By Adam Gardner | June 15, 2026
The 2026 season continues to be a difficult one for the Kansas City Royals.
Just when KC started putting together a positive stretch of play – causing me to theorize that my absence from the Kansas City area was a plus for the team – the Royals lost four-straight games.
Let’s look at the bright side – the Royals didn’t get blown out in any of those games. They lost by 2 runs in each of the first three games, then by 1 run on Saturday to the Astros. They only lost 10-8 when they gave up 9 first-inning runs on Friday.
That’s cool, I guess.
The Royals dropped some ground in the AL Central over the weekend, which is decidedly uncool. They’ve slipped to 10 games back of the Chicago White Sox.
I’m still not 100% sold on the White Sox this year – that’s what happens when the organization has been so terrible in recent memory.
Are the White Sox pulling a 2014 Royals season, or a 2003 Royals season? One of those ended in a trip to the World Series and the other was just fool’s gold.
Crazy game
Like I mentioned, the Royals gave up 9 runs to the Astros in the first inning on Friday. Luinder Avila had pitched really well for KC prior to Friday’s start, but managed to get just 2 outs before being pulled.
Yordan Alvarez did what he does best, mashing two home runs in the first inning. He has 24 on the season, but he may not experience an inning like that again.
Alvarez hit a 2-run home run as the second batter of the game. He then hit a grand slam in the very same inning to cap off the 9-run frame. Two home runs, 6 RBIs, all in one inning. That’s some little league action.
In fact, I actually pulled that off in little league. I don’t mean to brag (but I will fully take this opportunity to do so), but I also homered twice in one inning and one of those was a grand slam when I was 13 years old.
The only difference between Alvarez and myself is that I wasn’t getting paid to do it – I was just there for the love of the game. OK, there are many differences between the two of us, but at least now you know I was crushing dingers at 13 years old on a field that was too small for our age group.
Back to the Royals – they somehow answered the 9-run top of the first with a 5-run bottom of the first. Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. walked, Vinnie Pasquantino singled in a run, Maikel Garcia brought a run home, Michael Massey doubled in a run and freshly-called up Kameron Misner drove in a run.
The Royals and Astros then went six-straight innings without scoring a run right after combining for 14 runs in the first inning. The Royals scored 3 runs in the eighth to nearly complete the comeback, but the game ended in a 10-8 loss.
Kolek snaps the losing streak
Stephen Kolek continues to be a rock on the mound for the Royals. The only pitcher in Major League Baseball with two shutouts in the past two seasons, Kolek threatened to get his third on Sunday.
He couldn’t quite get through nine innings, but it was still an incredible outing from Kolek as he went 7.1 innings, struck out 4 and allowed just 5 hits and 1 walk. Kolek lowered his ERA to 2.68 and he’s been a much-needed steady presence as the Royals pitching staff continues to get beaten up.
Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic are all on the Injured List. The Royals bullpen was taxed in the previous games. Kolek stepping in and getting 22 outs on Sunday was just what the doctor ordered for the KC pitching staff.
“Guys have been battling lately, so for me to go out there and pick up as many innings as I did, it was great for them and ultimately great to get a win,” Kolek said after the game. “We’re going to try to keep it going.”
Runnin’ Royals
It wasn’t just Kolek on a roll on Sunday – the Royals swiped four bases and lead the majors with 16 stolen bases in June. Witt stole two bases and leads MLB with 26 steals on the season.
Maybe more impressive than the raw number of steals is that Witt has only been caught 4 times this season. When he stole 49 bags in 2023, Witt was caught 15 times – a 76.5% success rate. This year he is at an 86.7% success rate on the bases.
Witt now sits at 3.9 WAR, which, again, leads the Major Leagues. He’s a threat at all times as a true five-tool player. He added to his defensive highlight reel with a superman diving catch on Sunday – which just happened to be his birthday. He’s only 26, just now getting to a player’s typical “prime years.” Look at this catch:
Witt isn’t immune to cold spells, which he went through recently, but his highs are so much stronger than his lows. He’s hitting .360 over the past week and we’re just now getting to the point in the calendar that he typically takes off.
Bobby best months in terms of OPS have been July and August, so we shouldn’t be surprised if Witt takes off even more as the season progresses. Good thing, too, because the Royals need all of Bobby they can get.
Vinnie P injury
It’s been an incredibly frustrating season for Vinnie Pasquantino and the bad hits just keep coming. A notorious slow-starter, Vinnie had a particularly tough time this season.
Vinnie had an OPS of just .595 in March and April was just slightly better in May, with an OPS of .668.
The popular first baseman started to get things going this month, though. He had a .298 batting average, .365 on-base percentage and was slugging .426 in June, good for a .791 OPS.
But apparently 2026 isn’t meant to be a positive one for Vinnie as he injured himself in Saturday’s loss to the Astros. Pasquantino injured his hamate bone in his hand and is expected to miss four to six weeks after surgery removed the bone.
This will likely be an injury that impacts Pasquantino the remainder of the season. Even after he returns from the Injured List, it will still take time before he fully gains his hand strength back and that will have a direct affect on his power.
This just wasn’t meant to be the year of the Pasquatch.
More injury news
Kyle Isbel beat Vinnie to the IL with a severe tear of his left plantar fasciitis. That caused the call-up of Misner.
It’s been the pitching staff that’s been hit the hardest, though.
Bubic was lit up in a rehab start and officially “sustained a setback” when his shoulder didn’t feel well the next day. The Royals said an MRI showed no structural damage, which is good, but now it’s a wait-and-see game as Bubic will try to work his way back when his shoulder feels up to it.
Ragans’s return is also going slowly. He had a 23-pitch bullpen on June 10 only to wake up with discomfort two days later. He’s scheduled to get an MRI today.
Seth Lugo was hit in the head with a line drive in his last start, which forced a seven-day IL designation. The Royals said a CT scan was clear, but Lugo developed headaches in the days after getting hit.
That’s no surprise because if I’d been hit in the head by a baseball traveling 106.6 mph, I’d still be on the ground. Lugo has to listen to his body to determine when he’s able to go again – maybe he misses just one start or maybe it’s a lingering issue.
The beat marches on
Next up for the Royals is a trip to Washington. The Nationals are 37-35 on the season but actually have a poor record at home (14-21). Maybe KC can get things going in DC?
The Royals will rely on Mitch Spence, Michael Wacha and Luinder Avila on the mound in the three-game series. It’s not exactly how we expected things to look heading into the season, but teams have to battle through injuries and the Royals are no different.
Here’s to hoping the most difficult part of the season is over and we can get a “Bobby and the Miracles” vibe going forward.
