By Adam Gardner | May 7, 2026
It appears the Royals are playing with swagger. Or, as Bobby Witt Jr. has said in the past, “the boys are playing some ball.”
Kansas City stretched its winning streak to 5 games before losing to Cleveland on Wednesday night. Even with the loss, the Royals have shown they won’t be defined by that horrid stretch of play in April.
They won the first two games of the Guardians series and can win the series with a win against Cleveland this afternoon, which would be a great start to this 10-game stretch against American League Central opponents.
The Royals have the advantage on paper in today’s finale against Cleveland as Seth Lugo and his 2.68 ERA takes on Slade Cecconi’s 6.56 ERA. Those numbers don’t matter once the game actually starts, but I like the way the Royals are playing.
Is the swagger back?
A few things stood out to me in Monday’s series-opener against the Guardians.
The TV broadcast almost willed into existence Bobby Witt Jr.’s home run off of Tanner Bibee. They showed Witt’s two career home runs off of Bibee, both coming on hanging breaking balls, and then cut back to live action just in time to show Witt launching his third home run off a hanging Bibee breaking ball.
Then Vinnie Pasquantino jumped all over another Bibee pitch and slid into second base with a double, and the big inning was on. The Royals scored 4 runs in the inning to take a 4-2 lead and held the lead the remainder of the game.
Witt and Pasquantino were involved in another couple moments in the seventh inning. Witt reached on an error, advanced to second base on a wild pitch, then easily stole third base with a great jump. He scored on Vinnie’s single.
The broadcast briefly showed Witt in the dugout talking to someone and it appeared like he was talking about getting a read on the pitcher. Pasquantino then got a running jump on Cleveland pitcher Connor Brogdon and stole second base. He even gave the old “vroom vroom” hand gesture like he was Jarrod Dyson.
In that moment it felt like this Royals team was really playing not just with confidence, but with the swagger of a winning culture. It’s not a cocky attitude, but it’s more than just “aw shucks, we’re just trying our best.”
Go back to the very first thing that caught my attention Monday night, which was when Michael Wacha gave up a bloop hit and then a 2-run home run. My initial reaction wasn’t, “Here we go again.”
I felt like things were OK. Wacha was fine and the offense had plenty of time to answer. And then they did and the Royals won. It really reminded me of watching the 2015 Royals again.
Lineup depth is showing
The Royals secured a win in the second game of the series on Tuesday, but let me run this by you. KC didn’t get a hit from Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone or Kyle Isbel despite all five in the starting lineup, plus the team struck out 10 times and walked just twice, yet were still able to score 5 runs.
That’s because the depth of the lineup paid off, as did an offseason trade. Isaac Collins and Michael Massey combined for 5 of the Royals 8 hits and hit both home runs. Those two players were hitting seventh and eighth in the batting order.
This version of the Royals is a certified playoff contender. The biggest problem in 2025 and even a bit with the 2024 Wild Card team was that if the top half of the order didn’t get things going, the team had no punch.
But that all changes if the bottom half of the lineup can spark a rally. The pressure comes off the “stars” and the pitching staff doesn’t feel like they have to be perfect at all times.
Collins had a great night and it happened to be on the same day that the Milwaukee Brewers announced Angel Zerpa would be done for the season after elbow surgery. KC and Milwaukee swapped those two players in the offseason.
A pitcher’s elbow can go at any time, so it’s pretty bad luck for the Brewers. But if a team is going to get the more fortunate side of a trade, I’m glad it’s the Royals.
Speaking of pitchers and arms
On the unfortunate side, Cole Ragans left Wednesday’s start after just 3 innings, and the Royals wound up losing 3-1. He was officially pulled from the game with triceps soreness.
“It got to a point where I didn’t feel like I needed to push it anymore,” Ragans said after the game. “Talked to [pitching coach Brian] Sweeney and all of them, and figured that was the best decision.”
Ragans has been through a pair of Tommy John surgeries, which repairs the UCL in the elbow, but said this felt different than when he went through those issues.
This happened after Noah Cameron was scratched from his regular start earlier this week with back stiffness. The Royals pitching depth is going to be tested. Ragans will undergo testing and hopefully KC gets some good news.
Carlos Estévez made his first rehab appearance in Omaha on Wednesday but it did not go as planned. KC said that Estévez was throwing 91-93 while prepping in Arizona ahead of the rehab stint, and hoped he’d bump those numbers up with in-game adrenaline.
That didn’t happen as he averaged just 90 mph before leaving the game with shoulder discomfort, according to Anne Rogers.
I talked in Monday’s post about how the bullpen was rounding into shape. It looks like the current pieces are going to have to continue moving forward without Estévez for the foreseeable future.
Sonic Slam innings
There are some wonderful vibes going on in the sixth inning for the Royals this year. Most KC fans know that the sixth inning is the Sonic Slam Inning, which means if the Royals hit an out-of-the-park grand slam, one contestant wins $25,000.
If it’s just a regular home run, the contest wins whatever the pot is at – the pot starts at $100 and another $100 gets added each game there isn’t a sixth-inning homer.
Kansas City has already hit 11 home runs in the sixth inning this season. For reference, the Royals hit 19 home runs in the sixth inning in the entire 2025 season. It was 24 in the 2024 season, just 16 in 2023, 19 in 2022, and 18 in 2021.
How does that 11 stack up to the other innings this year? KC has hit:
- 2 in the first inning
- 5 in the second
- 1 in the third
- 3 in the fourth
- 0 in the fifth
- 7 in the seventh
- 4 in the eighth
- 2 in the ninth.
Simply put, the Royals are crushing it when it can make fans some money. So not only are the Royals playing well right now, but they’re great philanthropists, too.
What does this all mean? Probably nothing. It’s possible the Royals don’t hit another home run in the sixth inning the rest of the season. I hope that doesn’t happen, but it’s technically possible. It also means I signed up for the Sonic Slam Inning for the first time in my life.
Detroit up next
The Royals will host the Detroit Tigers this weekend after finishing up the Cleveland series. The Tigers are dealing with some … things.
Detroit’s biggest issue is that Tarik Skubal will miss at least a couple months because of surgery to remove “loose bodies” from his elbow. Skubal is the back-to-back American League Cy Young winner and one of the best pitchers in baseball.
That’s not the only issue with their pitching staff right now. Framber Valdez drilled a Red Sox batter after giving up back-to-back home runs on Tuesday.
It’s not super unusual for something like that to happen, but it doesn’t sound like his teammates or manager really had his back when the benches cleared.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was quoted after the game saying, “I understand (the Red Sox) frustration … We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn’t feel like it.”
It’s a clear message from manager to player, in the public eye, that what happened isn’t acceptable. Still, this is the sort of thing that’s happened before and it will happen again, but that’s not the end of the story – or rather, it’s not the beginning of the story.
Valdez made news last season by possibly crossing up his catcher and intentionally drilling him in the chest with a fastball. He wasn’t happy with pitch selection from César Salazar and when Salazar was expecting a breaking ball, Valdez delivered a fastball that struck the catcher in the chest.
Both players claimed it was an innocent misunderstanding, and it could have been. The incident still hung with Valdez in the offseason as he remained a free agent for longer than expected for a pitcher with his numbers.
Add this incident in Detroit and it makes you wonder how things are going in the clubhouse for the Tigers. Skubal’s out, Valdez let his emotions get the better of him; how will the Tigers respond? Will this be a rallying point for Detroit, or will they crumble?
With the Royals playing with swagger, I’d love to see KC get a third-straight weekend sweep and send the Tigers tumbling down the standings.
