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When Colorado leaf-peeping season ends, head for Kansas

Published

1 year ago

October 6, 2024

When Colorado leaf-peeping season ends, head for Kansas

I grew up in the Midwest, and if there’s one thing I really miss, it’s the long, drawn-out falls of years past. Here in Colorado, autumn is a blip, a frantic shoulder season that usually includes one nightmarish day stuck in I-70 traffic with my kids, all of us racing to Kenosha Pass, hoping to arrive before the last aspen leaves drop.

Back home, the harvest period is expansive. Authoritative, even. Fall stretches itself out like a lazy cat that won’t budge, and there’s never any rush to peep the silver and sugar maples, native bur oaks, ash, giant sycamores, American elms and Eastern redbuds, with their bifurcated trunks and leaves as yellow as sunbeams.

Trees are everywhere in the Midwest, so it’s no wonder Nearmap, an aerial technology company, recently ranked one of Denver’s closest capital cities, Topeka, Kan., as one of the top “leafiest” capitals in the U.S.

Tree canopy shades more than 30% of The Golden City, making it a forest metropolitan, according to Bob Ross of the Greater Topeka Partnership. Early settlers gave Topeka its nickname upon observing its sunlit rolling hills and autumn elms. Mother Nature doesn’t feel rushed in Kansas: Glimmering leaves can glow into Thanksgiving, in a fierce rainbow of red, deep orange, gold, lingering green, purple and rich brown.

The skyline of Topeka in early October as the leaves begin to change for the season. (Courtesy of Evert Nelson)

Bright days and cool nights seem to bring out the best colors, and according to a 2024 fall foliage prediction map created by Smoky Mountains National Park, smokymountains.com, the northern half of Kansas will begin to see leaves change in early to mid-October. Full peak is expected between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, with a partial peak happening the week before. Leaves should continue popping well into November. For families and budget travelers — or any Coloradans who just can’t resist a bonus round of leaf peeping — Topeka is only a road trip away.

Here’s the first thing I really want you to know: Topeka has one 4-star boutique hotel, the Cyrus Hotel, 920 S. Kansas Ave., a Marriott property in the heart of downtown with views of the Kansas Capitol Dome. Rooms start at about $189 a night, and I don’t think I have to tell any Denverites that this is a screeching good deal for luxury rooms and service.

“If that’s too much, there’s always — ” Ross begins. I try to stop him right there, but he’s insistent. Two even more affordable Topeka lodging options are the SpringHill Suites Topeka Southwest, 2745 SW Fairlawn Road, and the Hilton Garden Inn, 1351 SW Arvonia Place.

In addition to offering upscale accommodations, the Cyrus’ lobby, with its high ceilings and modern aesthetic, opens to a variety of restaurants and bars, all plotted along South Kansas Avenue, Topeka’s main street, running from the Kansas River to the turnpike. A few suggestions for meals within walking distance of this hotel include Iron Rail, 705 S. Kansas Ave.; The Celtic Fox, 118 SW Eighth Ave.; Brew Bank, 822 S. Kansas Ave.; The White Linen, 112 SW Sixth Ave., with its compact, chef-driven menu; and a new wine and champagne bar, Royal Society, 913 S. Kansas Ave.

Topeka is ready for its close-up. Over the last decade, the city has invested about $500 million in its historic downtown district, Ross tells me. Evergy (not a typo) Plaza, 630 S. Kansas Ave., opened in 2020, and this newish public venue, complete with interactive fountains and a firepit, offers 400 events a year, including a free concert series on Thursdays, Friday night movie screening (April through October), and regular cultural events, including Fiesta Topeka in July and India Mela in August. On Oct. 19, Evergy Plaza hosts its Outset event, with trick-or-treating, live music and vendors.

There are plenty of ways to experience fall colors in Kansas, but for active Coloradans, hiking stands out as a familiar and enjoyable option. Start your adventure by climbing 296 steps at the Kansas Capitol Dome, 300 SW 10th Ave., where tourists gain a bird’s-eye view of the town’s forests. Free tours take guests to the peak of the dome. Walk outside onto the cupola to see up to 20 miles in any direction. Fun fact: The Kansas Statehouse is the only U.S. capitol building where guests can go up to the top of the dome and walk along the outside balcony.

From here, it’s a 1.5-mile drive to Ward-Meade Historic Site, 124 NW Fillmore St., one of the best places in town to see fall colors. Park in the lot off NW Clay Street, and start your day by strolling through history at Old Prairie Town. The 1800s village is part of a 6-acre historic site that includes the Ward-Meade mansion, a national historic landmark and a 2.5-acre botanic garden shaded by a variety of trees. Paved trails take walkers through several distinct zones, including a national conifer reference garden.

The Kansas Children's Discovery Center features a 4.5-acre outdoor adventure area with a pirate ship, tree house, music garden and more. (Provided by Kansas Children's Discovery Center) — The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center features a 4.5-acre outdoor adventure area with a pirate ship, tree house, music garden and more. (Provided by Kansas Children’s Discovery Center)

A few minutes past Ward Meade Historic Park, there’s Gage Park, 635 SW Gage Blvd., a great place for families to enjoy the colors while riding on a historic mini-train or taking a spin on the Herschell-Spillman carousel (circa 1908). You’ll find the inexpensive Topeka Zoo on the northeast corner of Gage Park — a destination for kid-approved leaf peeping. If you’re vying for caregiver of the year, check out the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, 4400 SW 10th Ave., which maintains an incredible outdoor space for curious young guests.

Continue west to MacLennan Park, SW Fairlawn and Cedar Crest Drive, in northwest Topeka. There are multiple places to park, including along Sixth Street, just west of Fairlawn Road. I’d recommend starting up north, though, near the Governor’s Mansion, aka Cedar Crest, a castle-like estate built on a 244-acre wildlife refuge overlooking the Kansas River.

You’ll see some spectacular color from the moment you step out of your vehicle. From here, hikers gain access to the Cedar Crest, Governor’s Mansion and MacLennan trails, offering miles of looping dirt and limestone singletrack that drop you into the colorful timber. The terrain is mild by Colorado hiking standards, but still enjoyable and drop-dead gorgeous this time of the year. Since the Kansas River is currently experiencing low water levels, it’s possible to walk onto the riverbed and explore the sandbars.

While you’re on this side of town, continue down SW Sixth Avenue to reach the Kansas Museum of History, 6425 SW Sixth Ave. The museum is currently closed to the public through January as it undergoes a major redevelopment. But the building sits on an 80-acre lot featuring a modest, absolutely lovely trail system bypassing the historic one-room Stach School from 1877.

Colorful trees and foliage change color at the Ted Ensley Gardens at Lake Shawnee on Sept. 30, 2024. (Courtesy of Evert Nelson)

You’ll have to drive across town to reach the Ted Ensley Gardens, 3650 SE West Edge Road, a 37-plus-acre free botanical garden featuring panoramic views of Lake Shawnee. With more than 450 trees in its arboretum, including 87 varieties rare to Kansas, it’s hard to image a better place to stroll through fall foliage. Golfers can do their leaf peeping from the links since the Lake Shawnee Golf Course, 4141 SE East Edge Road, is surrounded by trees. Cyclists, meanwhile, might want to enjoy the colors from the Shunga Trail, an 8.5-mile concrete path beginning at SW 29th and SW McClure, continuing to the Deer Creek Trail, which offers another 3.7 miles of riding in East Topeka.

If you’re up for a side trip, Echo Cliff Park, 24927 Echo Cliff Road, located near Dover, Kansas, is only about 30 minutes west of Topeka. You won’t regret the stunning country drive to the site’s 50-foot cliffs. For a taste of Kansas, picnickers can grab a sandwich or salad at Somerset Hall Café, 5701 SW Douglas Road, open daily until 2 p.m. Housed in a can’t-miss-it white building that opened as the Sage General Store in the late 1800s, the homestyle restaurant dishes up one of the best pies in America, I’m told. You can also order chicken fried steak, and you’re in the Midwest, so why not?

About 30 miles east of Topeka, the college town of Lawrence is another fun pit stop. Grab lunch at one of the many restaurants lining Massachusetts Street before renting a SUP or kayak for some leaf-peeping on the river. Great Blue Heron Outdoors, 823 Massachusetts St., is a reputable local outfitter.

Cedar Crest, the official governor's residence in Kansas, is situated on more than 200 acres of public park land. (Provided by Visit Topeka) — Cedar Crest, the official governor’s residence in Kansas, is situated on more than 200 acres of public park land. (Provided by Visit Topeka)

In Colorado, fall isn’t quite complete without a little agritourism, and Topeka has that base covered, too. Located off Highway 24, between Topeka and Lawrence, Gary’s Farm, 5991 17th St., Grantville, runs its annual Fall Festival through October. There are more than 30 attractions to explore on the farm, including a pumpkin patch, corn maze and petting zoo, to name just a few.

