By Adam Gardner | June 25, 2026
Do you dare to dream? Do you risk the heartbreak of wondering what might happen if everything falls together ever so perfectly, even though it probably won’t?
No, I’m not writing a YA novel that I hope turns into a movie or Netflix limited series starring Sabrina Carpenter in her return to acting. Although, damn, I bet I could make some money on that.
What I’m doing is wondering if it’s worth it to actually think, even if it’s just for a second, that maybe – just maybe – the Kansas City Royals 2026 season isn’t completely dead.
I partly blame the American League for being so pathetic that it’s allowed a team that didn’t have a pulse for most of May to actually hang around the standings a bit. Look at the AL standings (as of Thursday morning) with a focus on the Run Differential Column on the far right:
Only three teams have a positive +/- and the Rays and Mariners are barely positive (Tampa got a big boost by beating KC 13-2 this afternoon and are now +13). The Royals were only 5.5 games back of a Wild Card spot as of this morning. That’s insane!
They played so bad for a large chunk of this season, their starting pitching has been decimated by injuries, the starting lineup is now getting chewed up by injuries, and yet … here we are in late June and I can’t help but wonder “what if?” I say this after watching the Royals nearly get no-hit on Thursday; Carter Jensen saved the day with a home run in the ninth inning that also extended his hitting streak.
Optimism is a powerful drug
I partly blame the AL, yes, but I really blame myself for being an eternal sports optimist. I can’t help myself. Why watch sports if there isn’t a part of you that believes your team can win.
In some ways it’s pretty easy. Growing up less than an hour from Lawrence, Kansas, I’ve been a Jayhawk fan my whole life. KU has won the basketball national championship three times in my life and haven’t missed a tournament but one time. I grew up watching Roy Williams and he was followed by Bill Self – two of the greatest to ever do it.
But I’m not just a KU basketball fan, and here’s where the optimism gets tested. I’ve been a KU football fan since I knew what the sport was, and if you know anything about college football, then you know KU has had some tough stretches.
I remember watching the team get destroyed week after week in 2020 and my wife asking me why I kept watching. I told her I had to because if they ever won, it would taste even sweeter.
It’s the same with the Royals. My earliest memories of the team start when George Brett had already moved from third base to first base because of his legs. There have been a lot of lean years as a Royals fan since then.
I’d wear my KC cap, play as the Royals on MLB The Show on Playstation and throw no-hitters with Zack Greinke, sweep the Yankees in the ALCS and win the World Series and think about how cool it would be if that actually happened.
But then the craziness of 2014 happened and then the Royals came back and actually did win the World Series in 2015. It was amazing! I had hoped and dreamed for so long and then it actually happened.
So here I am, 42 years old and still a sports optimist. Here we are, in late June, and the Royals are still technically “in it” even when almost everything on the field tells us they don’t really have a chance.
As Andy from “Shawshank Redemption” told us, hope is a good thing.
That Cags is on fire
Jac Caglianone is straight up murdering baseballs right now. It feels like every day a different Royals player is injured or having a setback, but Cags is there just torching the baseball and it gives us something to smile about.
We talked about his hot June in Monday’s post but he continued impressing in the Tampa series this week. Jac homered twice off a left-handed pitcher on Tuesday night while collecting 3 RBIs.
His first home run threatened to tear a hole in the new roof at Tropicana Field. Watch this and if you have trouble following the ball, I don’t blame you – it actually hits up around the catwalk above that video board in right field before falling back down to earth.
My favorite part of the video might just be Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan’s reaction. He can’t even look at it:
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I might be more impressed by his second home run on Tuesday. His first dinger was a moon shot to right, but the second was a laser to center field.
He hit it 110 mph (the first was 109 mph) but since the launch angle was lower and it was hit to the deep part of the field, Cags wasn’t sure if it was going to clear the fence. He didn’t go into a home run trot or give a slight jog while waiting to see what happened.
No, our beefy power hitter was running. Cags was hustling until the umpires signaled home run. I love it.
The tear Caglianone has been on over the past couple weeks is really incredible. Baseball is a sport with so much history and so many numbers that you can kind of tweak things to get any result you want, but check out this from OptaSTATS on Twitter:
When it comes to power numbers, it’s not a bad thing to be compared to Reggie Jackson. Bobby Witt Jr. is the straw that stirs the drink for the Royals, but Cags has become Thor, slugging back the drink, throwing the glass on the floor and screaming, “ANOTHER!”
Like there was any doubt – which there shouldn’t have been – but Caglianone is on the extremely short list of Royals who simply can’t be traded away. I’m talking the tiniest of lists – maybe two names long.
Carter Jensen hit streak
Like I mentioned earlier, Jensen homered on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. He has 4 home runs in that stretch and has raised his batting average from .211 to .244, his on-base percentage from .288 to .314, his slugging percentage from .368 to .437 and his OPS from .657 to .741.
Combine this with what Caglianone has done recently and it helps us dare to dream about what the future of this lineup can do.
If only the team could actually get healthy.
Health updates
Bobby Witt Jr. missed his sixth-straight game on Thursday as he’s dealing with a knee injury. I said it right after it happened and I’ll say it again right now – the Royals should have placed him on the Injured List.
There’s no reason to risk Witt’s health by letting him return too soon. There isn’t any sign that they are rushing him back, but why not put him on the IL so that you can actually use that roster spot?
I was frustrated with the decision not to put him on the IL on Monday and I’m even more frustrated now.
Maikel Garcia has been placed on the 10-day IL, though, thanks to an issue with his left hand. Garcia has missed time off-and-on with the hand injury lately and the Royals finally put him on the IL. He was scheduled to undergo further testing today, so we’ll see what comes of that.
Kris Bubic pitched 1 inning for Omaha on Wednesday, getting three outs in just eight pitches. Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Bubic felt normal pitching soreness and they are “encouraged.”
Bubic is expected to pitch 2 innings on Saturday assuming there isn’t a hiccup between now and then.
The news on Cole Ragans continues to be bad as the Royals now expect him to need elbow surgery. He’s meeting with a doctor on June 29. Ragans has already had a pair of Tommy John surgeries on the UCL in his throwing arm, so another surgery on the same elbow isn’t ideal.
Not an injury, but happy news is the reason Stephen Kolek will miss his next start – he’s returned home for the birth of his first child and it’s expected the Royals will put him on the paternity list. Kolek will miss his scheduled start Friday at Chicago.
Daydreaming
I can’t help but dream about the 2026 season if everything went right from here on out. What if Witt, Garcia, Bubic and eventually Vinnie Pasquantino all return and are either their normal versions or close to it?
What if Cags and Jensen continue their evolution as big league hitters? What if Salvador Perez can find a groove?
What if the starting pitching and bullpen can get steady at the same time?
Will you dare to dream with me?
