Royals' insider overjoyed with how the starting pitching depth has looked this spring

Quality pitching was not hard to come by for the Kansas City Royals last season. They finished the regular season with a team 3,73 ERA, which was the sixth-lowest across Major League Baseball. 

Now, prepare for Kansas City to be even better on the mound. Cole Ragans has entered camp healthy this year, which is a great sign as his 2025 season was derailed by various injuries. 

Ragans is the ace of the staff, so losing him was not ideal. But the rest of the starting rotation stepped up, but they needed the offense to step up to close out on a postseason spot. 

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Royals' insider overjoyed with how the starting pitching depth has looked this spring

Kansas City has to feel good about where its starting rotation is, not long before Opening Day is upon us. They have their ace back on the staff that overperformed last season, and there are others to be excited about as well. 

Seth Lugo looks poised to continue his excellence with the Royals, and Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic also had great years. Royals' insider Anne Rogers could not be happier with just how loaded the rotation has looked this spring. 

"It was one thing to know the Royals had sitting depth going into spring, but to see it play out is a whole different thing. Kansas City has a very good rotation, if healthy. And its depth is good, too, starting with Ryan Bergert. While Stephen Kolek is dealing with a left oblique strain this spring, the Royals don't think it'll sideline him for too long into the season, and he was also great for them after coming over post-Trade Deadline last year. And then there's Bailey Falter."

In this day and age of max velocity pitching, you can never have too many arms. Kansas City won't have to worry too much if someone goes down with an injury. They just need the offense to step up and give the pitching staff some runs to work with in 2026.

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