electricity, as he still is top 10 in RBI in the AL even though he hasn’t been playing for a month. Who knows what will happen out there, but if Vinnie is able to hit, he will be in the lineup. His absence has left a huge hole, and this team is completely different without him. It just runs smoother with Vinnie, and KC is hoping to get him back. 

We have waited a bit for postseason baseball in Kansas City. It has been 9 nine years since the Royals were last in the postseason where they won it all in 2015 in New York. Not nearly as long as the last playoff drought for the Royals which was 29 years. I’m happy to say that we don’t have to worry about that. We have a team that is in the postseason now, and with our young core, they’re looking to be a force in the AL for years to come.