A 106-loss laughingstock a year ago, the Royals find themselves in a push to make the playoffs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — J.J. Picollo was sitting in the Royals’ dugout hours before a game against the Angels this week, talking about what has been one of the most remarkable turnarounds in major league history. The conversation meandered toward Picollo’s wife, Nicole, and the Royals general manager pointed to the upper deck down the third-base line.

“She likes to sit up there,” he said with a smile. “She likes to be out with the fans.”

Just feigning interest up there, so high above the action?

“Oh no,” Picollo said. “It’s not like she’s bringing a book. She’s very into it.”

That goes for a lot of people in Kansas City these days.

The Royals, who matched a franchise record with 106 losses last season, found themselves with a day off Thursday in the fight for the playoffs. With only 35 games remaining in the regular season, they were 2 1/2 back of Guardians in the AL Central and three games behind the Yankees for the best record in the American League.

Equally as important, they were a full three games ahead of the Red Sox for the last wild-card spot.

It’s been a remarkable about-face for an organization that burned as bright as a Roman candle in 2014 and ’15, winning back-to-back AL pennants and its first World Series title in 30 years, then fizzled just as fast. The Royals have not had a winning season in eight years, losing at least 100 games in three of the past six, and were a laughingstock as recently as last year.

But as shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the new face of the franchise, likes to say: “The boys are playin’ some ball.”

“Once you get past Aug. 1, it’s hard not to look at the scoreboard,” acknowledged Picollo, who has pulled all the right strings since taking over for Dayton Moore less than two years ago. “I try not to look at other scores until we get a win, because if we win, we’re not losing any ground, and that’s the way we’ve got to look at it. But yeah, as soon as our game ended yesterday, I flipped right over to the Twins game to see them tied up and lose it. So yeah, that’s natural. And that’s exciting.”

Picollo didn’t break the bank to build a winner. In fact, he barely even took out a loan.

The players that have led Kansas City to heights not seen in nearly a decade were either on the team last year and just needed a little more time to grow or were free-agent signings and trade acquisitions that underscored Picollo’s baseball savvy.

Start with the rotation.

Cole Ragans, who was fifth in the majors with 183 strikeouts in 152 1/3 innings, was picked up in a trade with the Rangers last season. Seth Lugo, who was tied for the big league lead with 14 wins, signed a modest three-year, $45 million free-agent deal. Michael Wacha signed a similar two-year, $32 million deal, and is 10-6 with a 3.33 ERA. Brady Singer has bounced back from a disappointing 2023, and Michael Lorenzen has a 1.99 ERA in four starts since his arrival in a trade last month.

The bullpen has been entirely rebuilt, too. John Schreiber and Kris Bubic have been revelations in relief, while Lucas Erceg has allowed four hits, no runs and struck out 14 in 10 1/3 innings since the Royals acquired him in a trade with Milwaukee.

Picollo has been just as successful filling holes in the lineup. The trade for Paul DeJong from the White Sox late last month barely merited a footnote, but he’s hitting .286 with three homers and eight RBIs in 14 games in Kansas City.

“It’s given me a lot of life to be able to come here every day and compete with these guys,” he said. “They’ve had their culture all year and they’ve been doing well, but for me it just makes coming to the ballpark a lot more fun.”

Nobody seems to be having more fun than Witt, the 24-year-old wunderkind who is putting together a historic year months after signing an 11-year deal worth $288.7 million to serve as the cornerstone of the franchise.

Witt leads the majors with a .352 average, nearly 20 points better than the Yankees’ Aaron Judge. He already has 25 homers and 25 steals. Advanced metrics grade him as not only one of baseball’s best defenders but also its fastest player, while his fWAR — a metric that rates a player’s value against a replacement-level player at the same position — has the son of longtime big league pitcher Bobby Witt on pace for the best season by a shortstop since Honus Wagner more than a century ago.

“Man, he has tremendous ceiling,” Angels manager Ron Washington marveled. “He’s got everything it takes to be a superstar.”

The Royals appear to have everything it takes to make a playoff run, though it won’t be easy down the stretch.

Their next 20 games, beginning Friday night against the Phillies, are against teams that currently hold a playoff spot. All but the three against second-place Minnesota are against teams that currently lead their division.

But the Royals aren’t going to shy away from the challenge, because the reality is this: Few but themselves believed they would be in this position, chasing a postseason berth with six weeks left in the regular season.

“We’re certainly aware and have been aware of the stretch coming up,” Picollo said. “The big thing was to take care of business prior to the stretch. And we have. It’s still going to be a tough stretch, but maybe we’re in a little better position to at least hold our ground. And really, that’s part of what we’ve been saying all year: Take it day by day. That stretch, you absolutely have to take it day by day, because there’s going to be ups and downs. Those are good teams.

“If we can sustain that mindset,” Picollo said, “we’ll be in a good spot.”

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