The Royals are already sorting through 2027 questions in real time, and the bullpen sits right at the center of that conversation.
Kansas City has spent this season cycling through relievers, dealing with injuries to the expected anchors and watching Lucas Erceg struggle while Matt Strahm was released. With the season now in post-trade-deadline evaluation mode, every arm in the bullpen is being judged on the same basic question: is this just a bridge to get through innings, or a piece that still makes sense when 2027 arrives?
That makes the next few weeks important for a group that still has more than 40 games left to sort itself out. For some pitchers, the Royals may already have enough reason to keep them in the mix. For others, the runway looks much shorter.
Nate Pearson is one of the more intriguing cases. Kansas City brought in the former first-round pick from the Houston Astros in July, and the talent has never really been the issue.
The issue has always been the same: electric pitch shapes, shaky command, too many free passes, and too many mistakes left in the middle of the zone. The Royals haven’t fully solved that yet, but there is at least some sign of progress.
The project is clearly unfinished, but the club has room to let it keep unfolding.
Steven Cruz is in a different lane. He is not fighting for a 2027 job so much as building toward a bigger role right now, maybe even as the closer to finish out this 2026 season.
The towering Dominican has long been one of those pitchers who looks big-league ready but starts the year in Triple-A Omaha anyway, and his value is easy to overlook. Since becoming an everyday MLB reliever, Cruz has posted a 2.84 ERA and struck out 27.6% of the batters he has faced.
His 4.38 FIP since May 9 shows the rough edges are still there, especially the home run problem, but the stuff is loud. Cruz is averaging 98.4 mph on his four-seamer this season, which puts him in the league’s 96th percentile, and his slightly lower arm angle from the past two seasons only adds to the case for more high-leverage work in Kansas City.
Mason Black is less flashy, but he has a path to sticking around because the Royals need arms and, more importantly, need starting help for 2027. The former San Francisco Giants pitcher has looked like more of a swingman, and that is not exactly a glamorous label.
Still, he can help Kansas City get through innings, and that matters when the roster already has rotation questions looming and nearly an entire rotation set to begin the season on the IL. Black has had his share of trouble, mostly from walks and inconsistent command, but he gave the Royals something useful in his most recent outing: two earned runs in five innings out of the bullpen against the Chicago Cubs after Daniel Lynch IV struggled.
The line was messy, with more walks than strikeouts and some fortunate contact, but he still logged 15 outs when Kansas City needed them.
Craig Kimbrel is the one who looks headed the other way. The 38-year-old joined the Royals before their West Coast trip and became his third team this season alone, which is only the latest stop in a stretch that has seen him play for nine different franchises over the past six seasons.
His career resume is obvious - 440 saves and a place among the elite names in MLB history - and the spread-arms pose remains one of the most recognizable in the sport. But the version of Kimbrel that once overpowered hitters with a four-seam fastball and curveball is long gone.
The fastball has lost plenty of zip over the last decade, and even with movement still present, it no longer sets up the curveball the way it once did. He has not recorded an MLB win or save since 2024, and that says plenty about where he stands now.
The Royals uniform could be one of the last he wears in MLB.
In Other News...
Royals Downtown Ballpark Plan Hits A Crucial New City Hurdle
The Royals push for a new downtown ballpark is heading into a key stretch, with Kansas City officials set to review the funding and rezoning package tied to the project. The plan calls for the stadium to rise on the south side of Crown Center at 26th and Gillham, a site that has already become the center of plenty of public debate as the team tries to move its long-term home into the heart of the city.
The next step comes as the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee takes up the proposal at City Hall, with the political clock now working against everyone involved. A local group is pressing for a public vote before any city money is committed, and the council has a late-August deadline to act if it wants to keep the question from landing on November ballots. [Read more 🡒]
Caglianone Is Becoming The Royals Lineup Force They Needed
Since the start of August, Jac Caglianone has started to look less like a promising bat and more like a middle-of-the-order problem for opposing pitchers. The Royals have gotten a hit from him in every game he has played this month, a run that has included a 12-game hitting streak and six multihit outings, the kind of steady production Kansas City has been chasing as it tries to lengthen its lineup.
That latest surge showed up again at Angel Stadium, where Caglianone went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs in the Royals 7-6 win, highlighted by a two-run homer off a left-hander. He has been driving the ball with authority all month, hitting .446 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 49 plate appearances, and the question now is less about whether he belongs in the lineup than how much more damage he can keep doing as the games get bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Cannot Ignore This Lineup Need If They Want To Contend
The Royals have spent much of this season sorting through where the roster still falls short of a true contender, and second base has become one of the clearest spots on the checklist. Michael Massey has handled the position most of the year and has taken a step forward from last season, but the overall production still looks like something Kansas City will have to address if it wants to move beyond simply staying in the mix.
Pitching will get plenty of offseason attention, but the middle infield cannot be treated as a minor detail. The Royals need more certainty and more impact at second base than they have gotten so far, which leaves the front office weighing how aggressive it wants to be in finding an upgrade and how to best manage Massey's role as the roster gets reshaped for a more serious push. [Read more 🡒]