Royals set their Opening Day roster

Welcome to the official Opening Day. It comes hours after the completion of Opening Night. And this newsletter will be published around 36 hours before the Royals take the field for their very first game of the 2026 season. At some point, Opening Day morphs into Opening Week so I'm going to assume we are not all that distant from an Opening Month.

Since this newsletter recognizes Opening Day as not just a date, but a state of mind, you are free to recognize it however you like.

Short dispatch today as I've already covered bold predictions and those not so bold as well along with a look at how the 40-man roster was constructed. We are getting ever so closer.

The Royals 2026 Opening Day roster is set with literally no surprises.

The pitching staff was exactly as I thought in my final roster projection, published last week. As cool as it would be to pat myself on the back for getting every single pitcher correct, that is some extreme low-hanging fruit. It was hardly a challenge.

On the position player side, I’m giving myself full credit as well, based on this statement:

Tolbert gets Massey’s spot if he’s unable to go on Opening Day. The Royals love their speed guy off the bench.

Again...easy. I will subtract a half a point for not just going ahead and figuring Massey for a spot on the Injured List.

I may have to subtracts another point or two later on for believing in Nick Loftin. He needed to have a solid spring and he did, hitting .295/.380/.523 with six walks and just eight strikeouts over 44 at bats. I think manager Matt Quatraro will find plenty of opportunity for Loftin, moving him around as a key utility guy. With lefty Chris Sale going as the Opening Day starter for Atlanta, the right-handed hitting Loftin could even feature in the debut lineup.

All of this movement meant that Drew Waters, who was out of options, was designated for assignment. He finishes his Royals career hitting .234/.300/.369 in 684 plate appearances spread over four seasons. Beyond a brief early showing back in ’22, there just wasn’t enough there. And if you couldn’t push your way into the starting outfield mix on this club the last couple of seasons, that’s going to be a problem. He’s still 27 and is a switch hitter. He will hook on with some team and maybe even find himself back on a major league bench in the not too distant future.

To take his place on the 40-man roster, the Royals purchased the contract of reliever Eli Morgan. Morgan was then optioned to Omaha where he will pitch out of the Storm Chasers bullpen. I've been tracking Morgan since the team reported to Surprise in early Februrary when I wrote this:

The reliever Morgan is someone to watch. After being dealt from Cleveland to Chicago, he missed most of last season with right elbow impingement. The right-hander rolls with a three pitch mix—four-seam, change, slider—and has generated some chase in the past. He had around a 35 percent chase rate covering his combined 2024 and 2023 seasons covering about 110 innings...JJ Picollo has mentioned in the run up to camps opening that he would like to get some bullpen guys they can shuttle between KC and Omaha. Morgan could fit that bill.

Now that he's on the 40-man roster, as long as he performs in Triple-A, he will definitely slot in as one of those I29 shuttle relievers.

Roster announcement aside, yesterday was a quite day on the Royals front as they had an off day in Atlanta. Today is a workout day for the club as they prep for Friday. Thankfully, we have a full slate of games today to distract us.

The first pitch of the day comes in Queens as the Pirates visit the Mets at 12:15 Central. Action should wrap about 11 hours later in Seattle as the Mariners host the Guardians beginning at 9:10 Central.

I am more than ready for this. Enjoy the baseball!