The Maple Leaf Festival, held on Oct. 19 and 20 in the nearby town of Baldwin City — which looks like something straight out of a Hallmark movie — is another seasonal offering with more than 300 craft exhibits, quilt shows and displays, performing arts, music and activities.

What are you waiting for? Grab the car keys, and don’t believe for one second that leaf season is nearly over.

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Nebraska volleyball sweeps Kansas in NCAA Sweet 16: Score, highlights

Published

5 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Nebraska volleyball sweeps Kansas in NCAA Sweet 16: Score, highlights

The NCAA volleyball tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, Nebraska, continued its undefeated season on Friday.

The Huskers improved to 33-0 after sweeping No. 4 Kansas in the 2025 NCAA regional semifinal in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Huskers advance to the regional final to face No. 3 Texas A&M on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC).

Nebraska has not dropped a set in the postseason. In fact, the Huskers have dropped seven sets all season, the last coming nearly a month ago on Nov. 14 against UCLA.

“We work really hard,” said Andi Jackson, who finished with nine kills on .600 hitting, five blocks and two digs. “It’s all coming to fruition right now with just how many attempts we’re getting and how many kills we’re getting.”

USA TODAY Sports provided live updates and highlights from the match below:

Live score updates: Nebraska 3, Kansas 0

Set 3 final: Nebraska 25, Kansas 12

Nebraska swept Kansas after winning the third set, 25-12. The Huskers have now won 29 straight NCAA tournament matches at home. Andi Jackson (nine kills on .600 hitting) and Rebekah Allick (nine kills on 1.000 hitting) combined for 18 kills with no errors. Nebraska hit .450 collectively, while holding Kansas to .029 hitting.

Set 3: Nebraska first to 15 vs. Kansas

Nebraska is in the driver’s seat once again and was the first team to reach 15 points in the third set, leading 15-8. The Huskers are hitting .762, while Kansas is hitting .353 in the set so far.

Set 2 final: Nebraska 25, Kansas 11

No. 1 Nebraska went on a 5-0 run to claim the second set, 25-11. The Huskers have been dominant on both sides of the ball, recording 22 kills and 17 total blocks through the first two sets, all while holding Kansas to a negative hitting percentage (-.039).

“Our blocking. That’s probably going to be a season high for us,” Huskers coach Dani Busboom Kelly said when asked what she’s liking from her team. “I just feel like we came out on a mission. Our goal was to block a lot of balls tonight.”

Nebraska’s Rebekah Allick has been the hot hand, with nine kills on nine attempts, hitting a perfect 1.000. Andi Jackson added five kills on .500 hitting, in addition to five blocks.

Set 2: Nebraska 13, Kansas 7

The Huskers cruised through the first set, but the second set started out much closer. Kansas cut Nebraska’s lead to 9–7, but the Huskers responded with a 4–0 run to go up 13–7. Rebekah Allick has been the hot hand, with nine kills on nine attempts, hitting a perfect 1.000.

Set 1 final: Nebraska 25, Kansas 12

Nebraska looked every bit like the No. 1 overall seed in a dominant first set against No. 4 Kansas. The Huskers collectively hit .357 and registered six blocks against the Jayhawks, who were held to a negative hitting percentage (-.024) in the first set. Rebekah Allick led the Huskers with six kills on six attempts, while Andi Jackson added four blocks and three kills.

Nebraska takes 12-3 lead vs. Kansas

It was all Nebraska to start. The Huskers jumped to a 12-3 lead over Kansas. Andi Jackson is already up to four blocks for Nebraska, while Harper Murray and Bergen Reilly each added two blocks. Kansas is hitting -.200.

How to watch Nebraska volleyball tonight vs. Kansas

The game Friday begins at 9:30 p.m. ET.

How to watch, stream Nebraska volleyball play Kansas in NCAA tournament

ESPN2 will broadcast the Nebraska vs. Kansas match.

Live stream Nebraska volleyball on ESPN+ (subscriber only)

Nebraska volleyball’s starting lineup

Nebraska volleyball coaching staff

Head Coach: Dani Busboom Kelly

Busboom succeeded longtime coach and mentor John Cook in January. The Nebraska alum won national titles with the program as a player in 2006 and as an assistant coach in 2015. Nebraska (32-0) has kicked off the Busboom Kelly era with its first undefeated season since 2000. Although Busboom Kelly said, “whoever is (coaching Nebraska) would be doing well,” her players argue otherwise.

“When (Busboom Kelly) came in here, that Nebraska standard wasn’t lost at all. She knew what she wanted and she really pushes us to reach that level,” Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson told USA TODAY Sports.

Nebraska volleyball assistant coaches

Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator: Jaylen Reyes
Assistant Coach: Kelly (Hunter) Natter
Interim Assistant Coach: Brennan Hagar

How tall is Harper Murray?

Harper Murray is listed at 6-foot-2.

How tall is Andi Jackson?

Andi Jackson is listed at 6-foot-3.

Nebraska women’s volleyball roster

No.	Name	Class	Height	Position	Hometown	High School / Previous School
1	Keri Leimbach	Freshman	5′4″	DS/Libero	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
2	Bergen Reilly	Junior	6′1″	Setter	Sioux Falls, S.D.	O’Gorman
3	Allie Sczech	Senior	6′4″	Opposite Hitter	Sugar Land, Texas	George Ranch / Baylor
4	Campbell Flynn	Freshman	6′3″	Setter	Oakland, Mich.	Mercy
5	Rebekah Allick	Senior	6′4″	Middle Blocker	Lincoln, Neb.	Waverly
6	Laney Choboy	Junior	5′3″	DS/Libero	Raleigh, N.C.	Leesville Road
7	Maisie Boesiger	Senior	5′6″	DS/Libero	Firth, Neb.	Norris
8	Kenna Cogill	Freshman	6′4″	Middle Blocker	Gilbert, Ariz.	Perry
9	Virginia Adriano	Freshman	6′5″	Opposite Hitter	Turin, Italy	Liceo Artistico Statale di Brera
10	Olivia Mauch	Sophomore	5′6″	DS/Libero	Bennington, Neb.	Bennington
11	Teraya Sigler	Freshman	6′3″	Outside Hitter	Scottsdale, Ariz.	Horizon
12	Taylor Landfair	Senior	6′5″	Outside Hitter	Plainfield, Ill.	Plainfield Central / Minnesota
14	Manaia Ogbechie	Freshman	6′3″	Middle Blocker	Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.	Oaks Christian
15	Andi Jackson	Junior	6′3″	Middle Blocker	Brighton, Colo.	Brighton
18	Ryan Hunter	Freshman	6′2″	Opposite Hitter	Charlotte, N.C.	Cox Mill
21	Skyler Pierce	Redshirt Freshman	6′2″	Outside Hitter	Lenexa, Kan.	Olathe Northwest
27	Harper Murray	Junior	6′2″	Outside Hitter	Ann Arbor, Mich.	Skyline

Kansas volleyball’s starting lineup

Kansas women’s volleyball roster

No.	Name	Class	Height	Position	Hometown	Last School
2	Grace Nelson	So.	6′1″	Pin	River Forest, Ill.	River Forest HS
3	Kenzie Dean	So.	6′3″	Pin	Johnston, Iowa	Dowling Catholic HS
3	Raegan Burns	Jr.	5′5″	L/DS	Lafayette, Ind.	McCutcheon HS
4	Rhian Swanson	Sr.	6′2″	Pin	McPherson, Kan.	McPherson HS
5	Selena Leban	Fr.	6′0″	Pin	Nova Gorica, Slovenia	Gimnazija Šiška
7	Katie Dalton	Sr.	6′1″	S/Pin	Parker, Colo.	Chaparral HS
8	Ellie Moore	So.	5′9″	S	Darien, Conn.	Darien HS
9	Jovana Zelenovic	Fr.	6′7″	Pin	Novi Sad, Serbia	OK Železnicar
10	Reese Ptacek	So.	6′3″	MB	Prescott, Wis.	Prescott High School
11	Cristin Cline	So.	5′11″	S	Stanfield, N.C.	Hickory Grove Christian School
12	Heidi Devers	So.	5′4″	L/DS	Olathe, Kan.	Saint James Academy
15	Ellie Schneider	Jr.	6′5″	MB	Metairie, La.	Metairie Country Day School
17	Aurora Papac	Fr.	6′4″	MB	Požega, Croatia	Sport Gymnasium Zagreb
19	Molly McCarthy	R-Jr.	5′11″	DS/L	Rancho Mirage, Calif.	Palm Desert HS
20	Brynn Kirsch	Sr.	5′8″	L/DS	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Lincoln HS
22	Ryan White	Sr.	5′9″	L/DS	Richland, Wash.	Richland HS
24	Aisha Aiono	Jr.	6′3″	MB	Liberty, Mo.	Liberty HS
25	Logan Bell	Fr.	5′11″	Pin	Beech Grove, Ind.	Roncalli HS

Check out Harper Murray’s pregame routine

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray carefully tapes her hands before every match.

