Quick: are the Kansas City Royals a young team? Many of you probably answered with an affirmative. After all, they’re a rebuilding team, right? And aren’t rebuilding teams young?
Unfortunately, if you answered as such, you’d be wrong.
The 2021 Royals squad, at least through the first month plus of the season, are old. The league average age among pitchers is 29.0 years, and the Royals are right there with an average pitching age of 28.9 years. You’d be right that this figure doesn’t tell the full story, of course—Brad Keller, Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, and Kris Bubic are all in their age-25 seasons or younger, and the four pitchers over the age of 33 are on short-term contracts.