As the Kansas City Royals are slated to Kendall Graveman Jersey begin their Opening Day festivities later on Thursday, the team is poised for an exciting season. For better or worse, a youth movement is expected to sweep through the big-league club and shape how the year unfolds.Don't tell that to those projecting the team's record, though:Everyone is familiar with the Royals' proclivity for outperforming popular win-lo s projections such as PECOTA, but major network sites are setting the bar relatively low this year as well. 's projection (listed above) has the club winning just 70 games this season, which would be a four-win decrease from 2021. Considering the additions the Royals are making to this year's Mike Montgomery Jersey team as well as its minimal lo ses of major producers that seems rather low.It's not just MLB, though. for each MLB club was released last week, and the Royals' figure was set at 75-and-a-half. performance, going 74-88 for the second year in a row:Scroll to ContinueThe goal in Kansas City is to get young players such as Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez transitioned to the major leagues and then see what happens from there. Developing the youngsters is all this season is about for the Royals. If that happens, the record won't matter as much. They won't compete for the division title barring some major contribution from their young core.The notion that the 2022 Royals won't compete for a division title isn't far-fetched. Heck, it's probably accurate. The team simply has too much uncertainty surrounding it and needs things to break right in order to capitalize on an American League Central that David Ross Jersey features several middling organizations and one a sumed king at the top (the Chicago White Sox). It's the lack of year-over-year improvement in the predictions that is alarming.As far as their lineup goes, the Royals could see some regre sion to the mean for players such as Salvador Perez and Nicky Lopez. On the flip side of that coin, they got next to nothing from Hunter Dozier and Carlos Santana for large chunks of last season. Adalberto Mondesi also mi sed a ton of time. With better injury luck Rowan Wick Jersey and either an improved performance from former struggling bats a replacement via infusion of young talent from the minor leagues (Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez), better days should be ahead.Bobby Witt Jr.'s promotion to the big-league level also figures to add some pop, on-base ability and speed to the Royals' lineup. He's a win or two in year one at the minimum. The free agent signing of Zack Greinke will benefit a pitching rotation that is looking to see leaps from just about every young starter. That same rotation minus Jason Heyward Jersey Greinke had a serious surge in the second half of the 2021 campaign and is expected to carry that into 2022.The Royals' bullpen also features hard-throwing arms and dynamic pitchers alike. When adding up the entirety of the club's net positives, it's easy to see why anything other than a competitive team would make this season a disappointment. Kansas City has been here before, especially over the last decade. Not many are expecting a playoff push now, and that's okay. A decent improvement over last year's 74-win season is a reasonable bar, though, and one that at-large sites don't seem to have set.