She inscribes ’27’ on the tape binding her left ring finger in honor of her late father Vada Murray, who died when she was 5 years old. He wore No. 27 while playing football at Michigan. Murray then writes former coach John Cook’s initials on her left pointer finger, “a father figure” that helped her grow as a player. She also adds Huskers head coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s initials on her middle finger as a reminder to lay it all on the line.

The initials on her right hand changes every year. She told USA TODAY Sports, “Every year for the past three years, I have written the location of the Final Four. On my pointer finger and my middle finger, I have the letters ‘KC,’ which is Kansas City, which is where the NCAA Tournament is held this year.” Full story here.

Nebraska setter Campbell Flynn suffers season-ending injury

Freshman setter Campbell Flynn suffered a broken pinky finger, according to former head coach John Cook’s pregame radio show. Flynn will be out the remainder of the season with the injury. The freshman averaged 4.50 assists per set.

Nebraska has three Player of the Year semifinalists

When the AVCA Player of the Year semifinalists were announced in November, Nebraska had three of the 14 players on the list — Andi Jackson, Harper Murray and junior setter Bergen Reilly. It’s another example of the Huskers’ depth.

“We have arguably the best in each position for the country,” Andi Jackson told USA TODAY Sports. “We have the best setter in the country, we have the best outside in the country. And I think it just shows how strong our team is, especially at that front row that we have. When Harper (Murray), Bergen (Reilly) and I are up, we always give each other a smile because we know what we have to offer.”

The trio led Nebraska to the nation’s top hitting percentage (.353) and fourth-highest kill per set mark (14.72).

NCAA volleyball tournament regionals schedule

Friday, Dec. 12

No. 1 Texas 3, No. 4 Indiana 0
No. 3 Wisconsin 3, No. 2 Stanford 1
No. 3 Texas A&M 3, No. 2 Louisville 2
No. 1 Nebraska 3, No. 4 Kansas 0

Saturday, Dec. 13

No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Creighton, 5 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 1 Pitt vs. No. 3 Purdue, 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2

Sunday, Dec. 14

No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, 3 p.m. ET | ABC
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN

NCAA women’s volleyball bracket

Find the full NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket on the NCAA website.

Nebraska stats, top players

Nebraska’s nation-leading offense is led by junior outside hitter Harper Murray (347 kills), junior middle blocker Andi Jackson (273) and senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick (235).

Murray also leads the team in service aces (30) and is among the top four on defense for digs. (212). Allick and Jackson lead the team in blocks (121 and 112, respectively).

Setter Bergen Reilly (1,011 assists) runs the show and also is second on the team for digs (264), behind Laney Choboy (276 digs). Olivia Mauch (256 digs) joins them in keeping the ball off the floor.

Kansas stats, top players

Kansas has a trio of heavy hitters with Jovana Zelenovic (369 kills), who also leads the team with 46 serving aces; Rhian Swanson (346 kills); and Reese Ptacek (325 kills).

Senior Katie Dalton (769 assists) and sophomore Cristin Cline (552 assists) anchor the team at the setter position. On defense, Ryan White (5-8 digs) and Grace Nelson (298 digs) lead the way.

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2026 ZiPS Projections: Kansas City Royals

Published

17 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

2026 ZiPS Projections: Kansas City Royals

For the 22nd consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction, as well as MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the next team up is the Kansas City Royals.

Batters

For the Royals, 2025 was about the season that was expected. Bobby Witt Jr. was amazing and the starting rotation was very good, but the team was held back as a result of getting pretty much no production out of the second base, outfield, and designated hitter positions. ZiPS projected the Royals for 83 wins, and they won 82. Normally, that would make a team a real contender in the AL Central, but the Tigers played like an elite team in the first half and the Guardians did the same in the second half, leaving the division always too far out of reach for the Royals.

While Kansas City had some serious problems, especially in those trouble spots mentioned above, it was generally encouraging how the team dealt with it. I stand by every word I said about the outfield back in February. The idea to just roll with Hunter Renfroe and MJ Melendez after their terrible 2024 seasons was a massive missed opportunity. But the good thing is that the Royals were quick to jettison both and get looks at other players who showed a lot of promise (Jac Caglianone) or at least had some upside (Drew Waters). Now, these moves didn’t actually pan out in the short term, but it’s always better to try something that might work over something that almost definitely won’t.

ZiPS doesn’t really like the outfield this time around either, but it does think that there are enough defense and platoon advantages in the various players slated to man the grass that the Royals could eke out respectable production from the group, certainly quite a lot more than they got last year. And this is important, because every win for a team with a projected total in the low-to-mid-80s, especially a team in a Central division, has tremendous value. Even better would be a much bigger acquisition to boost at least one of the positions, but failing that, ZiPS doesn’t see either left or right field as unmitigated disasters this time around (though Steamer is less optimistic).

Witt Jr. is the straw that stirs the drink, of course, but beyond that, this was the season I think Maikel Garcia clearly established himself as an All-Star level third baseman. He finally turned that good plate discipline and hard-hit numbers into real production, and he’s Gold Glove-worthy at the hot corner. Expect both players on the left side of the infield to keep things up in 2026. Another positive: The Royals could see some improvement at second base. ZiPS thinks that Michael Massey is better than his 2025 performance indicates. My inclination might be to use Massey as a super-sub type, and just stick Jonathan India at second and leave him there; there’s no reason to pretend India’s a corner outfielder, as the team did at times this past season.

I was a big advocate for the Royals’ being aggressive with Caglianone’s promotion, and I still think it was the right thing to do. It remains to be seen if he can contribute defensively anywhere, but he ought to hit better than he did in his debut campaign; it’s hard to imagine he could do worse than his horrifying 46 wRC+. The problem is the Royals can’t afford to just stick Cags at DH every day. They need to leave that open for Salvador Perez to get spot starts when he’s not wearing a glove in some sort of timeshare with Carter Jensen behind the plate and Vinnie Pasquantino at first. You shouldn’t be alarmed by the top comp for Caglianone. Costen Shockley didn’t hit for the Angels initially, and after a dispute about whether or not they told him they weren’t going to demote him, they sent him to the minors; in response, after having just moved his family out to California, he peaced out from baseball at age 23.

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And you better not be upset about the Witt top comp. Dickie Thon was absolutely terrific until a Mike Torrez fastball shattered his face; he was never the same after that. Don’t worry, ZiPS isn’t forecasting Witt to suffer the same fate!

Pitchers

In the projection table, the rotation tops out at 2.2 WAR, from Cole Ragans. However, this understates the quality of this group of starters, as ZiPS is understandably squeamish about projecting big innings totals from Ragans and Kris Bubic. A full season for Ragans would put his WAR safely over three. The same is true for Bubic, though rotator cuff injuries always make me a bit worried.

The rest of the rotation, Seth Lugo, Noah Cameron, and Michael Wacha projects out as comfortably average-plus, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to put Kansas City’s starting staff at the back of the top 10 in baseball. Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek won’t scare anyone, but they’re perfectly reasonable emergency replacements, and both Bailey Falter and Daniel Lynch IV are at least plausible options if injuries plague the starting five.

The bullpen projects as a middle-of-the-pack unit at the moment. ZiPS remains a fan of Hunter Harvey, but injuries ruined his 2025 season, and he’s currently a free agent. Otherwise, ZiPS pegs the Royals as having a quintet of B+ relievers in Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg, John Schreiber, Angel Zerpa, and Alex Lange, but doesn’t think they have a true lights-out closer. Overall, this pen comes out aggressively mid, and a depth addition or two would be welcome.

Right now, ZiPS projects the Royals to finish with somewhere between 82-86 wins or so, depending on the assumptions. That makes them relevant in the AL Central and a second-tier wild card contender. There’s still time for them to do more to get over the hump.

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Size of player names is very roughly proportional to Depth Chart playing time. The final team projections may differ considerably from our Depth Chart playing time.

