The Royals have probably played themselves out of a playoff spot already

TL;DR

The Kansas City Royals are struggling with a 7-15 record, likely eliminating their playoff hopes despite 140 games remaining. To reach a target of 87 wins, they would need to achieve a .571 winning percentage, a feat they have not accomplished in recent history.

Key points

Royals have a 7-15 record, tied for worst in MLB.
To reach 87 wins, they must go 80-60 the rest of the season.
Achieving a .571 winning percentage is a tall order.
Royals have only won 93 games once in 46 years.

Kansas City RoyalsNew York YankeesToronto Blue JaysNew York Mets

BRONX, NY - APRIL 19: Kansas City Royals Manager Matt Quatraro (33) takes the ball from Kansas City Royals Pitcher Cole Ragans (55) as he makes a pitching change during the fifth inning of a Major League Baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees on April 19, 2026, at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images After a disappointing 2025, everyone in the Kansas City Royals organization–from the coaches to the players to the front office–were adamant that this year’s goal was making the playoffs again. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the season has been a complete and total disaster. We’re 22 games in, and the Royals stand at 7-15, tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball. The good news is that there are 140 games left in the baseball season. That’s a lot of baseball! Even after playing so poorly so for long to begin the year, the Royals are only five games out from the third Wild Card spot. That’s a plenty workable gap in July, let alone May. The bad news is that the Royals have probably functionally played themselves out of a playoff spot, even if they’re mathematically in the running. Let’s start with some simple math here. Over the last five years, the the third Wild Card team (or what would have been the third Wild Card team in 2021) averaged 86.5 wins. Yes, you could get lucky and sneak in with 83 wins, but you could get unlucky and fail to get in with 90. So a win target of 87 is reasonable.

Q&A

What is the Kansas City Royals' current record in the 2026 season?

The Kansas City Royals currently have a record of 7-15.

How many wins do the Royals need to reach the playoffs this season?

The Royals need to achieve 87 wins to have a reasonable chance at the playoffs.

What winning percentage do the Royals need to achieve for the rest of the season?

The Royals need to maintain a .571 winning percentage for the remainder of the season.

When was the last time the Royals won 93 games in a season?

The last time the Royals won 93 games in a season was in 2015 when they won the World Series.

Team

Year

Wins

Blue Jays

2021

Blue Jays

2023

Mets

2024

Phillies

2022

Tigers

2025

Rays

2022

Tigers

2024

Diamondbacks

2023

Reds

2025

Reds

2021

MEDIAN

86.5

Here, you can see why the poor start has such a big impact. To get to 87 wins now, the Royals must go 80-60 the rest of the year. That’s a winning percentage of .571, or a 93-win pace.

This is…a tall order. To put it into perspective, the Royals have won 93 games over a full season once in 46 years–that was 2015, when Kansas City won the World Series. The Royals essentially have to play nearly as good as the 2015 team did for the rest of the season. Considering that this team is significantly less talented than that 2015 squad, we have a pretty big problem.

How much less talented these Royals are than a real 90-something win team, a mark that some around the league predicted would happen? That’s the real question. The Royals have made it a nearly yearly tradition to suffer through extended early-season losing streaks. And as longtime Royals writer Rany Jazayerli pointed out, the only times the Royals avoided doing so was when the team made the playoffs (or, in other words, was actually a good team).

The crux of the matter is that good teams don’t start so poorly because they have enough talent to stave off big losing streaks. While I think the Royals are clearly better and more talented than their first few weeks of baseball has shown, I also think it’s clear that the Royals just aren’t a playoff team. They have the same excellent starting pitching and same poor offense as last year, when they went 81-81. Add in what is literally the worst bullpen in the big leagues, though, and this year’s squad is starting to look worse than last year’s squad.

Again, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if the Royals fought their way back into standings relevancy. It’s just that playoff teams tend not to what the Royals have been doing over this long of a stretch of time. And when you look at the math, well, it just looks grim–just like the experience of watching Royals baseball this year.

The Royals have probably played themselves out of a playoff spot already

TL;DR

Key points

Q&A

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