Going into the 2017 season, one of the perceived strengths of the Kansas City Royals was their starting rotation. Even after the tragic loss of Yordano Ventura, the team broke camp with a rotation of Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Jason Vargas and Nate Karns. Many were calling this the best group of starters Kansas City has had in years. There was also some decent depth on the team with Chris Young and Travis Wood who could be called upon in the event of an injury.