Kansas City Royals: 2020 coronavirus pandemic-shortened season outlook

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The Kansas City Royals had a less-than-stellar 2019 campaign, finishing with only 59 wins and very far out of any type of contention for a wildcard spot or an American League Central division title.

Luckily, the Royals have as good a chance as any other team to sneak into the playoffs because of the coronavirus pandemic-shortened season. The Royals will likely just need to finish above .500 to make the playoffs. The team was 19-41 through 60 games last season.

Kansas City enters 2020 with Mike Matheny running the show. The team also signed Maikel Franco, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the offseason.

It will be a team effort for the Royals to get into the playoffs for the first time since their 2015 run to their second World Series victory. The lineup will have to play remarkably well and the rotation will have to suddenly start to get a lot of batters out in lieu of allowing a ton of runs. No projected Royals starter is anticipated to have an ERA below 4.00, according to Fan Graphs.

Salvador Perez will also have a spotlight on him since he tested positive for coronavirus. So far, he’s expected to be the team’s Opening Day catcher.

Here’s what the Royals have to look forward to this season.

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2019 finish: 4th AL Central

2019 record: 59-103

Manager: Mike Matheny

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Projected Starters

C: Salvador Perez

1B: Ryan O’Hearn

2B: Nicky Lopez

3B: Maikel Franco

SS: Adalberto Mondesi

OF: Alex Gordon

OF: Whit Merrifield

OF: Hunter Dozier

DH: Jorge Soler

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Projected Rotation/Closer

SP: Danny Duffy

SP: Brad Keller

SP: Mike Montgomery

SP: Jakob Junis

SP: Brady Singer

CL: Ian Kennedy

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2020 Schedule