Batters – Standard

Player	B	Age	PO	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS
Bobby Witt Jr.	R	26	SS	658	598	98	169	34	9	27	93	46	117	32	9
Maikel Garcia	R	26	3B	635	571	82	150	30	5	11	67	54	98	25	7
Carter Jensen	L	22	C	585	521	68	126	22	5	17	69	57	159	7	1
Vinnie Pasquantino	L	28	1B	613	549	63	139	29	1	26	90	51	90	1	0
Kameron Misner	L	28	CF	451	396	54	83	19	3	11	46	49	144	16	3
Salvador Perez	R	36	C	575	532	52	131	24	1	24	80	28	124	0	0
Jonathan India	R	29	2B	555	478	67	114	25	2	11	50	57	106	4	3
Jac Caglianone	L	23	1B	524	473	64	120	20	1	23	71	40	114	3	1
Carson Roccaforte	L	24	CF	531	475	60	98	21	6	12	55	50	182	19	9
Drew Waters	B	27	CF	448	406	55	91	19	8	9	45	35	136	12	4
Kyle Isbel	L	29	CF	394	355	49	84	15	5	6	37	24	76	7	4
Bobby Dalbec	R	31	3B	462	416	53	92	17	3	15	52	39	176	6	1
John Rave	L	28	CF	487	431	61	99	19	5	11	51	45	130	15	4
Tyler Tolbert	R	28	2B	443	394	59	88	14	5	5	41	26	120	35	5
Harold Castro	L	32	3B	372	345	37	89	15	1	11	45	17	83	3	1
Michael Massey	L	28	2B	427	395	42	96	19	1	11	46	21	83	3	2
Nick Loftin	R	27	LF	428	374	50	89	18	1	8	44	43	67	8	3
Diego Castillo	R	28	3B	412	368	45	86	17	1	6	38	39	83	3	3
Isan Díaz	L	30	SS	241	212	28	45	6	1	9	29	24	64	2	1
Jordan Groshans	R	26	3B	401	364	38	86	13	1	4	33	33	74	0	1
Sam Kulasingam	B	24	2B	527	468	62	110	20	6	2	41	41	104	10	6
Connor Kaiser	R	29	SS	334	292	32	54	12	2	5	27	33	116	4	1
Dairon Blanco	R	33	DH	318	282	47	68	12	3	5	35	21	82	31	6
Luke Maile	R	35	C	161	139	14	31	6	0	3	13	17	45	2	0
Rudy Martin	L	30	CF	320	281	37	65	8	3	5	30	26	84	21	5
Tyler Gentry	R	27	RF	441	394	46	85	18	2	10	49	36	133	5	2
Blake Mitchell	L	21	C	371	318	36	58	10	2	7	34	47	144	8	4
Peyton Wilson	B	26	2B	471	421	49	93	17	4	7	45	40	125	12	4
Randal Grichuk	R	34	DH	347	320	42	76	17	2	11	36	22	75	1	1
Javi Vaz	L	25	2B	492	427	56	98	15	3	4	42	43	59	12	2
Mark Canha	R	37	LF	352	303	35	71	14	0	6	32	33	71	3	1
Canyon Brown	R	22	C	268	237	29	48	9	0	2	21	17	77	4	2
Julio E. Rodriguez	R	29	C	214	195	17	40	7	0	5	21	15	57	1	0
Luca Tresh	R	26	C	348	316	31	70	13	2	9	37	24	91	2	0
Brian O’Keefe	R	32	C	279	254	28	50	12	1	8	29	22	78	1	1
Justin Johnson	R	26	2B	346	311	31	62	13	0	4	30	25	90	5	2
Adam Frazier	L	34	2B	406	368	41	85	16	2	5	36	27	72	6	4
Dustin Dickerson	R	25	SS	438	382	41	74	8	1	3	30	45	119	9	5
Kyle Hayes	R	28	C	150	126	10	20	5	0	1	13	14	59	1	0
Austin Charles	R	22	3B	365	330	36	67	11	2	5	32	22	117	10	5
Chris Brito	R	26	1B	251	217	20	47	8	0	3	20	27	65	2	1
Gavin Cross	L	25	RF	477	440	54	92	18	3	12	50	30	148	14	3
Hunter Renfroe	R	34	RF	381	347	35	76	18	1	11	40	30	82	1	0
Jack Pineda	L	26	SS	272	245	27	51	11	0	1	21	16	73	4	1
MJ Melendez	L	27	LF	526	479	61	105	24	4	18	60	41	154	9	5
Sam Ruta	L	24	3B	306	274	24	52	13	2	5	27	26	135	0	1
Colton Becker	R	25	SS	369	314	36	68	11	1	1	24	32	78	25	6
Nick Pratto	L	27	1B	455	403	47	83	17	3	10	45	42	158	6	1
Brett Squires	L	26	1B	469	427	42	91	18	3	8	46	34	156	11	3
Diego Hernandez	L	25	CF	330	306	32	69	8	4	4	30	12	97	7	5
Nick Gordon	L	30	2B	287	266	31	62	13	3	5	29	13	74	4	4
Daniel Vazquez	R	22	SS	496	449	50	97	18	3	2	36	37	128	12	6
Carter Frederick	R	23	RF	402	367	45	73	21	3	2	31	30	159	8	2
Diego Guzman	R	22	3B	200	179	16	31	7	1	1	13	9	83	4	2
Omar Hernandez	R	24	C	318	292	27	57	10	1	1	22	13	76	7	3
Spencer Nivens	L	24	LF	483	432	45	89	16	2	9	44	45	130	7	3
Bryan Gonzalez	R	24	DH	371	345	38	74	13	4	7	35	20	139	8	5
Derlin Figueroa	L	22	3B	508	462	49	92	14	2	8	40	35	135	10	3
Erick Torres	R	21	LF	490	443	44	92	13	1	3	37	28	93	8	7
Trevor Werner	R	25	RF	406	368	41	67	14	4	8	37	29	164	9	4

Batters – Advanced

Player	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS+	ISO	BABIP	Def	WAR	wOBA	3YOPS+	RC
Bobby Witt Jr.	658	.283	.337	.505	132	.222	.313	7	6.7	.356	130	112
Maikel Garcia	635	.263	.324	.391	100	.128	.301	9	3.7	.313	99	80
Carter Jensen	585	.242	.317	.401	100	.159	.316	1	3.0	.313	104	68
Vinnie Pasquantino	613	.253	.320	.452	113	.199	.261	-4	1.8	.330	112	80
Kameron Misner	451	.210	.300	.356	84	.146	.299	5	1.8	.291	84	47
Salvador Perez	575	.246	.296	.430	100	.184	.279	-8	1.7	.310	93	68
Jonathan India	555	.238	.336	.368	98	.130	.285	-7	1.6	.314	97	61
Jac Caglianone	524	.254	.321	.446	112	.192	.289	-3	1.6	.331	118	69
Carson Roccaforte	531	.206	.285	.352	78	.146	.306	7	1.5	.281	84	55
Drew Waters	448	.224	.291	.377	86	.153	.314	3	1.5	.292	88	49
Kyle Isbel	394	.237	.290	.358	81	.121	.286	8	1.5	.284	81	40
Bobby Dalbec	462	.221	.294	.385	89	.164	.342	1	1.4	.297	86	49
John Rave	487	.230	.304	.374	89	.144	.303	-2	1.3	.298	88	54
Tyler Tolbert	443	.223	.281	.322	69	.099	.309	6	1.3	.268	71	45
Harold Castro	372	.258	.295	.403	94	.145	.311	0	1.2	.302	88	42
Michael Massey	427	.243	.286	.380	85	.137	.282	2	1.2	.289	84	44
Nick Loftin	428	.238	.323	.356	91	.118	.271	4	1.1	.302	91	46
Diego Castillo	412	.234	.308	.334	81	.100	.287	0	0.7	.287	82	40
Isan Díaz	241	.212	.297	.377	88	.165	.259	-1	0.7	.297	85	25
Jordan Groshans	401	.236	.302	.310	73	.074	.287	3	0.6	.274	73	34
Sam Kulasingam	527	.235	.298	.316	73	.081	.298	2	0.6	.273	74	49
Connor Kaiser	334	.185	.274	.291	59	.106	.287	5	0.6	.256	56	24
Dairon Blanco	318	.241	.305	.358	86	.117	.323	0	0.5	.293	83	40
Luke Maile	161	.223	.319	.331	83	.108	.308	-1	0.5	.293	76	15
Rudy Martin	320	.231	.300	.335	78	.104	.313	-3	0.4	.283	76	35
Tyler Gentry	441	.216	.289	.348	78	.132	.299	5	0.4	.282	79	41
Blake Mitchell	371	.182	.295	.292	66	.110	.305	-2	0.3	.268	76	31
Peyton Wilson	471	.221	.296	.330	76	.109	.298	-5	0.3	.280	79	45
Randal Grichuk	347	.238	.291	.406	93	.168	.278	0	0.3	.301	88	38
Javi Vaz	492	.230	.308	.307	74	.077	.258	-5	0.2	.277	75	44
Mark Canha	352	.234	.330	.340	89	.106	.288	-3	0.2	.301	83	35
Canyon Brown	268	.203	.267	.266	51	.063	.291	3	0.1	.242	56	18
Julio E. Rodriguez	214	.205	.271	.318	65	.113	.263	-1	0.1	.263	63	17
Luca Tresh	348	.222	.278	.361	78	.139	.282	-8	0.1	.279	79	32
Brian O’Keefe	279	.197	.263	.346	69	.149	.250	-3	0.0	.268	65	24
Justin Johnson	346	.199	.267	.280	54	.081	.267	5	0.0	.247	57	25
Adam Frazier	406	.231	.292	.326	74	.095	.275	-4	-0.1	.274	70	38
Dustin Dickerson	438	.194	.286	.243	51	.049	.273	2	-0.1	.247	53	30
Kyle Hayes	150	.159	.277	.222	43	.063	.288	1	-0.1	.239	42	8
Austin Charles	365	.203	.260	.294	55	.091	.298	4	-0.2	.246	60	29
Chris Brito	251	.217	.306	.295	71	.078	.295	2	-0.2	.272	74	20
Gavin Cross	477	.209	.263	.345	69	.136	.286	3	-0.2	.265	73	44
Hunter Renfroe	381	.219	.283	.372	82	.153	.256	-3	-0.2	.287	78	37
Jack Pineda	272	.208	.270	.265	52	.057	.292	0	-0.2	.243	52	19
MJ Melendez	526	.219	.283	.399	89	.180	.283	-6	-0.2	.295	91	58
Sam Ruta	306	.190	.265	.307	60	.117	.351	2	-0.2	.255	62	23
Colton Becker	369	.217	.293	.268	60	.051	.285	-6	-0.3	.257	60	32
Nick Pratto	455	.206	.287	.337	75	.131	.311	1	-0.3	.278	76	41
Brett Squires	469	.213	.279	.326	69	.113	.316	3	-0.4	.269	72	42
Diego Hernandez	330	.225	.258	.317	60	.092	.317	-1	-0.5	.251	64	29
Nick Gordon	287	.233	.276	.361	77	.128	.305	-8	-0.6	.277	77	29
Daniel Vazquez	496	.216	.276	.283	58	.067	.298	-4	-0.7	.250	62	40
Carter Frederick	402	.199	.266	.289	56	.090	.345	3	-0.8	.249	61	31
Diego Guzman	200	.173	.216	.240	28	.067	.316	1	-0.9	.204	38	11
Omar Hernandez	318	.195	.235	.247	36	.052	.260	0	-0.9	.216	40	20
Spencer Nivens	483	.206	.280	.315	67	.109	.273	-1	-0.9	.264	73	41
Bryan Gonzalez	371	.214	.263	.336	67	.122	.337	0	-0.9	.262	69	34
Derlin Figueroa	508	.199	.258	.290	54	.091	.263	-3	-1.2	.244	60	38
Erick Torres	490	.208	.264	.262	49	.054	.256	7	-1.4	.238	55	35
Trevor Werner	406	.182	.245	.307	54	.125	.301	0	-1.4	.244	56	31

