In 2015, the Royals proved that a baseball team can win big without dominant starting pitching. The rotation posted a 4.34 ERA that season, good enough for 12th in the American League. A team still won 95 games and a second consecutive pennant anyway.
So perhaps you can win without a collection of aces. You can rely on a bullpen and ride your offense and get just enough from a serviceable group of starters. The Royals have thrived on this formula before.
Yet across 18 games in August, they have also proven another baseball maxim: Some baseline level of pitching performance is required for a team with postseason aspirations.