“Depth” is generally not a word that you traditionally associate with the Kansas City Royals. That’s because the Royals have had precious little of it for most of the past quarter century, during which the Royals have only had four winning seasons. While having top-notch players is important, it’s not enough for a sustainable winner. After all, each team uses between 40 and 50 players during the course of a 162-game season—a top heavy team is simply more vulnerable than one with depth.
Fortunately, the Royals have developed some of this rare depth recently. We’ve seen it with the pitching staff, as there are half a dozen starting pitching prospects under the age of 25 who debuted over the last two years.