Batters – Top Near-Age Offensive Comps

Batters – 80th/20th Percentiles

Player	80th BA	80th OBP	80th SLG	80th OPS+	80th WAR	20th BA	20th OBP	20th SLG	20th OPS+	20th WAR
Bobby Witt Jr.	.307	.365	.573	157	8.8	.258	.312	.450	111	5.0
Maikel Garcia	.288	.354	.436	119	5.3	.237	.299	.351	82	2.3
Carter Jensen	.268	.344	.454	121	4.6	.214	.289	.346	79	1.6
Vinnie Pasquantino	.277	.345	.507	133	3.3	.230	.297	.402	93	0.3
Kameron Misner	.232	.325	.402	100	2.8	.183	.272	.312	65	0.7
Salvador Perez	.269	.317	.480	117	3.0	.219	.271	.374	77	0.1
Jonathan India	.263	.362	.418	116	3.0	.213	.310	.326	81	0.4
Jac Caglianone	.280	.346	.505	134	3.0	.226	.292	.383	89	0.0
Carson Roccaforte	.233	.312	.405	99	2.9	.178	.260	.306	59	0.3
Drew Waters	.251	.318	.421	104	2.4	.194	.258	.322	64	0.2
Kyle Isbel	.264	.316	.408	101	2.5	.210	.265	.310	62	0.5
Bobby Dalbec	.249	.323	.445	111	2.7	.194	.270	.341	69	0.3
John Rave	.254	.329	.420	107	2.4	.201	.272	.323	65	-0.1
Tyler Tolbert	.258	.310	.374	92	2.7	.196	.253	.277	50	0.3
Harold Castro	.289	.326	.456	114	2.2	.232	.269	.359	74	0.3
Michael Massey	.270	.310	.429	106	2.3	.215	.258	.328	65	0.1
Nick Loftin	.262	.347	.404	110	2.1	.213	.295	.316	73	0.1
Diego Castillo	.255	.337	.374	98	1.6	.206	.283	.296	64	-0.2
Isan Díaz	.238	.323	.434	108	1.3	.188	.269	.326	67	0.1
Jordan Groshans	.263	.330	.351	90	1.5	.205	.273	.272	55	-0.4
Sam Kulasingam	.261	.322	.355	90	1.7	.211	.273	.276	56	-0.6
Connor Kaiser	.213	.303	.350	82	1.6	.154	.243	.246	40	-0.2
Dairon Blanco	.273	.334	.405	106	1.4	.212	.276	.310	67	-0.4
Luke Maile	.255	.349	.379	104	1.0	.192	.290	.290	65	0.2
Rudy Martin	.263	.330	.380	98	1.3	.205	.272	.291	59	-0.4
Tyler Gentry	.246	.318	.396	98	1.6	.190	.265	.305	61	-0.5
Blake Mitchell	.218	.327	.353	90	1.5	.149	.263	.237	44	-0.8
Peyton Wilson	.249	.325	.380	97	1.5	.194	.271	.293	60	-0.7
Randal Grichuk	.267	.321	.464	117	1.3	.211	.265	.357	74	-0.6
Javi Vaz	.255	.332	.344	91	1.2	.201	.280	.270	57	-1.0
Mark Canha	.263	.354	.377	104	0.9	.207	.302	.301	71	-0.7
Canyon Brown	.230	.300	.306	68	0.7	.172	.240	.227	33	-0.6
Julio E. Rodriguez	.237	.303	.377	91	0.8	.178	.239	.279	46	-0.4
Luca Tresh	.253	.309	.416	101	1.1	.193	.247	.313	58	-0.8
Brian O’Keefe	.226	.292	.405	90	0.8	.174	.235	.289	48	-0.7
Justin Johnson	.230	.299	.334	76	1.0	.174	.243	.242	36	-0.8
Adam Frazier	.258	.321	.377	93	1.0	.202	.265	.279	54	-1.1
Dustin Dickerson	.220	.313	.276	66	0.7	.167	.262	.210	36	-1.0
Kyle Hayes	.189	.309	.273	66	0.4	.128	.243	.181	24	-0.5
Austin Charles	.228	.289	.340	73	0.6	.173	.234	.256	35	-1.1
Chris Brito	.247	.336	.336	88	0.4	.191	.276	.259	53	-0.8
Gavin Cross	.237	.288	.401	90	1.1	.183	.237	.305	52	-1.3
Hunter Renfroe	.244	.311	.422	102	0.8	.192	.259	.329	65	-1.0
Jack Pineda	.236	.297	.304	70	0.4	.182	.243	.231	35	-0.8
MJ Melendez	.248	.309	.457	109	1.2	.194	.252	.341	66	-1.7
Sam Ruta	.222	.297	.364	83	0.7	.163	.240	.260	42	-0.9
Colton Becker	.241	.320	.301	76	0.5	.190	.269	.239	45	-1.0
Nick Pratto	.235	.314	.386	95	0.9	.182	.262	.296	58	-1.3
Brett Squires	.243	.307	.383	91	1.0	.185	.254	.288	53	-1.4
Diego Hernandez	.259	.290	.365	83	0.4	.200	.233	.274	43	-1.2
Nick Gordon	.265	.309	.424	102	0.3	.204	.250	.316	59	-1.3
Daniel Vazquez	.244	.306	.326	77	0.6	.189	.252	.246	40	-1.8
Carter Frederick	.228	.296	.327	74	0.1	.175	.240	.247	38	-1.8
Diego Guzman	.207	.250	.290	49	-0.4	.146	.189	.195	9	-1.5
Omar Hernandez	.226	.269	.292	58	0.0	.166	.208	.210	19	-1.6
Spencer Nivens	.232	.306	.360	85	0.2	.180	.255	.274	49	-2.1
Bryan Gonzalez	.246	.292	.388	88	0.1	.189	.235	.287	47	-1.9
Derlin Figueroa	.226	.289	.337	73	0.2	.174	.234	.253	38	-2.2
Erick Torres	.231	.288	.293	62	-0.5	.183	.237	.232	33	-2.4
Trevor Werner	.211	.273	.358	73	-0.3	.153	.219	.255	33	-2.4

