B/R
The Kansas City Royals’ historic turnaround will include a playoff appearance after they locked up an American League wild-card spot with the Minnesota Twins’ loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Kansas City Royals @Royals
The Boys are playin’ some October ball! pic.twitter.com/ghrM2oMecn
Kansas City was limping to the finish line with a seven-game losing streak before getting back on track earlier this week by sweeping the Washington Nationals.
Now, the Royals have locked up their first postseason berth since winning the 2016 World Series.
Here’s a look at the current playoff matchups and bracket if the season ended today as well as up-to-date standings.
Projected MLB Playoff Bracket
- AL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Houston Astros vs. No. 6 Kansas City Royals; No. 4 Baltimore Orioles vs. No. 5 Detroit Tigers
- NL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers vs. No. 6 Arizona Diamondbacks; No. 4 San Diego Padres vs. No. 5 New York Mets
- First-Round Byes: No. 1 New York Yankees and No. 2 Cleveland Guardians (American League); No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers and No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies (National League)
MLB Standings
AL East
- New York Yankees (93-66); clinched division and first-round bye
- Baltimore Orioles (89-71, 4 GB); clinched playoff berth
- Boston Red Sox (80-79, 13 GB)
- Tampa Bay Rays (78-81, 15 GB)
- Toronto Blue Jays (74-85, 19 GB)
AL Central
- Cleveland Guardians (92-67); clinched division and first-round bye
- Detroit Tigers (86-74, 6.5 GB; clinched playoff berth
- Kansas City Royals (85-75, 7.5 GB); clinched playoff berth
- Minnesota Twins (82-78, 10 GB)
- Chicago White Sox (39-121, 53.5 GB)
AL West
- Houston Astros (86-73); clinched division
- Seattle Mariners (82-77, 4 GB)
- Texas Rangers (75-84, 11 GB)
- Oakland Athletics (69-90, 17 GB)
- Los Angeles Angels (63-96, 23 GB)
AL Wild Card
- Baltimore Orioles (89-71); clinched wild card
- Detroit Tigers (86-74); clinched wild card
- Kansas City Royals (85-75); clinched wild card
- Minnesota Twins (82-78, 3 GB)
- Seattle Mariners (82-77, 3 GB)
NL East
- Philadelphia Phillies (94-66); clinched division and first-round bye
- New York Mets (87-70, 5.5 GB)
- Atlanta Braves (87-71, 6 GB)
- Washington Nationals (69-90, 25 GB)
- Miami Marlins (59-100, 35 GB)
NL Central
- Milwaukee Brewers (91-68); clinched division
- Chicago Cubs (82-78, 9.5 GB)
- St. Louis Cardinals (81-78, 10 GB)
- Cincinnati Reds (76-84, 15.5 GB)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (74-85, 17 GB)
NL West
- Los Angeles Dodgers (95-64); clinched division and first-round bye
- San Diego Padres (91-68, 4 GB); clinched playoff berth
- Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71, 4 GB)
- San Francisco Giants (79-80, 16 GB)
- Colorado Rockies (61-98, 34 GB)
NL Wild Card
- San Diego Padres (91-68, +3 Games); clinched wild card
- New York Mets (87-70)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71)
- Atlanta Braves (86-71, 1 GB)
After tying the franchise record with 106 losses last season, the Royals, by their usual standards, went on a massive spending spree in free agency to at least get back to respectability.
Kansas City added $47 million to its 2024 payroll by signing Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Chris Stratton, Garrett Hampson, Will Smith and Hunter Renfroe. That doesn’t include the 11-year, $289 million extension given to Bobby Witt Jr. in February.
Lugo turned out to be arguably the best free-agent signing for any team last winter. The 34-year-old is on the shortlist of AL Cy Young candidates with a 3.03 ERA in a career-high 204.2 innings.
The rotation with Lugo, Wacha, Cole Ragans and Singer is very dangerous for opposing teams in a short series. The rotation as a whole ranks third in MLB with 19.9 FanGraphs’ wins above replacement and second with a 3.57 ERA.
Witt is probably going to finish second to Aaron Judge in AL MVP voting. The 24-year-old superstar leads MLB in batting average, hits and owns a .332/.389/.591 slash line. He is the first player in franchise history to have at least 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.
Great starting pitching combined with Witt leading the offense have allowed the Royals to become just the 14th team in MLB history to have a winning record one year after losing at least 100 games.
Kansas City is just the second team to make the playoffs in the season after losing at least 100 games, joining the 2017 Minnesota Twins.
With a postseason berth locked up, the Royals are still waiting to find out their opponent in the AL Wild Card series. They will face either the Houston Astros or Baltimore Orioles in a best-of-three series.
