How the Royals will deploy trade deadline additions in key series at Boston Red Sox
The Kansas City Royals are fresh off a series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
Now, the club faces perhaps its biggest challenge on the nine-game road swing.
On Monday, the Royals will begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Both teams are fighting for an American League Wild Card spot in their second meeting of the 2025 season.
The Red Sox (62-51) won two of three games in early May. Since their last encounter, Boston has soared atop the AL East standings. The Red Sox have the fourth-best record in the league and sit 5 ½ games above the Royals in the wild-card chase.
The Royals (56-56) can’t make up the entire deficit Monday. However, they sit just 3 ½ games behind the Seattle Mariners (60-53) for third and final AL wild-card spot.
A series sweep over the Red Sox would help on both fronts. It would also grant the Royals the head-to-head season tiebreaker.
Here are three things to watch ahead of the Royals’ series in Boston:
We talking playoffs?
The Royals made their intentions clear Sunday. For the remainder of the season, they’re focused on winning series.
And they are on quite a roll. After Sunday’s victory over the Blue Jays, the Royals secured their fourth consecutive series win. Tyler Tolbert and Kyle Isbel were clutch in extra innings as the Royals defeated one of the top AL teams.
At the moment, the Royals are one of five teams within 5 ½ games of the Mariners and just outside the playoffs. It’s possible that the aforementioned tiebreakers could be in store for the Royals at the end of the season.
The Royals currently own the tiebreaker with the Mariners and Rangers (58-55). They have three more games with the Mariners and four more with the Rangers — all at Kauffman Stadium.
However, KC lost the tiebreaker with the New York Yankees (60-52) and is 4-5 against the Cleveland Guardians (56-55) with four head-to-head games left to play.
The Royals’ remaining schedule will define the season. There are still games against the other playoff-contending teams in front of them.
And it continues Monday against the Red Sox.
What to expect from Royals’ new starters
The Royals were buyers at the MLB trade deadline last week. KC went out to acquire three starters — Bailey Falter, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek — alongside outfielders Mike Yastrzemski, Randal Grichuk and Adam Frazier.
A main reason for the trades was to address KC’s injured starting rotation. The Royals are without Cole Ragans, Michael Lorenzen and Kris Bubic on the injured list.
Enter Falter and Bergert.
Falter, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, will start on Monday night against the Red Sox. He is set to make his Royals debut against Red Sox standout Bryan Bello in the series opener.
The Royals are excited to add both pitchers to the organization. Falter has previous experience working with Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney. In his last two starts, Falter has allowed two earned runs while striking out nine in 12 innings.
Bergert arrived from the San Diego Padres. He owns a 2.78 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) while holding opponents to a .186 batting average. The Royals will conclude the Red Sox series with Michael Wacha starting on Wednesday night.
Can Royals keep it going offensively?
The Royals continue to post gaudy offensive numbers. KC has scored five or more runs in nine of 15 games since the All-Star Break. In that span, Salvador Perez has led the way with seven home runs and 12 RBIs.
However, Perez hasn’t done it alone. The Royals continue to get production throughout the lineup en route to a 9-6 record since the Midsummer Classic. Tolbert and Isbel were the stars in Sunday’s game.
On Friday, Mike Yastrzemski hit a solo home run in his first at-bat with the Royals. Meanwhile, Frazier and Grichuk have picked up some of the offensive slack to aid Perez, Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia.
Fenway Park is a notorious hitters’ park. How the Royals take aim at the Green Monster and Pesky’s Pole will be key in the series. Last season, the Royals scored 10 runs in three games at Fenway.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "How the Royals will deploy trade deadline additions in key series at Boston Red Sox."