Batters – Platoon Splits

Player	BA vs. L	OBP vs. L	SLG vs. L	BA vs. R	OBP vs. R	SLG vs. R
Bobby Witt Jr.	.287	.346	.515	.281	.334	.501
Maikel Garcia	.276	.342	.425	.256	.316	.374
Carter Jensen	.235	.307	.342	.245	.321	.425
Vinnie Pasquantino	.243	.309	.414	.258	.325	.468
Kameron Misner	.194	.276	.326	.217	.311	.371
Salvador Perez	.247	.302	.432	.246	.293	.430
Jonathan India	.242	.344	.379	.237	.333	.364
Jac Caglianone	.246	.311	.418	.257	.324	.457
Carson Roccaforte	.198	.271	.341	.209	.290	.355
Drew Waters	.221	.278	.359	.226	.298	.387
Kyle Isbel	.224	.280	.316	.241	.294	.374
Bobby Dalbec	.228	.303	.402	.218	.291	.377
John Rave	.223	.297	.346	.233	.307	.385
Tyler Tolbert	.234	.299	.347	.219	.273	.311
Harold Castro	.244	.280	.359	.262	.299	.416
Michael Massey	.231	.278	.350	.248	.290	.392
Nick Loftin	.243	.338	.360	.235	.315	.353
Diego Castillo	.241	.318	.358	.229	.302	.320
Isan Díaz	.212	.297	.333	.212	.297	.397
Jordan Groshans	.242	.315	.305	.233	.295	.314
Sam Kulasingam	.231	.294	.315	.237	.300	.317
Connor Kaiser	.189	.287	.316	.183	.267	.279
Dairon Blanco	.250	.315	.366	.235	.299	.353
Luke Maile	.222	.327	.333	.223	.315	.330
Rudy Martin	.227	.292	.309	.234	.304	.348
Tyler Gentry	.216	.298	.366	.215	.285	.338
Blake Mitchell	.175	.283	.238	.185	.299	.311
Peyton Wilson	.223	.296	.331	.220	.296	.330
Randal Grichuk	.250	.305	.435	.231	.284	.392
Javi Vaz	.226	.297	.304	.231	.311	.308
Mark Canha	.238	.333	.347	.233	.328	.337
Canyon Brown	.203	.268	.284	.202	.267	.258
Julio E. Rodriguez	.206	.280	.324	.205	.266	.315
Luca Tresh	.232	.294	.394	.217	.271	.346
Brian O’Keefe	.208	.276	.354	.190	.254	.342
Justin Johnson	.204	.279	.280	.197	.263	.280
Adam Frazier	.221	.277	.291	.234	.297	.337
Dustin Dickerson	.197	.291	.248	.192	.283	.242
Kyle Hayes	.171	.292	.220	.153	.270	.224
Austin Charles	.191	.255	.281	.207	.261	.299
Chris Brito	.215	.307	.308	.217	.306	.289
Gavin Cross	.208	.254	.336	.210	.266	.349
Hunter Renfroe	.226	.303	.396	.216	.275	.361
Jack Pineda	.194	.260	.239	.213	.273	.275
MJ Melendez	.221	.276	.364	.218	.286	.413
Sam Ruta	.182	.247	.286	.193	.271	.315
Colton Becker	.224	.306	.265	.213	.288	.269
Nick Pratto	.202	.283	.326	.208	.289	.343
Brett Squires	.200	.262	.304	.218	.286	.333
Diego Hernandez	.223	.253	.298	.226	.260	.325
Nick Gordon	.215	.257	.338	.239	.282	.368
Daniel Vazquez	.213	.279	.291	.217	.274	.280
Carter Frederick	.205	.276	.313	.196	.262	.278
Diego Guzman	.186	.226	.220	.167	.211	.250
Omar Hernandez	.196	.242	.228	.195	.232	.255
Spencer Nivens	.198	.263	.281	.209	.286	.328
Bryan Gonzalez	.220	.271	.340	.212	.260	.335
Derlin Figueroa	.192	.246	.267	.202	.262	.298
Erick Torres	.210	.269	.266	.207	.262	.260
Trevor Werner	.179	.248	.292	.183	.244	.313

Pitchers – Standard

Player	T	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO
Cole Ragans	L	28	8	5	3.51	24	22	118.0	95	46	12	41	148
Kris Bubic	L	28	8	5	3.57	23	19	106.0	98	42	10	35	105
Noah Cameron	L	26	8	8	4.08	27	27	141.3	135	64	19	44	122
Michael Wacha	R	34	9	10	4.10	27	27	147.0	143	67	18	43	112
Stephen Kolek	R	29	7	7	4.23	29	24	129.7	130	61	12	42	89
Seth Lugo	R	36	7	8	4.29	25	23	134.3	132	64	20	45	111
Hunter Harvey	R	31	4	2	3.04	46	1	47.3	40	16	4	12	50
Michael Lorenzen	R	34	7	8	4.57	25	24	130.0	126	66	20	47	103
Bailey Falter	L	29	6	7	4.00	26	24	118.3	117	59	16	40	83
Ryan Bergert	R	26	3	4	4.46	26	23	103.0	100	51	13	43	86
Luinder Avila	R	24	4	5	4.46	25	15	80.7	77	40	9	35	69
Kyle Wright	R	30	5	5	4.52	15	15	77.7	75	39	9	29	63
Daniel Lynch IV	L	29	4	5	4.35	40	13	97.3	100	47	13	33	75
Angel Zerpa	L	26	3	4	3.92	56	5	66.7	64	29	7	22	56
Jonathan Bowlan	R	29	4	5	4.24	42	8	80.7	78	38	10	29	74
Lucas Erceg	R	31	5	5	3.76	55	0	55.0	49	23	4	22	52
Ben Kudrna	R	23	4	7	4.84	23	21	100.3	101	54	12	45	77
Carlos Estévez	R	33	4	4	3.95	59	0	57.0	49	25	6	20	49
Hunter Owen	L	24	4	6	4.86	21	19	90.7	91	49	12	36	71
John Schreiber	R	32	3	3	3.97	63	0	56.7	51	25	6	20	53
Alex Lange	R	30	3	3	3.83	43	1	40.0	32	17	3	23	44
Alec Marsh	R	28	5	8	4.88	20	17	94.0	92	51	13	39	84
James McArthur	R	29	3	3	4.27	30	4	46.3	45	22	5	17	42
Mason Black	R	26	5	7	5.00	27	23	108.0	109	60	15	47	87
Steven Zobac	R	25	4	5	4.89	18	17	73.7	78	40	11	21	55
Hunter Patteson	L	26	4	5	5.04	22	18	94.7	102	53	14	31	64
Tyson Guerrero	L	27	4	5	5.00	18	17	81.0	81	45	12	35	67
Steven Cruz	R	27	2	3	4.13	52	1	52.3	46	24	5	23	48
Chandler Champlain	R	26	5	8	5.00	25	22	113.3	122	63	15	40	76
Spencer Turnbull	R	33	3	5	5.04	17	13	64.3	68	36	8	27	46
Jonathan Heasley	R	29	3	4	4.95	24	12	76.3	80	42	11	27	52
Dallas Keuchel	L	38	3	3	5.07	12	12	55.0	65	31	7	23	34
John Gant	R	33	3	5	5.13	16	16	66.7	73	38	10	29	45
Henry Williams	R	24	4	7	5.23	20	19	96.3	101	56	14	39	67
Ryan Ramsey	L	25	5	8	5.15	22	16	92.7	95	53	13	42	71
Shane Panzini	R	24	4	5	5.13	22	16	86.0	90	49	13	42	67
Taylor Clarke	R	33	2	2	4.64	45	3	54.3	56	28	8	16	42
Stephen Nogosek	R	31	2	3	4.75	34	4	47.3	46	25	6	23	40
Eric Cerantola	R	26	2	3	4.64	34	3	54.3	49	28	7	28	55
Oscar Rayo	L	24	2	4	4.89	29	4	73.7	78	40	10	25	47
Ryan Brady	R	27	2	4	4.79	27	1	47.0	50	25	6	16	34
Cruz Noriega	R	28	2	4	5.07	24	4	49.7	53	28	7	20	35
Anthony Simonelli	R	27	2	3	4.79	29	2	47.0	47	25	7	22	41
A.J. Causey	R	23	7	8	4.48	46	0	64.3	62	32	8	24	52
Justin Dunn	R	30	3	7	5.51	16	12	50.7	51	31	8	27	39
Nate Ackenhausen	L	24	1	2	4.99	29	2	39.7	38	22	5	21	34
Rich Hill	L	46	4	8	5.40	18	17	80.0	84	48	14	36	66
Nick Robertson	R	27	1	2	4.72	41	0	47.7	47	25	6	24	43
Sam Long	L	30	3	4	4.82	47	1	52.3	52	28	7	26	43
Joey Krehbiel	R	33	3	3	4.93	40	0	49.3	53	27	7	19	32
Chazz Martinez	L	26	2	3	4.79	45	0	62.0	62	33	8	29	51
Frank Mozzicato	L	23	3	7	5.57	24	20	85.7	89	53	12	55	61
Christian Chamberlain	L	26	2	4	5.02	41	0	43.0	38	24	5	29	42
Caden Monke	L	26	4	5	4.89	40	0	53.3	52	29	6	31	44
Ben Sears	R	26	2	3	5.14	38	0	56.0	60	32	8	20	36
Brandon Johnson	R	27	3	4	5.13	46	1	59.7	60	34	9	27	51
Nicholas Regalado	R	24	2	4	5.56	30	2	45.3	47	28	6	26	33
Beck Way	R	26	3	7	5.54	37	5	66.7	68	41	8	38	45
Ethan Bosacker	R	25	4	7	5.72	23	14	89.7	101	57	15	32	46
Natanael Garabitos	R	25	1	4	6.03	32	0	34.3	36	23	5	25	24
Marlin Willis	L	28	1	3	6.46	23	0	30.7	30	22	5	26	27

