At the end of January, I wrote an article about the Kansas City Royals potentially moving a starting pitcher for prospects. The Royals have enviable depth, and I think there are six guys – Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron, and Ryan Bergert – who really should be in an MLB starting rotation on Opening Day. Stephen Kolek, the Royals’ presumptive #7 going into next season, would be a great back-end of the rotation guy for other teams as well.
My thought when writing the article was that no major league help was coming in a trade for a starting pitcher, and that the Royals would not consider using a six-man rotation during the year. Royals manager Matt Quatraro, however, revealed to Jack Johnson that the team has at least held discussions about using a six starters during the upcoming year:
Quatraro’s answer on this is interesting for multiple reasons. Regardless of whether the Royals decide to try out a six-man rotation this year, it’s great that the team is having the conversation about it and is willing to be transparent with the public that they are thinking through these things. As someone who thinks about the Royals probably more than I should, I’m comforted by the fact that the people running the team are thinking about them even more.
So what would be the potential upside of a six-man rotation? In theory, the starters would be more effective when they pitched and able to go deeper into games. Mike Petriello pointed out at the beginning of 2025 that more pitchers are pitching on five days rest than four days rest anyway, even if a few teams are actively employing a six-man rotation. The Los Angeles Dodgers are planning on using a six-man rotation this year, as that helps Shohei Ohtani manage his two-way load while also being more familiar with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Houston Astros are also considering using a six-man rotation throughout the season, particularly in their jam-packed beginning of the year. The Astros will be incorporating Tatsuya Imai from the NPB to their team, and pitchers in NPB pitch once a week, so a six-man rotation should make his adjustment to MLB smoother.
The 2024 Royals showed how valuable having starters able to be effective and go deep into games was, as that proved to be a key ingredient to the team’s success. The 2025 rotation battled more injuries, particularly at the top of the rotation, and was saved by Cameron’s remarkable rookie season. Can Ragans and Lugo be more effective than they were in 2025 and remain able to pitch all year if they get an extra day of rest between starts? If you are just trying to get your best 26 players on the team, can you really leave out a healthy Bergert?
The potential downside of a six-man rotation is that your best pitchers get fewer starts and have less ability to positively impact your season. Ragans is likely to get five fewer starts in a six-man rotation, assuming that every guy goes on five days’ rest in order. Cameron and Bergert are both great options for the back end of a rotation, but a healthy Ragans is still bette,r and your team is likely to win more games with Ragans starting. In a winnable AL Central, every game matters, which might make the Royals loath to have their best guys pitch less frequently.
Quatraro also mentioned that it is difficult to manage the bullpen if you have six starters and not a lot of relief pitchers with minor league options. Right now, Roster Resource projects the Royals to have eight relievers and five starters; teams are only allowed to carry thirteen pitchers on their roster. Of the eight relievers that Roster Resource projects to make the Opening Day roster, only three have options remaining: Lucas Erceg, Daniel Lynch, and Alex Lange. Something will have gone terribly wrong if the Royals are sending Erceg to Omaha. So if you have seven relievers instead of eight, presumably one of Lange or Lynch will be in Omaha to start the year, and the other one is the only guy who could safely go down if you need more bullpen help.
Roster Resource does project Bailey Falter to make the team, and he is out options, so if the Royals really wanted a six-man rotation, they might have to try and sneak Falter through waivers or be willing to let another team claim him for their staff. An extra pitcher in your starting rotation should make the long reliever more of a luxury than a necessity. The Royals, however, were very willing to shuffle out the back end of the bullpen in 2025 and clearly would like to be able to do so again in 2026.
I did think it was interesting that Quatraro mentioned that the Royals might use a six-man rotation during longer stretches of games. Bergert, Cameron, and Kolek (along with newly acquired Mason Black) all have options remaining and could stay stretched out in Omaha when the Royals have more off days. The Royals have an early stretch, from April 5th to April 27th, where they play 21 games in 22 days. It’s early in the season, so rainouts are certainly possible, but that’s a long stretch right out of the gate. More pitcher injuries happen before the season and early in the season rather than later in the year, so keeping your starters from overtaxing themselves and getting hurt right out of the chute could be a prudent choice. The team also plays 29 games in 31 days from the end of May to end of June, which seems like another stretch where the team could consider going to a six-man rotation.
It’s certainly possible that injuries will render this entire conversation moot. It’s also possible one of the starters will struggle and no longer be deserving of a rotation slot. Still, I’m glad that the team is talking about a potential six-man rotation, and I will be very curious to track if we see one during the busiest stretches of the season.