Royals look to progress made by youngsters for optimism

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals can look back upon their first full post-pandemic season in one of two very different ways. They could look at it as a bitter disappointment given the hopes they had to contend this season. Or they could like at it as another sign of progress. They could point to an improved winning percentage every year since 2018, when they bottomed out with 104 losses, the vast improvement made by a handful of youngsters and the fact that their farm system has become the envy of most of baseball. All of it gives manager Mike Matheny a reason to be optimistic about next season.