By Adam Gardner | June 29, 2026
I asked a question and was given an immediate, resounding answer.
Do we dare dream about the Royals competing in 2026? That’s what I asked just a few days ago. I wrote the bulk of the post before Kansas City played the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon.
The Royals have been outscored 41-9 since then. Bobby Witt Jr., the single most important player on the team, is trying to play through a knee issue that’s forced him to wear a brace. He had four plate appearances in a game KC lost 22-1. Totally worth the risk of aggravating his knee injury, right?
Salvador Perez, the team captain, is hitting .203/.244/.332 with an OPS+ of 62. He has -0.9 WAR which means if his spot in the lineup had been taken up by a completely mediocre replacement player, the Royals would have theoretically won 1 more game.
So was I wrong for entertaining the idea that the Royals could compete this year?
The unfortunate reality with Salvy
Let’s get one thing straight before I dive into what needs to happen with Salvador Perez: Salvy is one of the greatest players in Kansas City sports history. Not just the Royals, I’m talking across all sports.
Salvy was the MVP of the 2015 World Series, he had the game-winning hit in the 2014 Wild Card game, he belted 48 home runs and is just 4 homers away from tying George Brett’s franchise record of 317.
He’s a beloved member of the organization and community and I’m not making any bold statements here – everyone loves Salvador Perez. He should be a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and I think his number deserves to be retired with Brett, Frank White and Dick Howser.
But Father Time has caught Salvy in a serious way. He’s always been a bit of a streaky hitter who might be cold for a bit but then can get white-hot for stretches, too. Just look at last year: Salvy was bad in May, average in June, and then scorching hot in July hitting .337 and slugging .719 with 9 home runs. And then he was dreadful in August.
It’s those hot times that have made him an understandable part of the lineup the past few years. We’ve all seen that he’s aged and gotten slower, but he could still have those outbursts that made him a legitimate threat.
But I think those times have passed. He’s been bad all season. With this season circling the drain, I think Royals manager Matt Quatraro and the Front Office should let Salvy chase Brett’s record and hopefully Salvy can pass him fairly soon, but after that it’s time he hits the bench for the bulk of games.
Maybe if there’s a team that needs a veteran presence at catcher with postseason experience there could be a trade partner for Salvy. I’d be perfectly fine with that – and I would totally expect Salvy to find some life and have a mini hot streak – and would cheer for him hard.
But Salvy’s time in Kansas City needs to come to an end. The Captain will forever be one of my favorite players and I just want to appreciate what he’s meant to all of us as his time in KC winds down.
Terrible weekend
The Royals run differential went from -38 to -70 with one bad weekend. It nearly doubled in just a few games, and they even won a game in that time! KC is 9.5 games back in the division and 7 games back in the Wild Card standings, but nothing’s going to change.
Why should they change? I knew it was a longshot when I theorized the American League was bad enough that the Royals could actually mess around and contend late into the season. But I couldn’t silence that nagging thought of “What about this team has given any indication that they could turn it around?”
Everything is going wrong. The injuries have pushed the pitching staff beyond its limits. Mitch Spence was called up to help out when Stephen Kolek went on Paternity Leave, but he gave up 10 runs in one inning and was sent back to the minors.
Tyler Tolbert – the utility player – had to pitch two-straight games because the scores were so lopsided, causing Royals beat writer Anne Rogers to joke that Tolbert would need to go on an arm care routine.
The Royals even had a play that would make Ken Harvey blush as Daniel Lynch IV fielded a bunt and threw a rocket to Nick Loftin at third base to try to get a force out. Sadly, Lynch was too close and threw it too hard for Loftin to get his glove on it, and poor Nick Loftin got hit where no man wants to get hit.
Watch that video if you want to imagine how your Monday could get worse. Two non-groin related items from that video:
- I love the old school score graphic the White Sox used in celebration of their 1983 team.
- I love hearing Steve Stone on the broadcast. He’s been with the White Sox for years, but I will always remember him calling Cubs games with Harry Caray on WGN when I was a kid.
That play is similar to when former Royals pitcher Jason Grimsley fielded a ball and tried to make a throw only to drill Ken Harvey in the face with the ball in his hand. Bad memory for Ken, bad memories for Royals fans because those KC teams were pitiful.
Honestly, I should dedicate more space to Ken Harvey some time. That guy played in parts of four seasons in the Majors and made too big of an impact on me. Mostly for bad reasons, but he was actually an All Star in 2004. The early 2000s were wild, man.
So, yeah, this Royals team doesn’t really have the juice to turn things around in 2026. The slumping stars, the bad May, the injuries, the Ken Harvey of it all. This just isn’t the year.
Carter Jensen: hit streak
There are bound to be positives no matter how bad the season plays out. Carter Jensen’s hit streak is one of those silver linings.
Jensen is rocking a 19-game hitting streak that dates back to June 6. It’s the longest current streak in the MLB, and it’s a new Royals rookie franchise record as he passed Maikel Garcia’s 18-game streak in 2023.
We’ll see if Jensen can match/surpass Buster Posey’s rookie catcher record of 21-straight games.
The youngster has done it in a variety of ways. He homered in his last at bat on Thursday against Tampa to not only continue the streak, but he broke up the Rays combined no-hitter in the process. He’s driven balls to the opposite field. He’s just really swinging the bat well.
“Just trying to simplify and trust my swing, trust my bat path,” Jensen said. “I can be late and still get one through the opposite field. When everything’s on time, I can get to the pull side. I’m trusting myself and what I know I can do right now.”
So we have to enjoy things like Jensen’s hitting streak just like we enjoyed Jac Caglianone’s power surge recently, or Alex Lange being a perfect 7/7 in save opportunities since the Royals shifted to him in the closer role.
It’s a long season and there’s still things to enjoy in a lost season, even if we’re constantly reminded of things that go wrong. Take Cags for example, who was scratched from Sunday’s lineup after he woke up with groin soreness.
I assume Nick Loftin heard about that and said, “That makes two of us.”
