The Kansas City Royals are not hitting any home runs so far this year, which is a bit alarming.
We are only 11 games into the 2025 season, so it is hard to get too worked up about any statistic other than how far Jac Caglianone can hit a baseball. Speaking of which, the major league Royals are struggling to loft balls over the fence in the early going. Kansas City has hit only six home runs so far, and Maikel Garcia is leading the team with two. To put that in context, Aaron Judge and Tyler Soderstrom (!?) have each hit as many bombs as the Royals entire team.
I think the fact that Soderstrom is an early home run leader just reinforces how early on we are in the season, but I am still a bit concerned that the team is hitting less than half a home run per game. Last year’s version of the Royals had a lot of the same bats in the lineup and hit 170 home runs – just over one per game. That means that so far they are hitting at a rate of less than half of last year’s homer production. Those 170 home runs last year were good for 20th in the league, so it is not like they are a power-heavy team, but in modern baseball you can’t hit home runs at the rate they are right now and expect to compete.
This made me wonder how often, if it all, they struggled like this last season:
Baseball Reference
As you can see, there were a couple of times throughout last season when there home run production reached these depths – in the 11 games leading up and through game 29 and then again at 44 and 45. But for most of the year they stayed above six homers for every 11-game stretch. That is until the very end of the season when the offense cratered. They only managed four home runs over the last 13 games as they limped into the playoffs.
It is definitely not time to worry about this yet, but it is enough that it is notable. If the team cannot start to hit home runs at a more normal rate very soon, then this becomes a massive problem. Even by the end of the week it will start leaving the realm of small sample blip. We know that Bobby Witt Jr. can hit 30 and probably will, but there are zero other players on this team I look at and think they are likely to hit that many home runs. Salvador Perez has before, but only once in a very long career. Vinnie Pasquantino or Michael Massey, if they can stay healthy, have some pop and maybe could get to 30. That is the entire list as far as I am concerned.
There are a couple of ways to add power to this lineup. One, that I very much hope the team does as early in the season as possible, is through trade. Watching this outfield struggle out of the gate, I am nearly convinced that trading for an outfielder is a certainty. Maybe one of the options Jeremy discussed a couple of days ago, but none of those seem likely to jump in and start hitting bombs. Except for the aforementioned Caglianone of course.
Jac Caglianone seems like the most likely answer to a masher internally bolstering this roster. It would be nice to see him take right field away from Hunter Renfroe sometime later this summer. I remain very skeptical that he can play the outfield. Historically speaking, massive human beings don’t play out there. Aaron Judge is the exception that proves the rule. Moving Bobby Witt Jr. to third to make space for Adalberto Mondesi (what a weird sentence to write in 2025) seemed to mess with Bobby’s bat and defense to the point where some people wanted to give up on him as a shortstop. I know it can work, but his bat seems so important to the Royals’ future that I just wouldn’t risk it. So far for the Naturals, he has started at first base in all four games for the team as far as I can tell. That tells me that the team saw what they needed to in the spring and he will remain at first.
It’s early, so early. The refrain we all keep saying until it is not sometime in May. Droughts happen throughout a year, just like they did last year, but when they happen in the first 11 games they are a little more conspicuous. But other times the droughts are harbingers of something more. We will find out in due course, but I do think it is something to keep a serious eye on.