Pitchers – Advanced

Player	IP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	BB%	K%	BABIP	ERA+	3ERA+	FIP	ERA-	WAR
Cole Ragans	118.0	11.3	3.1	0.9	8.4%	30.2%	.294	119	116	3.10	84	2.2
Kris Bubic	106.0	8.9	3.0	0.8	7.8%	23.5%	.299	117	116	3.48	85	1.9
Noah Cameron	141.3	7.8	2.8	1.2	7.4%	20.4%	.284	102	104	4.22	98	1.7
Michael Wacha	147.0	6.9	2.6	1.1	6.9%	18.1%	.282	102	96	4.19	98	1.7
Stephen Kolek	129.7	6.2	2.9	0.8	7.6%	16.1%	.289	98	98	4.20	102	1.3
Seth Lugo	134.3	7.4	3.0	1.3	7.9%	19.4%	.284	97	90	4.56	103	1.3
Hunter Harvey	47.3	9.5	2.3	0.8	6.2%	25.9%	.288	137	132	3.04	73	1.0
Michael Lorenzen	130.0	7.1	3.3	1.4	8.4%	18.4%	.277	91	87	4.78	110	0.9
Bailey Falter	118.3	6.3	3.0	1.2	7.9%	16.4%	.277	93	93	4.58	108	0.9
Ryan Bergert	103.0	7.5	3.8	1.1	9.6%	19.2%	.288	93	96	4.47	108	0.8
Luinder Avila	80.7	7.7	3.9	1.0	9.9%	19.5%	.289	93	98	4.43	108	0.6
Kyle Wright	77.7	7.3	3.4	1.0	8.7%	18.8%	.287	92	92	4.40	109	0.6
Daniel Lynch IV	97.3	6.9	3.1	1.2	7.8%	17.8%	.293	96	95	4.50	104	0.6
Angel Zerpa	66.7	7.6	3.0	0.9	7.8%	19.8%	.291	106	109	3.97	94	0.6
Jonathan Bowlan	80.7	8.3	3.2	1.1	8.4%	21.3%	.296	98	99	4.13	102	0.6
Lucas Erceg	55.0	8.5	3.6	0.7	9.3%	22.0%	.292	111	109	3.69	90	0.5
Ben Kudrna	100.3	6.9	4.0	1.1	10.1%	17.2%	.292	86	92	4.68	116	0.4
Carlos Estévez	57.0	7.7	3.2	0.9	8.3%	20.4%	.267	106	101	3.97	95	0.4
Hunter Owen	90.7	7.0	3.6	1.2	9.1%	17.9%	.289	86	90	4.74	116	0.3
John Schreiber	56.7	8.4	3.2	1.0	8.4%	22.2%	.285	105	102	3.89	95	0.3
Alex Lange	40.0	9.9	5.2	0.7	13.0%	24.9%	.284	109	105	3.89	92	0.3
Alec Marsh	94.0	8.0	3.7	1.2	9.5%	20.5%	.293	85	86	4.64	117	0.3
James McArthur	46.3	8.2	3.3	1.0	8.5%	21.0%	.299	97	97	4.05	103	0.3
Mason Black	108.0	7.3	3.9	1.3	9.9%	18.4%	.291	83	87	4.89	120	0.2
Steven Zobac	73.7	6.7	2.6	1.3	6.6%	17.4%	.295	85	90	4.63	117	0.2
Hunter Patteson	94.7	6.1	2.9	1.3	7.5%	15.5%	.292	83	87	4.81	120	0.2
Tyson Guerrero	81.0	7.4	3.9	1.3	9.9%	18.9%	.289	83	85	4.99	120	0.2
Steven Cruz	52.3	8.3	4.0	0.9	10.2%	21.2%	.281	101	104	4.06	99	0.2
Chandler Champlain	113.3	6.0	3.2	1.2	8.0%	15.3%	.296	83	87	4.76	120	0.2
Spencer Turnbull	64.3	6.4	3.8	1.1	9.4%	16.1%	.297	83	80	4.89	121	0.1
Jonathan Heasley	76.3	6.1	3.2	1.3	8.1%	15.5%	.288	84	85	4.85	119	0.1
Dallas Keuchel	55.0	5.6	3.8	1.1	9.1%	13.5%	.314	82	75	4.89	122	0.1
John Gant	66.7	6.1	3.9	1.4	9.6%	14.9%	.296	81	77	5.16	123	0.0
Henry Williams	96.3	6.3	3.6	1.3	9.1%	15.6%	.289	80	85	5.09	125	0.0
Ryan Ramsey	92.7	6.9	4.1	1.3	10.1%	17.1%	.291	81	85	5.11	123	0.0
Shane Panzini	86.0	7.0	4.4	1.4	10.8%	17.3%	.294	81	86	5.18	123	0.0
Taylor Clarke	54.3	7.0	2.7	1.3	6.8%	17.9%	.291	90	86	4.53	111	0.0
Stephen Nogosek	47.3	7.6	4.4	1.1	11.0%	19.1%	.290	88	87	4.77	114	0.0
Eric Cerantola	54.3	9.1	4.6	1.2	11.5%	22.6%	.288	90	95	4.64	111	0.0
Oscar Rayo	73.7	5.7	3.1	1.2	7.8%	14.7%	.288	85	90	4.87	118	-0.1
Ryan Brady	47.0	6.5	3.1	1.1	7.7%	16.4%	.299	87	91	4.59	115	-0.1
Cruz Noriega	49.7	6.3	3.6	1.3	9.0%	15.8%	.295	82	84	4.92	122	-0.1
Anthony Simonelli	47.0	7.9	4.2	1.3	10.5%	19.5%	.292	87	89	4.95	115	-0.1
A.J. Causey	64.3	7.3	3.4	1.1	8.6%	18.7%	.284	93	99	4.47	107	-0.1
Justin Dunn	50.7	6.9	4.8	1.4	11.7%	17.0%	.283	76	76	5.69	132	-0.2
Nate Ackenhausen	39.7	7.7	4.8	1.1	11.9%	19.2%	.287	83	89	4.83	120	-0.2
Rich Hill	80.0	7.4	4.1	1.6	10.1%	18.6%	.294	77	73	5.29	130	-0.2
Nick Robertson	47.7	8.1	4.5	1.1	11.2%	20.1%	.297	88	92	4.63	114	-0.2
Sam Long	52.3	7.4	4.5	1.2	11.1%	18.3%	.290	87	85	4.86	115	-0.3
Joey Krehbiel	49.3	5.8	3.5	1.3	8.7%	14.7%	.291	85	82	4.93	118	-0.3
Chazz Martinez	62.0	7.4	4.2	1.2	10.4%	18.3%	.293	87	91	4.89	115	-0.3
Frank Mozzicato	85.7	6.4	5.8	1.3	13.6%	15.1%	.289	75	81	5.59	134	-0.4
Christian Chamberlain	43.0	8.8	6.1	1.0	14.6%	21.2%	.282	83	86	5.16	121	-0.4
Caden Monke	53.3	7.4	5.2	1.0	12.7%	18.0%	.291	85	88	4.94	117	-0.4
Ben Sears	56.0	5.8	3.2	1.3	8.2%	14.7%	.289	81	85	5.02	123	-0.5
Brandon Johnson	59.7	7.7	4.1	1.4	10.2%	19.2%	.291	81	84	4.92	123	-0.5
Nicholas Regalado	45.3	6.6	5.2	1.2	12.3%	15.6%	.293	75	79	5.48	133	-0.6
Beck Way	66.7	6.1	5.1	1.1	12.3%	14.6%	.286	75	78	5.53	133	-0.6
Ethan Bosacker	89.7	4.6	3.2	1.5	8.1%	11.6%	.286	73	77	5.55	137	-0.6
Natanael Garabitos	34.3	6.3	6.6	1.3	14.9%	14.3%	.290	69	74	6.19	145	-0.7
Marlin Willis	30.7	7.9	7.6	1.5	17.0%	17.6%	.284	65	67	6.55	155	-0.8

