With the Kansas City Royals teetering on playoff elimination, their focus has shifted to a smaller but meaningful target: finishing at .500. At 78–78 with six games remaining, matching last year’s 86-win total is off the table, but three wins in their final two series against the Angels and Athletics would secure a non-losing record.
For a franchise trying to climb back to relevance, avoiding that losing tag would mark progress. And as Baseball Prospectus co-founder Rany Jazayerli pointed out, even if Kansas City falls short of that symbolic milestone, there’s still reason for solace heading into the offseason.