Royals Preview: What to know before Opening Day

2016 Opening Day will take place Apr. 3

The Kansas City Royals celebrate after defeating the New York Mets 7-2 to win the World Series Nov. 1 at Citi Field in New York. photo courtesy MCT Campus

April 2, 2016

Royals Opening Day

Apr. 3 at 7:37 p.m.
Rematch against New York Mets
The game will be televised on ESPN

What to know: The team

Last year, the Royals won 95 games, the AL Central title and the World Series.
All Royals on the 40-man roster are under contract for 2016.
Key players not returning:
- second baseman Ben Zobrist: signed a 4-year $56 million contract with the Chicago Cubs
- pitcher Johnny Cueto: signed a 6 year $130 million contract with the San Francisco Giants
- pitcher Jeremy Guthrie: non-roster candidate with the Texas Rangers
Outfielder Jarrod Dyson is expected to miss the start of the season after straining his oblique while batting during the World Series champions’ spring training opener.
PECOTA — a statistical program — projects 76 wins and a last-place finish this year, and FanGraphs is modestly more optimistic with its 79-win prediction. However, all of these metrics have predicted similarly terrible records the past two seasons.
Catcher Salvador Perez recently signed a five-year extension worth at least $50 million.
Joakim Soria, who was the Royals’ closer from 2007-11, has returned to the team this year. Soria averaged 93 mph with his fastball last year for the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Royals signed pitcher Ian Kennedy to a five-year, $70 million deal. Kennedy is said to have secured an opt-out clause that would allow him to re-enter the free agent market after the 2017 season.

What to know: The stadium

Gates to the stadium will open at 5 p.m. on Opening Day.
Starting this season, fans will walk through metal detectors upon entering Kauffman Stadium. Royals staff members will no long use wands to search spectators.
Any bags brought into the stadium can not exceed 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches.
The stadium has been decorated in celebration of the team’s World Series win. Banners and photographs commemorating the win are heavily featured throughout the stadium, including a photograph of the estimated 800,000 fans at the World Series victory parade and rally Nov. 3 outside the Royals Hall of Fame, and the words “2015 World Champions” were added to the back of the Kauffman Stadium scoreboard Mar. 7.