The Royals’ season may have gone sideways as a team, but three of their bats are still in line for hardware.
Bobby Witt Jr., Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone were all named finalists for the 2026 Silver Slugger Awards, with the winners set to be announced on November 17. Kansas City is one of five clubs with at least three finalists, alongside the White Sox, Tigers, Brewers and Cubs.
Witt is chasing a third straight Silver Slugger after taking the award in 2024 and 2025. No Royals player has ever won it in three consecutive seasons, and among American League shortstops, only Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter have put together three-year runs like that.
Witt’s 2026 line - .281/.359/.441 with 18 home runs, 33 doubles, 94 runs scored and 45 stolen bases in 143 games - backed up the case. His 7.0 fWAR finished second in the majors, behind only Pete Crow-Armstrong, and he led AL shortstops in hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases.
He’s up against Zach Neto of the Angels and Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers.
Jensen’s first full season put him squarely in the mix at catcher. The rookie hit .239/.323/.467 with 27 home runs, 35 doubles and 81 RBI in 149 games, and among AL catchers he finished first in runs scored and doubles, tied for first in home runs and second in RBI and walks.
His 27 homers set a Royals rookie record, topping Bob Hamelin’s 24 from 1994, and his 64 extra-base hits were the most ever by a rookie catcher in major league history, breaking Mike Piazza’s mark of 61 from 1993. If Jensen gets the nod, he’d be only the second Royals catcher to win a Silver Slugger, joining Salvador Perez, who has won five times.
He’d also become just the fifth rookie catcher ever to win the award, joining Benito Santiago, Matt Nokes, Craig Biggio and Piazza. Dillon Dingler of the Tigers stands in his way.
Caglianone made his own case in the outfield with a big all-around season at the plate. He hit .289/.340/.494 with 23 home runs, 32 doubles and 75 RBI, ranking fourth in the American League in batting average, sixth in slugging percentage and ninth in OPS at .834.
August was his loudest month, when he posted a .411/.429/.684 line and earned AL Player of the Month honors. He also flashed the kind of power that turns heads, averaging 416 feet on his home runs and taking part in the Home Run Derby.
A win would make him just the second Royals outfielder to claim a Silver Slugger, following Willie Wilson, who won in 1980 and 1982. Three outfield spots will be awarded, and Caglianone is competing with Wilyer Abreu, Randy Arozarena, Cody Bellinger, Chase DeLauter, Riley Greene, Tristan Peters, Chandler Simpson and Mike Trout.
Silver Slugger winners are chosen by managers and coaches, who vote by position in each league. The ballots weigh offensive production such as OPS, OPS+, home runs, RBI, batting average, total bases and runs, along with the voters’ overall view of each player’s offensive value.
In Other News...
Royals Just Made An Offensive Hire Young Bats Cant Ignore
The Royals have added another familiar name to their coaching mix, hiring Hunter Mense as a hitting coach and giving the staff a voice with both major league experience and local roots. Mense arrives after serving as the San Francisco Giants hitting coach in 2026, following a stretch as an assistant hitting coach with the Toronto Blue Jays from 2022 to 2025. For a Kansas City club still looking to sharpen its offensive identity, the move brings in someone who has worked in different big league environments and knows the grind of helping hitters adjust at the highest level.
Menses background also gives the hire a little extra resonance around here. He is a Missouri native and a former University of Missouri player, so this is not just another outside addition to the coaching staff, but someone with ties to the region and an understanding of the baseball culture that comes with it. For young Royals bats especially, the next question is how that experience will translate once the work begins in Kansas City. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Face A Narrow Window To Fix Their Biggest Roster Problem
The Royals are heading into an offseason where every move figures to be measured against both the payroll and the calendar. With financial constraints hanging over the club and an impending lockout looming, Kansas City is expected to shop carefully even as it tries to address the biggest issue on the roster: a pitching staff that needs help if the team is going to stay on track for a 2027 push.
Clay Holmes and Casey Mize are among the names being floated as possible fits, a reminder that the Royals may have to find value rather than splash. The challenge is not just identifying the right arms, but getting those decisions made in time to build a staff that can support the clubs longer-term plans before the market and the labor situation make the window even tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Prospect Pipeline Is Demanding Attention Again
The Royals farm system is getting another spotlight in the Arizona Fall League, where Angeibel Gomez, Zion Rose and Justin Lamkin were chosen to represent the American League in the Fall Stars Game. It is another reminder that Kansas Citys prospect pipeline is drawing real attention again, with three different names earning recognition on a stage that tends to separate the merely interesting from the truly notable.
Gomezs selection stands out even more because he is the youngest player ever picked for the game, while Lamkins presence adds a different kind of storyline after he returned to action following a shoulder injury. The Fall Stars Game will be shown live on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com and the MLB app, giving Royals fans a chance to keep tabs on a group that is starting to make some noise beyond the organizations own prospect lists. [Read more 🡒]