Royals Roster Projection 1: The Hitters

Here we go. It's time to project the Royals roster.

The calendar shifting from January to February is what sparks me to start looking at how the Royals roster is looking at this particular moment. I think it’s important to remember that these projections are a snapshot in time. For example, I think the Royals are going to add at least one more bat. I don’t know if it’ll be a trade for one of the guys rumored over the whole winter (and even back to the deadline) or if it’ll be someone like Tommy Pham as a role player. But whoever it is, I have a tough time projecting the roster with someone who isn’t even there. So these are only players the Royals actually have in their organization. I also want to note that this is where I think it ends up based on the players currently in the organization, not necessarily what I believe the Royals want right now.

As I always do, I’ll provide some different ways to show the stats throughout these projections, which I’ll do at least three of and maybe four or five, depending on the way the spring progresses. Today (and tomorrow for the pitchers), I’ll use their 2024 stats. I’ll use projections and expected stats in future runs. So let’s get started.

Catchers

Salvador Perez - .271/.330/.456, 6.7% BB, 19.8% K, 115 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR

Freddy Fermin - .271/.319/.366, 6.3% BB, 17.9% K, 91 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR

Duh. This one is super easy. Perez is the starter and Fermin is the backup, but unlike Perez’s backups a decade ago, this role is actually one that will be used quite a bit. Fermin started 72 games behind the plate last year and I’d probably guess that number remains about the same give or take a handful. The only concern I’d have with that is that he did seem to really nosedive down the stretch, hitting just .222/.264/.252 in August and September.