The Royals roster is ready

While it's not officially official, the Royals 26-man Opening Day roster is here. Let the games begin!

Bobby Witt Jr. swiped a bag. Nelson Velázquez crushed a homer. MJ Melendez clubbed a pair of doubles. Nick Loftin drove in three with a bases-loaded double. And Brady Singer punched out eight in six innings. The Royals closed out their exhibition season in style on Monday against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals by offering a tantalizing glimpse of what should be to come.

It was, largely, an uneventful spring. A few injuries were sprinkled around the usual inflated offensive numbers but the Royals’ roster coming out of camp tracks very closely to what was expected when the players reported a little over a month ago.

Perhaps I’ve dropped the ball on the roster projections, but it honestly felt like there just wasn’t enough movement over these last few weeks to justify a full post. Instead, as we get through the next 48 hours before the opening of the 2024 season, here’s a look at the Opening Day roster.

Catchers

Freddy Fermin
Salvador Perez

Austin Nola was in camp, and while he made the required contact (one walk and two strikeouts in 26 plate appearances) the veteran backstop only collected five hits—all singles. The contact is a good thing for Nola given his strikeout rate spiked last year after he suffered a concussion in March.

Nola is on the 40-man roster and will report to Omaha to open the year. I would assume that if he shows a full return to health working behind the plate he will remain as the third-stringer.

Infield

Adam Frazier
Maikel Garcia
Garrett Hampson
Nick Loftin
Vinnie Pasquantino
Bobby Witt Jr.

Loftin is the surprise on the roster as Michael Massey will open the year on the IL with lower back tightness. Loftin, the Royals’ number three ranked prospect according to Baseball America, always had a chance to make the roster, but the odds were stacked against him with Massey as the incumbent and the additions of Frazier and Garrett Hampson. Last year, Loftin hit .270/.344/.444 in 358 games in Triple-A, followed by .323/.368/.435 in 68 PAs for the big league club. He’s carried that performance into the spring, hitting .333/.440/.500 in 50 PAs in Arizona. As a 2020 first-round draft pick out of Baylor, he will be playing in his age 25 season. In other words, it’s time to see what he can do.

The hope here is the Royals will give the majority of the playing time at second to Loftin over the veteran Frazier. I’ve been vocal in my praise for the management and how they’ve built this roster based on performance and potential rather than the tired old contract status and veteran presence, so here’s hoping they resist the temptation to roll Frazier out there on a regular basis while Massey stays behind in Arizona to continue his preparation for the season.

I imagine the Royals will go with a platoon at second for the time being. That means Loftin will ride the pine as the Twins feature a rotation stacked with right-handers, including their opening three of Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. The Minnesota bullpen is in quite a state of disarray at the moment with injuries coming out of spring so Loftin may have to cool it until Steven Okert or Kody Funderburk get in a game. It would be a shame if Loftin didn’t make his first start until the season’s fifth game when Baltimore is tentatively scheduled to pitch lefty Cole Irvin. Sitting for a week-plus is no way to stay in game shape coming out of spring training. I’ll happily withhold judgment until we see how Matt Quatraro utilizes Loftin.

I’m including Hampson with the infielders although who knows where he will see the majority of his playing time. I originally had him in with the outfielders but it looked a little too bizarre to see six outfielders on a roster. Don’t forget, I have the Bloomquist Barometer on Hampson’s playing time.

Outfield

Dairon Blanco
Kyle Isbel
MJ Melendez
Hunter Renfroe
Nelson Velázquez

Blanco is the guy here. I originally had figured Drew Waters would get a spot, but the Royals want him to play every day. If he’s not doing that in the big leagues, it’s the right move for him to be in Omaha. This means the Royals’ regular center fielder will be Isbel, who shines with the glove but remains far from the finished product with the bat. Although Isbel had one of those stellar Cactus League campaigns, hitting .306/.375/.444 in 40 PAs.

As for Blanco, the soon-to-be 31-year-old is really the ideal fourth (or fifth) outfielder.

I get the temptation to pencil Velázquez into the DH role, but I don’t think that’s how Quatraro is going to roll. Rotation is the name of the game when it comes to the lineup and Velázquez figures to see some time in the outfield. I remain intrigued as to how Quatraro is going to shuffle his lineup and his defensive alignments to keep everyone sharp and to maximize production.

Speaking of that lineup, I would imagine the Opening Day nine will closely mirror what we saw on Monday in Northwest Arkansas:

Garcia - 3B
Witt - SS
Pasquantino - 1B
Perez - C
Melendez - LF
Renfroe - RF
Frazier - 2B
Velázquez - DH
Isbel - CF

That lineup gets all the Royals left-handed bats into the lineup against the Twins and features a good amount of balance.

The rotation

No drama here.

Cole Ragans
Seth Lugo
Brady Singer
Michael Wacha
Alec Marsh

OK…maybe a bit of drama. The fifth starter bid went close to the wire, but incoming favorite Jordan Lyles was held back early in camp and when he got on the mound, didn’t impress. The Royals decided the other candidate, Daniel Lynch IV, still needs to work on a few things so he’s off to Omaha to take regular turns in the rotation. Lefty Anthony Veneziano and right-hander Jonathan Bowlan are also in Omaha and will be tracked. They’re on the 40-man roster so figure to be among the starters who will fill the rotation at various times this season provided they perform in Triple-A.

As Quatraro said, this is about competition. Nothing is handed out on this team anymore. So for this Triple-A trio, they will need to get hitters out for the Storm Chasers if they’re to keep their names in the mix for major league innings.

It’s a nice bit of depth, even if it’s unproven at this point. Michael Wacha took a Salvador Perez comebacker off his pitching hand in an intersquad game over the weekend, which caused a moment of anxiety. On Monday the Royals said he would be ready to go in his first start which will come in Baltimore next week. While the Royals dodged a potential rotation crisis there, it serves to underscore what Quatraro said last week about the Royals needing that rotation depth to navigate the season.

The bullpen

Nick Anderson
Jordan Lyles
James McArthur
Matt Sauer
John Schreiber
Will Smith
Chris Stratton
Angel Zerpa

It’s not too different from how I imagined it. The locks were the locks, after all. And the Royals and JJ Picollo spent some time this winter revamping the bullpen to make sure those guys were present on the roster.

It isn’t a surprise to see Lyles in the pen because the odds were strong the Royals would keep at least one of the fifth starter candidates around as a long man type of reliever. You could say the same for Angel Zerpa. Will Smith and Zerpa are the only lefties in the bullpen and with Smith expected to get his share of closing opportunities, Zerpa may perform a more defined role than long relief guy in that Quatraro may decide to deploy him for one inning where the opposition is due to send up at least two left-handed hitters.

One of the underrated pleasures of watching a Matt Quatraro managed ballclub is how he mixes and matches his relievers, including his set up guys and closer.

Finally, there’s Matt Sauer who makes the club as a Rule 5 draftee from the Yankees organization. The Royals are intrigued by this kid and so am I. Sure, it may be strange that they’re keepign a Rule 5 guy after talking up about how spots have to be earned, but Sauer’s talent, potential and yes, spring results got him to this point. He threw 10.2 Cactus League innings, whiffed 13 and walked four. He also got a 55 percent ground ball rate. Spring training results be damned, the jump from Double-A to the majors is immense, so one of the early season storylines will be how Sauer handles the opportunity and where Quatraro uses him in the games.

Ahhh, the games! Yes! We are about 48 hours until the first pitch of 2024. Finally.

Let’s go!