By Adam Gardner | Aug. 13, 2026
I played pretend a bit this week as Kansas City traveled to Los Angeles.
Two very different teams faced each other on the West Coast. The Royals know exactly when their season ends while the Dodgers are doing everything they can to make sure their last game of the season is a World Series win.
I’ve mentioned before that wins and losses aren’t the most important thing as Kansas City finishes out its season. The main thing to watch is the group of young players that will be part of the franchise moving forward.
Players like Carter Jensen, Noah Cameron, Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone. How do they close out the season? We know who Bobby is but I couldn’t leave him out of that list because he’s just so damn fun to watch; he didn’t have a hit in Monday’s loss but still was exciting because he stole a base and made a great defensive play.
It’s not every season that Kansas City plays the Dodgers in LA and since we already know how the Royals season is going to end, why not have some fun with this series? I decided to view the series in a vacuum, pretending it meant a lot more than it truly did in the grand scheme of things, almost like a video game playoff series. No current context, just the Royals taking on the back-to-back World Series champs.
It was kind of fun.
Royals @ Dodgers – Monday night
Caglianone continued his hot stretch on Monday, singling home Witt in the first inning and then hitting a 2-run home run in the third inning. Both of those hits were off new Dodger Tarik Skubal, who is possibly the best pitcher in the game and also happens to be left-handed. Remember when Cags was benched against lefties earlier this season? I’m really glad we’re past that.
Jac’s homer went 410 feet and it was on an 0-2 count. It looked like a well struck ball off the bat but I didn’t think it would get out of the park. It just kept going, though, and cleared the Dodger Stadium fence. He just has power that Royals fans aren’t used to seeing.
Cameron didn’t quite have the same dominant outing that he’d put up in his past three starts, but he still battled against a strong LA lineup. He pitched 5.2 innings and gave up 4 runs. I believe he’ll do better next time he’s on that same mound when the Royals face the Dodgers in the 2028 World Series (don’t mind me, just trying to manifest).
Potential trivia question
Something struck me as I watched Monday night’s game – everyone knows the Dodgers roster is loaded and they’ve spent a lot of money to make it loaded – but if we fast-forward 20 years from now, how many people would be able to list every future Hall of Famer from this series?
LA has Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts – I’m sure all three of that group get into the Hall. Pitchers are tricky because of the need for longevity and the injury risk, plus we don’t know how voters will handle current starting pitchers who just don’t throw as many innings as they used to.
So how will Skubal and Blake Snell finish their careers and be received by voters? Both have won two Cy Young awards, so it’s possible they get in.
We have Salvador Perez on the Royals side, and Witt still has a long career ahead of him but he’s doing exactly what he needs to do so far to eventually make the Hall.
But in 2046 when you’re asking your friends to name all of the Hall of Famers from this series, there’s one name that could really trip them up (maybe): Craig Kimbrel, the newest piece in the Royals bullpen.
Kimbrel has the fifth-most saves of all time at 440. He trails only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Kenley Jansen and Lee Smith. Three of those guys are already in the Hall of Fame and the fourth – Jansen – is still pitching and not eligible yet.
It looks good for Kimbrel to get into the Hall, right? Well the player he’s right in front of on the saves list, Francisco Rodriguez, is only 3 saves behind Kimbrel but has only mustered about 10% on Hall of Fame voting.
Rodriguez was a terrific reliever for the Angels early in his career, and then continued to have success on some other teams before retiring after the 2017 season. He closed his career with 24.2 WAR, a 2.86 ERA and 1,142 strikeouts in 976 innings (10.5 K/9).
Kimbrel is currently at 22.6 WAR and a 2.67 ERA – both of those are numbers that could get better or worse depending on how he finishes his career. He also has 1,314 strikeouts in 855.1 innings, good for a 13.8 K/9 rate.
It will be interesting to see how Kimbrel’s career concludes and then how he’s treated by Hall voters compared to Rodriguez. He could potentially become a tricky answer to a fun trivia question.
R’s @ D’s – Tuesday night
The Royals again competed well with LA in Tuesday’s imaginary important game. Michael Wacha went 6.2 innings and gave up 3 runs, leaving KC trailing 3-1 after 7 innings of action.
Nick Loftin got things going in the eighth, though. He walked and Witt followed with a single. Caglianone singled home Loftin, then Salvy drove in Witt to tie the game.
The Royals took the lead on an odd play. Carter Jensen hit a deep drive to center field that was caught by Andy Pages. Caglianone was tagging up from second base and was able to score after Pages lost control of the ball when trying to pull it out of his glove.
The lead was short-lived. Steven Cruz allowed a walk, a hit batter and a base hit in the bottom of the eighth as the Dodgers tied the game. The game was destined for extra innings.
The Royals couldn’t scratch across a run in the top of the 10th and then Lucas Erceg took the mound in the bottom half of the inning. I said I was going to go into this series with as little context in my mind as possible, but I knew the game was over when Erceg took the mound. It’s just not his year.
To his credit, Erceg made a great play on a weak hit by Pages. Max Muncy ended things shortly after, though, and the Royals fell to 0-2 in the series.
Thursday night: the conclusion
The Royals had one more chance to salvage a win against MLB’s juggernaut, but it ended with a 4-2 Dodgers win.
KC took the lead when Josh Rojas drove in Tyler Tolbert, meaning the Royals held a lead in each game of the series. LA tied it, then the Royals took the lead again when Slavy brought home Jac Caglianone. Jac extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Thursday, too.
But Shohei Ohtani belted a Daniel Lynch IV pitch to left-center for a 2-run homer, putting LA in front for good.
Lynch was making his second start in his return to the rotation. He didn’t get through 2 innings of work in his first turn, then managed 2.1 innings last night, throwing 39 pitches. He was in the zone a lot, notching 28 strikes, but his problem was being too in the zone; Lynch caught the fat part of the plate too often.
It’s too early to make any definitive declarations, but it’s been a rocky start for Lynch in the rotation. He was terrific out of the bullpen this season and maybe that’s what’s best for him and the club long term. But it’s worth it to see if he can settle back into a starting role because one of the many things we’ve re-learned this year is the importance of having deep starting pitching.
Injury updates
Vinnie Pasquantino began a rehab assignment in Columbus, Ohio this week, playing with the Omaha Storm Chasers. He’s been on the Injured List since late July after experiencing issues when he returned from hamate bone surgery.
Maikel Garcia will do his rehab work with Northwest Arkansas, the Royals Double-A minor league club. Both Pasquantino and Garcia could return to the Royals roster somewhat soon, though there is no reason to rush either player.
The injury bug never stops biting, though, as Salvy exited Wednesday’s game in LA with an elbow issue. It’s a problem he’s been dealing with all season and may be something he deals with for however long he decides to keep playing.
That’s what bums me out the most – we don’t know how much longer Salvy will wear a Royals uniform. There’s a chance this is the final season and I don’t want to see him on the bench in his (potentially) final few weeks.
If this were really like a video game, I would go into the settings and turn the injuries off.
