Kansas

Kansas City Royals Hitting, Pitching Like Legit AL Central Contenders

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Kansas City Royals Hitting, Pitching Like Legit AL Central Contenders

Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. hits a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball … [+] game against the Houston Astros in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

The Kansas City Royals barely lost the race to the absolute bottom of major league baseball last season, finishing 56-106, better than only the 50-win Oakland Athletics. Truth be told, however, they weren’t nearly that bad.

My batted ball-based method saw them as a 68-win true talent club – still awful, but nowhere near the A’s area code. In fact, their offense rated just a little worse than league average, and that was with promising young 1B Vinnie Pasquantino missing most of the season with a significant shoulder injury. They were led by cornerstone SS Bobby Witt Jr., who finished 7th in the MVP voting with a 30 homer/49 steal line.

The pitching? Well, it stunk. Way down in Oakland’s neighborhood. Their staff ranked dead last in the AL in strikeouts, and all but one of their main starters posted ERAs over 5.00.

The one exception – lefty Cole Ragans – was notable, and gave them hope moving forward. After proving unable to draft and develop dominant homegrown starters, they hit big on Ragans, acquired from the Texas Rangers at last year’s trading deadline for reliever Aroldis Chapman. He went 5-2, 2.64, in 12 late-season starts, with a glittering 89/27 K/BB ratio in 71 2/3 innings. He combines raw stuff with polished command, and put it all together immediately upon his arrival in Kansas City.

Still, the Royals knew they didn’t have enough starting pitching on hand, and set out to add more in the middle tier of the free agent market. They brought aboard righties Seth Lugo (three years, $45 million) and Michael Wacha (two years, $32 million) to at least add stability to the rotation. Some prognosticators scratched their heads at these investments, citing them as frivolous expenditures for a club in the early stages of a rebuild. But if they can slot into the rotation and offer them 160-180 innings apiece of mere competence, that would shorten games on a specific basis and the season in general.

And Lugo has been much more than competent in the early going, posting a 1.05 ERA in his first three starts. Now he’s only struck out 13 batters in 25 2/3 innings, so he’s due for some regression on balls in play, but he’s clearly better than other in-house alternatives.

Another big development has been the return of Brady Singer – the rare homegrown starter who has shown flashes of excellence over the years – from a late-2023 back injury. He’s posted an 0.98 ERA and an 18/4 K/BB over his first 18 1/3 innings. Lefty Ragans and righty Singer are the two Royals’ starters with above MLB-average upside.

They need their starters to give them six-plus innings on most nights, as the bullpen is unproven and doesn’t miss a ton of bats. In fact, while the Royals have allowed the fewest runs (48) in the AL through Monday’s games, with the 2nd lowest ERA (2.86), they ranked dead last in the circuit in strikeouts. Their spacious ballpark and the early season cold weather has cut them some breaks so far – while their pitching does appear much improved, you simply cannot be an above average run prevention outfit while striking out so few batters.

But maybe the pitching doesn’t need to be elite for the Royals to contend. Despite the pitcher-friendly nature of Kauffman Stadium, they could ultimately have an above average offense. They’re 1st in the AL with 87 runs scored, and the bulk of the damage has been done by a cadre of youngsters, led by face of the franchise Witt, 24, whose signing of a long-term, huge-money deal was covered in this space not long ago.

Pasquantino, 26, has locked down first base, MJ Melendez, 25, appears to be coming into his own in left field, while Maikel Garcia, 24, and Nelson Velazquez, 25, are holding down third base and DH while showing impressive batted ball metrics that offer hope for the future.

Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, 34, remains a durable, powerful presence behind the plate, and is off to a .339-.369-.565 start that is bettered only by Witt’s (.314-.368-.657). The lineup has length, power and speed. They’re 2nd in the AL in homers and 1st in steals. Again, they might not be THAT good, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying their offense is at least…….good. And in comparison to their track record in recent years, that’s saying something.

So like yesterday’s topic, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals just might have the goods to be heard from in an eminently winnable American League Central. The bullpen is going to need fortification for that to happen, but that’s what the trading deadline is for. This time around, the Royals might be on the other end of the type of trade that delivered them Ragans last year.

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Kansas

IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Published

9 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.

Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.

In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.

He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.

In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.

He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.

The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.

The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.

Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.

More transfer portal information:

For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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Kansas

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

Published

21 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.

The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.

Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.

Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.

Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.

Kansas football transfer portal additions

Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle

Kansas football transfer portal departures

Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)

Jacoby Davis (cornerback)

Dylan Brooks (defensive end)

Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)

Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)

Trey Lathan (linebacker)

Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)

Harry Stewart III (running back)

Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end

Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)

David McComb (3-star quarterback)

Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)

Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)

Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)

Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)

Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)

Damani Maxson (3-star safety)

Jaden Hamm (tight end)

Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)

JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)

Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)

Efren Jasso (punter)

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

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