The season ends | Kansas City Royals Podcast

From a Yankees fan, I gotta give credit to the Royals they have a good team and a nice bounce back by them from a 106 loss season as well.

Mailbag Friday question. what was up with all the lineup changes throughout the season? A lot of people I know were confused since it threw off the consistency of players. You had Bobby, Vinnie, and Salvi all batting fantastic while the rest of the lineup felt quiet at points, but they never changed lineup positions. Just wanted your thoughts since this was a frustrating thing to us all season. Also wanted to say thanks for the podcast! Found it in August and your insights definitely helped change my perspective on things and helped understand the sport and team better :)

Yankees fan here. KC players and fans have NOTHING to hang heads on...hard fought games and such an amazing turn around season. Hope you fix your bullpen in off season and I know you'll be right back in the mix again in 2025.

If we can get two more .265-.270 hitters we can reach the LCS

Thank you Jack for all the hours you put in over the past few years. 💪💪

I subscribed mid-season and it quickly became one of this is looked forward to.

I think you did a great job presenting the team, both the good and bad, and bring up solid points each episode.

I'm glad this podcast exists, and it makes my lunch break all the better.

Great team, great year, even if it was a disappointing end. I feel like if we had been firing on all cylinders we could have beaten the Yankees. Sadly that is not how it happened, but I'm very happy that the window is open again for competing for a world series each year. I just hope that it's open for more than two years this time...

Thanks Jack. And thank you Royals! Helluva ride.

Turns of it was luck after all

Jack my problem was Isbell in Center field good defense but no bat, Hampson is just as good on defense with a better bat, then in left field I would move Dejong yeah its an experiment but again bigger bat, I like Pham in Right field

Be happy with a good season. They improved a lot but not there yet. They never really had much of a chance against the Yankees.

Mailbag question: what do you think of bringing back Tommy Pham on a 1 year deal with a 1 year team option as a lead off hitter? His career OBP is right at 350.

Great points about what adding two bats does! I think a perfect example is Kyle Isbel. His defense in CF is a must, and his bat in the 8 or 9 hole won't hurt near as much with good bats in 1 through 6. Just like Alcides back in the day. He did have some key hits in 2015 but overall he was not a good hitter. It just didn't hurt having him in the lineup because the rest of the lineup could produce.

Salvy looked like he had made a real effort to be more patient and selective this year, setting a new personal best for walks in a season by far. Then in the post season...it looked like he had regressed to Flailing Salvy, circa 2014...makes no sense.

Going a little deeper or at least forcing a game 5 would have been nice both as a fan and an opportunity for our young guys to get some post season experience and a taste of what October baseball is like..

As for this series we had our chances and if we didn’t have our struggles at the plate we easily could have snatched this series from the Yankees, they aren’t the better team we weren’t overmatched. We showed we belong and can hang with anyone if all things are clicking. Defense was stellar pitching was tough but not reliable enough to have cold bats.. this offseason will definitely be more exciting than it has been in years

3B and all of the OF positions aren't good enough.. I'd be okay some of them as rotational pieces, but each of those positions needs an upgrade.

KC is garbage 😂😂😂😂

It’s great to have been on of the first few to start listening to Jack when he took over. You did a great job Jack thank you

The difference in this series, IMO, was the disparity in walks. In the 4 games Royals pitchers walked 8, 5, 9, 5. Yankees pitchers walked 3, 2, 2, 0. Part of this disparity was also plate discipline, highlighted by Vinnie & Salvy's at bats in the bottom of the ninth last night. Both of them struck out on bad pitches. If a pitcher is not going to throw you a strike, you have to take the walk. I get it that they were trying to make something happen, but you've got to get a pitch you can handle and not be swinging at pitches in the dirt, or way high, or way off the plate. That happened way too often in the series. All of that being said, it was a remarkable season by the Royals and I'm looking forward to next year. Go Royals!!

Feeling good about the future. I agree that we’re close but not quite there yet. Need a big bat in the outfield. Melendez was a big disappointment this year in my eye. I like our infield with Garcia, Witt, Massey and Vinnie. We were very undisciplined at the plate this series, swung at a lot of balls. Just some thoughts from a long time fan, I was 13 when they won in ‘85.

Thanks for all your awesome work this season, Jack. This season by the Royals was such an unexpected gift. Going into the season, I was saying "I hope we can play close to .500". We did so much more. And, I think Q did a great job considering the lack of offensive talent on the roster.

Royals better have two bats at the top of their offseason shopping list.

So glad I was able to fire up the grill and enjoy the Royals play off games! Like the 2014 team they got a taste of defeat. No doubt they will be back. Great team this year looking forward to spring training! Let's Go Royals!!😊

Hopefully Royals management can bring in a couple of big bats in the offseason; and maybe add another quality bullpen guy; and they could make another run next year......baseball is tough and uncertain though.....no matter how much money you spend there are no guarantees in those short series.....just ask the Yankees....they have been trying to buy a World Series since 2009....

Perhaps salvy should go on a diet this offseason he starting to look like country breakfast, no disrespect favorite catcher all time.
Maybe Royals buy a few new big bats this off-season and have another crack at it .

Glad i found you this year Jack. I look forward to your coverage of the Royals this off season and into the 2025 season

Props from a Yankees fan. Yall are so insanely talented. Get that offense some help and lock up the pitching long term and we'll be seeing yall a lot more in the coming years!

Heartbroken I couldn't watch tonights game as it turned out to be the last of the season. I will say, I hate that fans have largely chosen to already chalk this up as a good season. Let's morn the loss for a day or two before we move on. If we want a full culture change, it starts with feeling like there was some expectation built up for us this year, which there was, we all felt it when this series was 1-1.

The Yankees left a lot of runs on the field. The Royals needed BWJ to be a professional hitter, and he was not.