What a difference a year makes.
So much of the focus last year was on the abysmal Royals bullpen, but the reality was that the rotation was pretty subpar, too. The Royals were so desperate for starting pitching depth that they re-acquired Mike Montgomery from the Cubs to join their rotation even after he had pretty conclusively proven he wasn’t going to be an asset there. Against all odds, he became one of the more reliable Royals starting pitchers down the stretch, but that’s more a testament to small sample sizes than his likely talents.
However, this year, the starting pitching looks fairly solid.