The Kansas City Royals are currently in a heated race for the final 2025 MLB wild card spot with three other teams. The Royals, after suffering through major struggles in the first half to the season especially on the offensive side, have experienced a sudden surge that has driven them into playoff contention.

But what’s the main catalyst for this? Some may say the star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., or maybe the sudden emergence of Maikel García, or perhaps even the veteran experience of ballclub legend Salvador Perez. However, the real catalyst may be the moves made by general manager J.J. Picollo and the rest of the front office from mid to late July.

The first move made was acquiring IF Adam Frazier from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for IF Cam Devanney, a move that has been very productive for a Kansas City team that could not seem to get things going at the plate before the break. Since joining the Royals, Frazier has batted at a quality .281 clip.

The next move of note was made just 10 days later when Kansas City acquired OF Randal Grichuk from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for underperforming RHP Andrew Hoffmann. Hoffmann had posted an ERA of 3.86 with Kansas City before playing just two games with Arizona, where he put up an abysmal ERA of 8.53 before being sent down to triple-A. Although Grichuk has had a subpar batting average of .197 and has slugged a solid .407 since joining the team.

Just five days after that, Kansas City added OF Mike Yastrzemski from the San Francisco Giants for their No. 20 prospect, RHP Yunior Marte, along with cash and a player to be named later. Marte has remained in the minor leagues while Yastrzemski has been a mainstay in the Royals starting lineup.

With Kansas City, Yastrzemski has batted a very solid .234 with a slugging percentage of .514 and a stellar OPS of .834 while sending seven balls over the fence. In just just over one month with the club, Yastrzemski has the sixth most homers on the team for the entire season.

While it was clear that the problems mainly resided at the plate, the front office made sure to keep the mound fresh. That’s why they traded for right handed starting pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. The move was slightly controversial, as the Royals dealt fan favorite catcher Freddy Fermin to the Padres in order to make the deal.

However, the move has proved to be rather profitable, as Bergert has put up a solid ERA of 4.17. Kolek has had very limited action, however, in the 13 innings that he has pitched, he has put up an ERA of 2.08, allowing just 10 total hits. These two offer some good depth thanks to injuries to starting pitchers Cole Ragans, who is out for the rest of the season, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.

With the help of these additions, the Royals have gone 26-22 since the break and are just 3.5 games out of the final wild card spot. Many questioned these moves at the time, believing that a below .500 team should just sell and play for the future. Picollo and the front office deferred that option and instead decided to invest in the now — I, for one, like the approach.