Pitchers – Top Near-Age Comps

Pitchers – Splits and Percentiles

Player	BA vs. L	OBP vs. L	SLG vs. L	BA vs. R	OBP vs. R	SLG vs. R	80th WAR	20th WAR	80th ERA	20th ERA
Cole Ragans	.241	.301	.384	.204	.276	.333	3.2	1.1	2.85	4.29
Kris Bubic	.250	.309	.370	.234	.297	.365	2.7	1.1	2.98	4.19
Noah Cameron	.218	.282	.387	.257	.316	.421	2.6	0.7	3.62	4.67
Michael Wacha	.235	.295	.377	.265	.315	.434	2.5	0.8	3.66	4.68
Stephen Kolek	.254	.325	.390	.255	.318	.387	2.1	0.6	3.76	4.74
Seth Lugo	.255	.328	.448	.251	.304	.414	2.1	0.3	3.75	5.02
Hunter Harvey	.226	.293	.369	.226	.270	.333	1.5	0.4	2.34	4.38
Michael Lorenzen	.246	.324	.431	.257	.315	.439	1.6	-0.1	4.09	5.26
Bailey Falter	.264	.309	.419	.250	.315	.419	1.6	0.1	4.04	5.11
Ryan Bergert	.254	.333	.418	.245	.316	.396	1.5	0.1	3.92	4.99
Luinder Avila	.246	.338	.381	.244	.325	.406	1.1	0.0	3.93	5.01
Kyle Wright	.260	.339	.473	.236	.309	.331	1.2	0.1	3.95	5.16
Daniel Lynch IV	.247	.315	.381	.263	.324	.436	1.2	-0.1	3.88	5.11
Angel Zerpa	.239	.299	.352	.251	.317	.404	1.1	0.1	3.34	4.56
Jonathan Bowlan	.248	.318	.418	.246	.311	.394	1.0	-0.1	3.75	5.11
Lucas Erceg	.235	.333	.367	.232	.304	.330	1.1	-0.2	3.09	4.65
Ben Kudrna	.250	.330	.383	.256	.337	.425	0.9	-0.2	4.45	5.40
Carlos Estévez	.238	.316	.376	.227	.289	.373	1.0	-0.3	3.18	5.00
Hunter Owen	.230	.304	.320	.264	.342	.457	0.9	-0.3	4.36	5.46
John Schreiber	.258	.330	.423	.220	.290	.339	0.9	-0.4	3.17	5.17
Alex Lange	.209	.329	.328	.222	.333	.333	0.7	-0.2	3.07	4.85
Alec Marsh	.273	.351	.460	.225	.309	.374	0.9	-0.4	4.30	5.52
James McArthur	.250	.330	.393	.242	.309	.384	0.6	-0.2	3.68	5.09
Mason Black	.233	.333	.402	.273	.342	.441	1.0	-0.5	4.48	5.62
Steven Zobac	.281	.342	.489	.250	.301	.406	0.8	-0.3	4.24	5.57
Hunter Patteson	.235	.281	.361	.280	.342	.477	0.7	-0.4	4.56	5.63
Tyson Guerrero	.253	.333	.391	.255	.341	.450	0.8	-0.5	4.38	5.63
Steven Cruz	.216	.303	.330	.245	.333	.391	0.5	-0.3	3.64	4.88
Chandler Champlain	.266	.336	.442	.270	.330	.430	1.1	-0.5	4.42	5.55
Spencer Turnbull	.266	.349	.430	.262	.340	.408	0.5	-0.3	4.47	5.76
Jonathan Heasley	.262	.331	.440	.267	.328	.447	0.5	-0.4	4.50	5.59
Dallas Keuchel	.255	.309	.353	.291	.358	.469	0.4	-0.3	4.48	5.88
John Gant	.270	.353	.467	.268	.333	.436	0.4	-0.5	4.63	5.84
Henry Williams	.252	.339	.380	.270	.339	.477	0.5	-0.6	4.80	5.76
Ryan Ramsey	.252	.347	.430	.262	.347	.431	0.5	-0.7	4.67	5.79
Shane Panzini	.267	.366	.453	.259	.332	.435	0.5	-0.6	4.67	5.72
Taylor Clarke	.263	.327	.434	.261	.306	.435	0.4	-0.5	3.94	5.52
Stephen Nogosek	.250	.351	.429	.248	.330	.386	0.4	-0.5	4.13	5.75
Eric Cerantola	.211	.314	.344	.252	.353	.429	0.5	-0.4	3.93	5.33
Oscar Rayo	.261	.327	.409	.267	.333	.447	0.3	-0.7	4.38	5.58
Ryan Brady	.259	.326	.400	.267	.328	.438	0.2	-0.6	4.25	5.65
Cruz Noriega	.256	.340	.411	.275	.333	.459	0.2	-0.6	4.54	5.98
Anthony Simonelli	.256	.356	.410	.252	.331	.449	0.2	-0.6	4.18	5.55
A.J. Causey	.284	.354	.474	.215	.291	.341	0.4	-0.6	3.90	5.15
Justin Dunn	.266	.391	.468	.250	.336	.423	0.2	-0.6	4.88	6.17
Nate Ackenhausen	.213	.327	.298	.259	.347	.454	0.1	-0.5	4.38	5.70
Rich Hill	.253	.352	.400	.266	.339	.480	0.4	-0.9	4.72	6.24
Nick Robertson	.253	.340	.410	.245	.336	.406	0.2	-0.7	4.07	5.55
Sam Long	.242	.329	.379	.259	.346	.439	0.1	-0.8	4.24	5.80
Joey Krehbiel	.262	.330	.393	.274	.336	.478	0.0	-0.7	4.32	5.67
Chazz Martinez	.257	.349	.351	.251	.342	.439	0.2	-0.8	4.13	5.51
Frank Mozzicato	.274	.386	.411	.255	.356	.441	0.2	-1.0	5.06	6.20
Christian Chamberlain	.218	.358	.309	.241	.371	.426	0.0	-0.7	4.26	5.76
Caden Monke	.230	.351	.361	.255	.353	.409	0.0	-0.8	4.30	5.63
Ben Sears	.250	.315	.400	.278	.348	.460	-0.2	-0.9	4.58	5.78
Brandon Johnson	.255	.342	.422	.254	.331	.433	-0.1	-1.0	4.59	5.90
Nicholas Regalado	.288	.400	.475	.238	.339	.386	-0.3	-0.9	5.02	6.13
Beck Way	.287	.399	.443	.236	.349	.399	-0.2	-1.2	4.98	6.38
Ethan Bosacker	.273	.344	.429	.282	.341	.505	-0.1	-1.2	5.23	6.29
Natanael Garabitos	.276	.408	.448	.256	.379	.449	-0.4	-1.0	5.45	7.00
Marlin Willis	.250	.400	.361	.250	.402	.476	-0.4	-1.1	5.56	7.69

Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned or have retired, players who will miss 2026 due to injury, and players who were released in 2025. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a Ambient Math-Rock Trip-Hop Yacht Metal band that only performs in abandoned malls, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.16.

Hitters are ranked by zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those that appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. It is important to remember that ZiPS is agnostic about playing time, and has no information about, for example, how quickly a team will call up a prospect or what veteran has fallen into disfavor.

As always, incorrect projections are either caused by misinformation, a non-pragmatic reality, or by the skillful sabotage of our friend and former editor. You can, however, still get mad at me on Twitter or on Bluesky. This last is, however, not an actual requirement.

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Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas, baseball field renamed to honor fallen deputy Elijah Ming

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Kansas City, Kansas, baseball field renamed to honor fallen deputy Elijah Ming

KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.

—

Elijah Ming’s son is only two — too young to hold many memories of his dad.

Kansas City, Kansas, baseball field renamed to honor fallen deputy Elijah Ming

But he will remember him. Elijah lives on in Deuce — the little one who also carries his father’s name.

KSHB

“He definitely carries a lot of traits that Elijah had,” said Elijah’s wife, Tiara Ming.

One of those traits now stands tall on a KCK baseball field. On Thursday, fallen Wyandotte County Deputy Elijah Ming was honored once again as Heathwood Park was renamed Elijah Ming Memorial Field.

“It’ll be here for generations and decades to come,” said KCK Mayor Tyrone Garner.

“That’s a sign to our young people in this community that these are the folks we should be looking up to,” said Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic.