2024 Kansas City Royals Preview
2024 Kansas City Royals Preview Shawn Childs is a legend in the fantasy baseball world and his advice is invaluable. A member of the NFBC Hall of Fame, Shawn has several top-5 finishes in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship as […]
2024 Kansas City Royals Preview
Shawn Childs is a legend in the fantasy baseball world and his advice is invaluable. A member of the NFBC Hall of Fame, Shawn has several top-5 finishes in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship as well as five NFBC auction championship titles under his belt. He also boasts several prominent in the high-stakes market and multiple huge DFS wins. Shawn’s process and evaluation are among the most thorough in the sport and his exclusive FPGscore metric is changing the game. This 2024 team preview and insight is courtesy of the brilliant mind of one of the sport’s best.
This 2024 Kansas City Royals Preview is courtesy of Shawn Childs. Read Shawn’s expert fantasy analysis at his Substack.
The Royals have been another weak link in the AL Central standings over the past 38 years. Their only two playoffs over this span led to appearances in the World Series. Kansas City won the championship title in 1985 and 2015. They’ve missed the postseason for eight consecutive years, winning only 56 games in 2023.
Their pitching staff ranked 28th in ERA (5.17). The Royals’ relievers posted a 5.23 ERA (29th) with 25 wins, 38 losses, 28 saves, and 634 strikeouts over 623.1 innings. They scored 676 runs (23rd), hit 163 home runs (27th), and drove in 651 runs (23rd). Kanas City finished with 163 stolen bases on 210 attempts (77.6%).
In the offseason, they signed OF Hunter Renfroe, IF Garrett Hampson, SP Michael Wacha, SP Seth Lugo, RP Will Smith, and RP Chris Stratton. The Royals lost SP Zack Greinke, RP Josh Staumont, SP Brad Keller, RP Amir Garrett, 3B Hunter Dozier, and OF Jackie Bradley. Kansas City acquired SP Kyle Wright (out for the season) for SP Jackson Kowar.
Their offense starts with the elite bat of SS Bobby Witt. The Royals expect 1B Vinnie Pasquantino, 2B Michael Massey, C MJ Melendez, and 3B Maikel Garcia to develop into a competitive offensive corps. C Salvador Perez and OF Hunter Renfroe add length and experience to the lineup.
If SP Cole Ragans proves to be the real deal and SP Brady Singer regains his 2022 form, Kansas City will win many more games this season. The back of the rotation has a band-aid feel as the Royals wait for their next wave of young arms to develop. The ninth inning should be a battle between RP Will Smith and RP Nick Anderson.
Starting Lineup
3B Maikel Garcia
Kansas City signed Garcia out of Venezuela at age 17. Over his first three seasons in the minors, he hit .277 with 135 runs, five home runs, 94 RBIs, and 66 steals over 790 at-bats. His bats began to show more pop in 2022 (11 home runs over 487 at-bats) between AA and AAA. In his minor league career, Garcia graded well with his walk rate (10.9) and strikeout rate (16.4).
His 2023 season started off slow at AAA (.242 with 11 runs, one home run, 17 RBIs, and four steals over 95 at-bats). Kansas City called him up in early May. Garcia has a productive run from May 23rd to September 5th (.294/45/4/40/18 over 327 at-bats). His bat had more value vs. lefties (.315 with two home runs over 108 at-bats). He had a weaker approach (strikeout rate – 22.3 and walk rate – 7.4) with the Royals.
Garcia continues to have weakness in his average hit rate, suggesting 15 home runs shouldn’t be a viable outcome until he gets stronger or adds more loft. His hard-hit rate (50.6 – 24th) and exit velocity (91.8 – 40th) paints a more exciting picture. In his time in the majors, he has had a groundball swing path (48.3%), leading to a low flyball rate (27.5) and HR/FB rate (3.9).
Fantasy Outlook: Garcia profiles as an edge in three categories (batting average, runs, and stolen bases) early in his career, fitting what Kansas City needs at the top of their batting order. His ADP (216) in the early draft season in the high-stakes market for a fantasy team that started their team build with plus power while looking for help in average and speed. I’m feeling 90 runs, 10 home runs, 60 RBIs, and 40 stolen bases, making him a winning investment in 2024 while also understanding his power may come quicker than expected. Garcia is the cousin of Ronald Acuna.
SS Bobby Witt…
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