The Royals have been perhaps the most surprising contender of 2024. Kansas Citys 36-26 record is fourth-best in the American League. Theyre five games behind the Guardians in a suddenly competitive AL Central and occupy the second Wild Card spot. One year removed from a 106-lo s season, K.C. should find themselves in position to add MLB help at the deadline. wrote this morning that the Royals are already exploring the trade market for potential bullpen upgrades. General manager J.J. Picollo suggested similarly in an on the New York Posts The Show podcast with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman. The second-year baseball operations leader indicated that adding swing-and-mi s to the late innings would be ideal. In the back end of our bullpen, were not striking a lot of guys out, so thats an area that we have to look at for sure, Picollo said. The GM also pointed to the outfield as an area we (may) have to addre s if they dont get improved production in the coming weeks. Relief pitching and the outfield have been Kansas Citys biggest weakne ses. While the Royals rotation has arguably been among the three best in MLB, the bullpen entered play tonight ranked 25th with a 4.44 ERA. As Picollo observed, theyve been particularly lacking in terms of strikeout stuff. Kansas City relievers are last in both strikeout rate (17.4%) and swinging strike percentage (8.5%). The only Royal reliever who has thrown at least five Edmond Sumner Jersey innings with an above-average strikeout rate, , was outrighted off the 40-man roster last week. Kansas City made some modest upgrades to the bullpen over the winter. They inked and to lower-cost free agent deals and acquired and in trade. Schreiber is the only member of that group who has pitched well thus far. He owns a 2.88 ERA while keeping half his batted balls on the ground over 25 innings. Stratton, Smith and Anderson have all allowed more than five earned runs per nine. As star closer would be the prize of the reliever market, but the asking price will be . Marlins left-hander , an impending free agent with a power arm and closing experience, is almost certain to be dealt. The White Sox are likely to trade former starter , who is mi sing bats but showing worrisome control in relief. Oakland could dangle journeyman setup man for a much le ser return than theyd demand for Miller. The Mets will probably shop , former Royal ,and potentially waiver claim turned temporary closer . Washington could move . Those are just a handful of the many names who could be available. Virtually every playoff hopeful will at least poke around the relief market at the deadline, but the Royals seem to have a more acute need for bullpen help than most. The outfield, meanwhile, carried a collective .204/.271/.324 batting line into tonights game. Theyre last in average and on-base percentage and above only the White Sox in slugging output. As MLBTRs Steve Adams in a post for Front Office subscribers last month, the Royals have had a staggeringly poor outfield since the departures of and . It has been more of the same this season, with none of , , nor designated hitter/outfielder hitting well. Picollo expre sed some confidence in the in-house outfielders to turn things around, noting that theyve had a few players clearly underperforming based on their previous track records. Neither Melendez nor Isbel have ever hit much at the major league level, though. Renfroe has been a productive player in the past, but hes following up a mediocre .233/.297/.416 season with a career-worst .179/.256/.327 line over his first 51 games. Theres probably the most optimism with regards to Velzquez, who drilled 14 homers in 40 games after being acquired from the Cubs at the 2023 deadline. Yet the Royals have used him more often at DH than in the outfield, and his subpar strikeout and walk profile was a cause for concern even amidst last years home run barrage. Even with some clear areas of need, its an encouraging time for the Royals and their fanbase. Kansas City has a realistic path to their first postseason berth since their 2015 championship. While theyll need to continue playing well over the next six-to-eight weeks, Picollo told Heyman and Sherman the front office is prepared to be aggre sive if they remain in contention as the deadline gets nearer. Kyle O'Quinn Jersey