Kansas

2026 ZiPS Projections: Kansas City Royals

Published

7 months ago

December 12, 2025

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

Chicken chain expanding to Kansas and five other Midwest states

Published

9 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Press Room

Chicken chain expanding to Kansas and five other Midwest states

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Colorado-based chicken restaurant Birdcall is expanding into Kansas.

The company announced Friday its plans to expand into Kansas and five other Midwestern states over the next five years. Birdcall plans to add six to eight fast-casual restaurants in Wichita and Topeka.

“The Midwest represents a tremendous opportunity for Birdcall,” CEO Mark Lohmann said. “From our award-winning chicken sandwiches and other handcrafted menu offerings to our commitment to innovation and community, we believe Birdcall offers an experience that resonates with today’s guests and is a natural fit for the region.”

Other locations announced are:

Indiana – 10 to 15 restaurants across Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville and Fort Wayne
Missouri – Up to 18 restaurants across St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City
Nebraska – Seven to 10 restaurants across Omaha and Lincoln
Ohio – Up to 20 restaurants across Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo
Wisconsin – 10 to 15 restaurants across Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton

Birdcall’s menu features a variety of chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers and nuggets, salads, tater tots, fries, and more. The restaurant also makes its own in-house sauces and serves up draft beer and house-made margaritas, with happy hour specials.

The company said each restaurant will use self-service kiosks and occupy about 2,300 square feet, with indoor and outdoor seating that can serve up to 150 people.

Birdcall currently operates 17 restaurants across Colorado, Arizona and Texas.

For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.

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Kansas

Video shows disruption during Osawatomie City Council meeting with data center developer

Published

19 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Press Room

Video shows disruption during Osawatomie City Council meeting with data center developer

KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.

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A video shared by a viewer, shows a resident speaking at the Osawatomie, Kansas City Council meeting being escorted out by police on Thursday evening.

The video shows a man holding a “Hell No Alcove” sign, while commenting about a blighted property, which according to public records is owned by Pacific Apartments, LLC, operating out of the same address as Alcove Development in Lawrence, Kansas.

KSHB 41

A video submitted by a viewers shows a resident being escorted out of a city of Osawatomie, Kansas council meeting that included an appearance from a data center developer.

Alcove Development is behind the effort to build a $1 billion, 283-acre data center development in Osawatomie’s northland property.

The video, shared by a viewer, goes on the show two law enforcement officers approaching the individual, who is Lee Brewer, at the podium, after he begins to yell, while the crowd joins in behind him. Lee Brewer reached out to KSHB 41 late Thursday night, identifying himself as the person who was escorted out.

Osawatomie, Kansas Police Chief Dave Stutteville is seen in the video also approaching the man.

KSHB 41 Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa reached out to the Police Chief, City Manager, and Mayor Nick Hampson for comment late on Thursday night and is waiting on a response.

Residents in contact with Gamboa attending the meeting shared the meeting was still in session after 9:30 p.m.

Thursday night’s meeting was the city and Alcove Development’s attempt at sharing potential benefits of a data center for the community.

Gamboa has long covered the data center project in Osawatomie, Kansas — and neighbors to the project have voiced their opposition to the proposed development.

This is the first time Alcove Development has approached the public, but not the first time it has worked with the city of Osawatomie.

In late 2025, Alcove Development approached the city with the project and weeks later, a pre-development agreement was signed giving Alcove exclusive rights to the development for three years.

But city council meeting records from 2023 show, the city of Osawatomie entered into a pre-development agreement with Alcove Development to redevelop a property known as Old Swenson School.

Alcove Development had six months to asses the condition of the property and determine a course of action for redevelopment, and the overall agreement would last 18 months, according to public records.

The pre-development agreements states, Alcove would consider asking for tax breaks on the project, including utilizing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

At the time, the property had sat in disrepair since 2016, according to the records, and was frequently found in violation of city code.

If the re-development were to fall through, the city would be on the hook to purchase the property from the developer for $25,000, with unclear total costs for infrastructure improvements.

KSHB 41 will follow up on the status on this project at a later date.

Earlier this week, Miami County Reporter Ryan Gamboa, sat down with Donna Ingram who doesn’t live far from the data center site.

Ingram expressed her concerns about the amount of infrastructure that would be built to operate a data center, and how it might overtake the land around her home.

She expressed concerns because the City of Osawtomie changed the public comment guidelines of a promise town hall with the developer.

“Watching this process play out is disheartening,” Ingram said in an interview on Monday. “A town hall was promised that didn’t come to fruition… I don’t believe it’s the definition. This is a city council meeting. We’re the ones that are gonna live next to it. We’re the ones that live in the path of the infrastructure.”

The city told KSHB 41 on Monday in a statement, they changed the format to prioritize the voices of city taxpayers, as county taxpayers have dominated the public comment periods over the past couple of months.

Mayor Nick Hampson also told Gamboa in an earlier interview he was hoping to have a productive “town hall” — instead, the first meeting with the public and the developer of the project was during a formal and regularly scheduled city council meeting.

The city also required residents to submit questions ahead of time, and the city would filter questions to the developer, while limiting public comment to three minutes.

“We have been and will continue to hear from the residents that are in the county and closest to this project,” Hampson told KSHB 41 in an email on Monday.

Alcove Development owned Property — A former school house in Osawatomie, Kansas, owned by a company operating out of Alcove Development’s address.

Residents shared a record to KSHB 41, submitted to the city for a formal investigation into 1009 Pacific Avenue in Osawatomie, which is owned by a company operating out of Alcove Development’s address.

The dilapidated property is the a former school house, that sits with broken windows, and other parts of the building breaking down.

The Miami County Republic reporting on Thursday, the city launched an investigation into the building.

Residents cite the buildings deteriorating condition and potential danger to the public, and lack of property maintenance.

Lee Brewer issued a comment regarding the incident at Thursday night’s meeting, stating he was escorted out after the Mayor closed public comment, and he was not on the list.

Brewer told KSHB 41, he has a time -stamped email of pre-submitted questions ahead of the meeting. KSHB 41 asked Brewer to review the email, and is waiting for an answer.

I am severely disappointed in our Mayor and the city council. They told us we were required to send in an email with our questions and our address to prove we were citizens of the town by Wednesday the 24th at noon. I have my email which is timestamped at 10:26 a.m. Wednesday the 24th. They shut me down and first told me I didn’t put the email in and then once I was kicked out of there I was told by people coming out that they were told I turned in my email too late. I’m not a math teacher but last time I looked at my clock 10:26 a.m. falls just over an hour and a half before noon. I mean correct me if I’m wrong. I thought because the mayor and I were having decent conversations on Facebook Messenger, whereas I would ask him questions and he would answer to the best of his ability. And I would thank him I thought we were pretty cordial. So to basically call me a liar in front of the entire town on video recording, take away my freedom of speech My first amendment right, and have me removed from a public building was completely wrong I am very disappointed in our city council and mayor. When I approached the podium all I was trying to do was point out that resolution number 1169 in Osawatomie Kansas refers to Alcove development LLC being the owner of the old Swenson School at 1009 Pacific. As I pointed out in these earlier messages to you Alcove has left this building dilapidated in ruins and a danger to our community. Our great city council and mayor seem to have other plans for me being able to speak though.

Lee Brew, via Facebook to KSHB 41 News

KSHB 41 reached out to Alcove Development late on Thursday night, and is waiting on a response.

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