Major Royals X-Factor For 2025 Season Revealed By Kansas City Insider

What will drive the Royals' success (or lack thereof)?

Oct 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Kansas City Royals outfielder MJ Melendez (1) hits a two run home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees during game one of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

As the 2025 season rapidly approaches, the Kansas City Royals' ability to repeat their success from a season ago will be highly debated.

The Royals went 86-76, shocking the rest Major League Baseball after a 106-loss campaign in 2023, and made their first playoff appearance in nine years. But it's one thing to make the playoffs when no one expects it, and another to return when the rest of the league knows you're a threat.

Certainly, the Royals still have a lot of things working in their favor. They've got superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. on their side, a pair of returning top-five Cy Young Award finishers in Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans, and a decent group of supporting stars behind those three.

But one Royals insider believes there's a potential X-factor to the team's success that relies on players far beneath those stars on the ratings scale.

On Monday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com previewed the Royals' season, and her "great unknown" for Kansas City was the performance of the bottom half of the batting order, which was something of an Achilles heel for the team in 2024.

"The Royals weren’t able to bring in the middle-of-the-order bat they wanted this offseason, so the pressure is on for MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe to improve from a year ago and provide a power threat in the fifth and sixth spots," Rogers wrote.

"Can Maikel Garcia take the next step in his career, or will he be relegated to a utility role? Will Michael Massey stay on the field and deepen the lineup? As we saw at the end of 2024, even the stars struggle from time to time -- so who will step up when the Royals need it the most?"

Melendez, Renfroe, and Garcia were all major disappointments in 2024, helping contribute to the Royals' subpar .309 on-base percentage. Massey showed promise, but was limited to 100 games with lower-back issues.

The arrival of Jonathan India in the leadoff spot should undoubtedly help boost the Royals' lineup as a whole. But at the end of the day, after leaving the bottom half of the order largely unchanged, the Royals will be counting on players who have been around a while to step up in a major way--or they might very well be disappointed come October.

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