3 Bold Royals Predictions For Remainder Of 2025 Season
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The 2025 Major League Baseball season is coming down to the wire, and the Kansas City Royals are trying their best to keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive.
Entering play on Monday, the Royals trailed the Seattle Mariners by two games for the American League's final wild card spot. They also would need to leapfrog the Texas Rangers, who are 1 1/2 back of Seattle.
The magic of baseball is that it's often impossible to predict. But today, we'll take our best shot at envisioning how this thing will play out for the Royals the rest of the way.
Bobby Witt Jr. avoids IL, bats .350 the rest of the way
Everything rests on Witt's ability to come back healthy. The superstar shortstop left Friday's game with back spasms, and wasn't available to play either Saturday or Sunday.
The Royals are hoping Witt can avoid the injured list, and though things could still change, the positivity of the latest coverage surrounding his injury leads us to believe that will happen. And for good measure, because he's Bobby Witt Jr., the injury doesn't slow down his red-hot production at the plate even a little bit.
Cole Ragans makes just one start, but it's a gem
Ragans, the Royals' opening day starter, has been out since June 5 with a rotator cuff strain. But he made his first rehab start on Sunday, and it was a good one, with seven strikeouts in three innings against Triple-A competition.
Though he could need just one more rehab start, the prediction here is that the Royals will give him two, and his return will come on Wednesday, Sept. 24, against the Los Angeles Angels. Sadly, that will be his only start, but he'll make the most of it with nine punchouts in five strong innings.
Royals still alive on season's final day, but miss playoffs
The Royals' loss on Sunday was a pretty serious hit to their playoff chances. They entered the day hoping to tie the Mariners for the final wild card spot and instead, found themselves two games back. They've also got a tough road trip looming against the Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies.
Still, this group never seems to be able to let the fan base down easily. The guess here is that they'll be a game back heading into the season's final day, but that the Mariners will defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers (who will be resting starters that day), sending the Royals home disappointed.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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