The Royals have had a quiet off-season, largely standing pat and relying on younger players to continue to develop. That will make this a crucial year of evaluation to determine which young players will be part of the future.
Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs released his annual ZIPS projections for the Royals today, and it projects some promising futures for some players, with a lot of uncertainty for others.
Szymborski notes that “KC’s minor league hitters didn’t come roaring out of the gate”, and the group has a lot of question marks. Vinnie Pasquantino projects to be the best hitter on the team with a 125 OPS+, followed by Salvador Perez, then two other 2022 rookies - Bobby Witt Jr.