The Royals clinch a spot in the playoffs: Kansas City is the second MLB team ever to reach the postseason from 100 losses

The Kansas City Royals secured a spot in the playoffs with the Twins' 7-2 loss to the Orioles on Friday evening. The Royals failed to get the job done on their own earlier in the night in a 3-0 loss to the Braves, but that doesn't matter now. The Royals will make their first trip to the postseason since 2015, when they defeated the New York Mets to win their last World Series title.

The Royals managed an impressive year-to-year turnaround and reached the playoffs after losing 106 games in 2023. According to MLB research, the Royals are only the second team to ever appear in the postseason in a full season, a year after losing 100 or 100 more games. The other team to achieve this feat? The 2017 Minnesota Twins. (The Miami Marlins also did it in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.)

Kansas City is coming off an aggressive winter that saw the team sign veteran starters Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. By Baseball Reference's calculations, these two combined for nearly nine wins above replacement. The Royals paid them a total of $31 million that year and likely had no concerns.

Of course, the Royals benefited from the continued maturation of young star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and starting pitcher Cole Ragans. Witt surpassed the 9-WAR threshold – a feat achieved only once in franchise history by George Brett in 1980 – and recorded his second consecutive 30-30 season. Meanwhile, Ragans solidified himself as one of the league's best lefty starters by posting a 3.14 ERA (135 ERA+) and a 3.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 186 innings.

The Royals join a now complete American League playoff field that includes the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers. We don't know the exact seedings yet, but we have the six AL teams.