Five questions for the Royals to answer this spring training

The roster may not be quite set.

Royals pitchers and catchers will assemble in Arizona tomorrow to officially report to spring training. The team is flying high after improving by 30 games last year and making their first playoff appearance in nine years, but they’ll have to prove their performance was no fluke. The team retained free agent pitchers Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen, signed reliever Carlos Estévez, and made a bold trade for on-base machine Jonathan India to improve the offense, giving hope they can return to October baseball for a deeper run.

But there are still several questions to be answered by the team this spring as they prepare for the season. Here are the five biggest questions facing the Royals in spring training.

How will Jonathan India and Michael Massey split time at second base?

When the Royals acquired Jonathan India from the Reds in a trade for pitcher Brady Singer, it made sense to add a high on-base hitter to set the table for the rest of the lineup. What made less sense was how he fit on the field defensively. The Royals already had a second baseman in Michael Massey, whose 105 OPS+ in 2024 was identical to India’s (Massey yields nearly 60 points of on-base percentage to India, but hit for a lot more power in a much tougher home run park).

Massey is the superior defender at second, but struggles against lefties. Third base is also an issue with Maikel Garcia putting up the worst offensive numbers of any qualified hitter last year. But India does not have the arm to play third, and Massey is inexperienced at the position.

The Royals are not likely to have a full-time designated hitter, so you will likely see Massey and India at DH, as well as outfield when they’re not playing second. But how the playing time will be doled out remains to be seen.

Who will play in the outfield?

Royals outfielders were the third-worst in baseball offensively, and yet the team has not acquired a single player who spent last year primarily as an outfielder. The outfield remains a glaring hole and a missed opportunity. Kyle Isbel was one of the weakest hitters in baseball last year, but at least has value as one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball. But bad hitting plus bad fielding is a terrible combination that plagued other Royals outfielders. Isbel was flanked by two of the least-valuable hitters in baseball last year - MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe.

The Royals have suggested that India could play some outfield, as well as Massey and Garcia. Only Garcia has ever played a professional inning in the outfield, and he was out there for less than two innings. Moving from the infield to the outfield is a move down the defensive spectrum, so perhaps the transition would be more like Alex Gordon’s successful move from third to left, and less like MJ Melendez’s mixed results move from catcher to left.

But banking on one or more of them to make a move, even on a part-time basis, seems like a big risk, without a ton of upside. Playing the outfield at Kauffman Stadium requires a lot of range, and a misplay can turn a single into a triple or worse. And the best case scenario if this works out is that it allows the Royals to get a couple of league-average hitters into the lineup. Maybe there is reason to think one or more of those players can make the transition, or that MJ Melendez turns the proverbial corner. But this kind of uncertainty seems more befitting of a rebuilding team than a team hoping to contend.

Who will win the fifth starter spot?

The strength of the Royals’ rotation really carried them into the post-season last year, and they return nearly the entire staff save for Singer. Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, and Michael Lorenzen are set to be in the rotation, but the last spot is up for grabs.

Alec Marsh, Kris Bubic, and Kyle Wright are the three favorites for the final spot, with Daniel Lynch IV and rookie Noah Cameron as dark horse candidates. Marsh looked terrific in some starts last year, but suffered from inconsistency. Bubic was outstanding last year as a reliever, but has a career 4.99 ERA in 60 starts, and has pitched just 46 innings over the last two years. Kyle Wright is also coming off injury, having missed a season and a half with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

General manager J.J. Picollo has said that a rotation really needs seven-to-nine pitchers to get through a season, so all of these pitchers could be starters at some point. But if the team wants to get off to a good start, they will need to find the right fifth starter.

How will the Royals find room for all their relievers?

The bullpen was a major issue for much of the first four months of the season, but the team seemed to figure out their bullpen formula by the time post-season play began. The Royals bolstered the pen with the addition of All-Star reliever Carlos Estévez and they’re hoping Hunter Harvey can return from his back injury back to the form he showed in Washington.

The additions have given the Royals a nice problem to have - too much inventory in their bullpen. Estévez joins Lucas Erceg as a lock for the late innings. Harvey, Angel Zerpa, and John Schreiber are likely to handle the middle innings.

That leaves three remaining spots in the pen. Sam Long was very solid as a lefty last year and would seem to be a favorite to land a role. Chris Stratton had a poor season in 2024, but would the Royals cut him and eat the $4.5 million remaining on his deal? Will they hang onto the hard-throwing, but enigmatic Carlos Hernández, or will they expose him to waivers since he is out of options? Will James McArthur earn another chance to be “The General?”

The pitchers that don’t make the rotation could also end up in the bullpen, which could make the competition even more crowded. But it’s good to have several options, and the bullpen could actually be a strength for the Royals in 2025.

Are the Royals done adding to the roster?

Back in December, Picollo said he was 75 percent done adding to the roster. Since then he reportedly pursued free agent slugger Anthony Santander and checked in on Jurickson Profar, but failed to land either. He pivoted instead to sign Estévez to bolster the bullpen, but the lineup could still use an offensive boost.

The remaining free agent outfield options are pretty slim, but the Royals reportedly favor the trade market as an avenue to upgrade. Earlier this off-season they were reportedly open to trading Bubic or Marsh in a deal for a bat. As spring training plays out and the Royals figure out their rotation, one of them could be made available to teams needing more pitching depth. The Royals have been connected in trade rumors to Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, Mets third baseman Brett Baty, and Angels outfielder Taylor Ward. Spring training trades happen all the time - the Royals acquired John Schreiber last year in the first week of camp. There are still six weeks until the Royals open the season, plenty of time to upgrade the roster.