The Royals Wall Experiment Is Over; The Results Are Clear
The Royals Need To Stop Pretending They’re Something They’re Not And Move The Walls Back
At the very beginning of the year, Bobby Witt Jr fielded questions about the Royals outfield wall which had been moved closer to the field of play in the offseason as well as shortened in certain parts. He said it doesn’t change your approach at all. You just go out there and play the game the same way you always would and if the home runs come then they come. JJ Picollo & Matt Quatraro would answer similar questions with the same idea. The plan is not to go out there and try to hit home runs.
However, whether consciously or subconsciously, that did not seem to be the case.
The Royals finished the 2026 season with the second highest fly ball percentage in the Majors at 42.1%. But there home run to fly ball (HR/FB) ratio was 29th in the league at 9.7%. They, again whether consciously or subconsciously, were definitely trying to hit home runs this year. The problem is they don’t have a home run hitting team.
Yes, Jac has maybe the most power in the league but even he seems content being a contact hitter at the moment. Bobby has had a lot of power through the years but the home run numbers are declining at an alarming rate. Carter and Salvy are the closest we have to true power-first hitters right now and that’s not enough.
Go look at the Brewers. They had the best record in the league this year and are one game away from going to the World Series over the back-to-back champion Dodgers. Did they pretend they were a home run team as a means to their success? No. They finished 30th in the league in fly ball percentage. That’s dead last.
The Royals talk about themselves as if they’re an analytical team but in many they’re not. The Brewers have the 19th highest payroll in the MLB (right behind the Royals) and they play the most analytical ball in the entire league -- and shocker, when you don’t have home run heavy players on your team, the analytics don’t want you to try to hit them anyways.
The Rays who are currently in the ALCS and had the best record in the American League have the 28th highest payroll this year. They hit fly balls the 26th most in the league -- even with a power hitter like Junior Caminero on there team.
Unless the Royals are all of a sudden going to go spend significant money on power bats this offseason, they need to stop trying to be a home run team. They need to go back to the basics and focus on plate discipline, opposite field ground balls, bunting, and base running; The reason that teams like Tampa and Milwaukee have been so successful despite paying so little.
Though the walls coming in did add a few home runs for the Royals this year, it disproportionately favored our opponents bats. It also, in our opinion, is the reason that doubles and triples were down so much this year, especially from players who used to be merchants of them like Bobby Witt Jr and Maikel Garcia. Then you have Salvy who has had so many doubles turn into singles because of the shrinking of what used to be one of MLBs largest outfields.
The walls need to go back where they were and the Royals need to start playing Royals baseball again. Stop trying to be something your not.