The Royals starting pitching has been a surprising strength of this team. After finishing with the fourth-worst starting pitcher ERA in baseball last year at 5.12, the Royals invested in free agents Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, and relied on a full season of Cole Ragans and a massive bounceback from Brady Singer to improve their starting pitching ERA to 3.56 - better than every team but the Mariners. The improvement is the biggest reason why the Royals have their first shot at a post-season appearance in nine seasons.
The Royals have long prided themselves on building teams through pitching, but sometimes that has been easier said than done.