My take on the 2026 Royals to this point has been, I believe, quite damning: They’re largely an uninteresting team. Sure, they have some individuals capable of quality, but for the most part the Royals have played some drab, boring, and, most disappointingly, losing baseball this season.

Good news, though! They’ve sort of put that notion to bed since the All-Star break, winning three of their first four with two of them coming in walkoff fashion where the action didn’t really kick off until the ninth inning.

It may take a couple of hours, but this Royals team has rediscovered the element of entertainment. At last!

You just cannot beat a walkoff safety squeeze. It's delightful and charming and chaotic...A perfect ending to a long night.

That's Nick Loftin laying down a bunt to bring home the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The play was put in motion with a Josh Rojas single to lead off the ninth inning, moments after the Giants tied the game. (More on that in a moment.) He moved to second when Tyler Tolbert dropped a beaut of a spinner right off of home plate. It was an attempted sacrifice but Giants catcher Daniel Susac fired to second to try to catch Rojas as the lead runner. Not a crazy attempt given the desire to get an out and knowing that making a play for Tolbert sprinting down the first base line would be somewhat ill-advised. I write "not crazy" except for the bit where Willy Adames decided to catch the ball in front of the bag, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was a force play at second. It was a perfect time for a brain freeze. Perhaps Adames was still living in the glow of his game-tying home run just minutes before.

Carter Jensen, the walkoff hero from Friday, gave his best shot for an encore performance but lined out to center. At least that allowed Rojas to advance to third.

And that set up Loftin to walk it off for the Royals with a safety squeeze.

It was Loftin's second attempt at the bunt after fouling off a fastball that was up and out of the zone. The 0-1 pitch was likewise elevated, but not elevated enough. Loftin kept the bat on top of the pitch and delivered a near-perfect bunt down the first base line. You know I loathe the bunt but there are moments where it can make sense. Those two in the ninth inning were prime examples. The first time Loftin squared, it caught the defense by surprise, although they were playing in at the corners. The second time, it applied just a little too much pressure. First baseman Bryce Eldridge didn't field the ball cleanly, but he was hung out a bit in no man's land. It's difficult to defend.

And when it's successful, it's a game winner.

Sharing the top billing in Monday’s walkoff 4-3 victory was Salvador Perez. The Royals captain must have spent the break filling up his glass at the Fountain of Youth. He’s swinging a faster bat of late, and he’s getting results. On Saturday, he launched a home run to dead center that traveled 438 feet, his longest blast of 2026. He topped that on Monday with a prodigious bomb that was launched 440 feet.

The pitch was a sinker down and away. That Perez was able to muscle up and crush it was impressive, especially given the location. These are Perez’s slugging percentages broken down by zone this season.

As Perez’s bat has slowed, he’s had difficulty getting to pitches on the outer half. We’re at the point now where I wonder if The Captain is about to go off. I remain skeptical because we have 100 or so games of evidence to the contrary, but would it surprise you? He’s now just one home run away from tying George Brett for the franchise record. Of course we want him to tie—and break—the record at home. He has two more games on this homestand.

While Perez was turning back the clock, starter Michael Wacha was doing Michael Wacha things. That is to say, another steady outing from the Royals All-Star. He went six innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out five. He didn’t get a ton of swing and miss—just 18 percent—but he did ride a 60 percent chase rate on his changeup that resulted in plenty of weak contact from Giants hitters. The average exit velocity on the change was 86 mph. Wacha’s overall average exit velocity was 89 mph. Just five of the 16 balls put in play topped 95 mph.

It was a steamy night at The K and Wacha toiled through the first inning, leaving a few pitches up and others leaking from the arm side. He needed 24 pitches while walking two batters to record his three outs. From there, though, he was nails. Those first inning walks were the only free passes Wacha issued on the night. Just another pitching masterclass from the veteran.

As the team continues to employ as squad of vandals in the bullpen, it’s risky business to expect the relievers to find three clean innings. Herrera, Davis and Holland aren’t walking through that door.

They almost got the job done. Almost. The bullpen was good for 2.2 innings on Monday.

Damnit!

Steven Cruz threw a tidy seventh, retiring the side in order. Daniel Lynch allowed a leadoff double in the eighth to remind us nothing is easy. He worked around it though, with some quality defense from Josh Rojas at third.

Have someone in your life who looks at you the way Daniel Lynch IV looks at his third baseman.

Can you blame Lynch? That play from Rojas saved a run and probably a double. The last thing anyone wants for this bullpen is some pressure.

The ninth inning, as the custom these days, belonged to Alex Lange. He looked sharp at the beginning, striking out Rafael Devers and Heliot Ramos to get the first two outs in the ninth.

The 2026 Royals bullpen has a home run problem. As a group, they've allowed 61 baseballs to leave the yard. That's not the most in the majors, but their home run rate of 1.5 HR/9 is. The case I'm making is, if you're watching a Royals reliever pitch, the odds are strong you will be seeing fireworks at some point from the opposing hitters.

After Lange got those first two outs, he surrendered a single to Jung Hoo Lee. That brought up Adames. He turned on an 0-1 sinker and hit it to the opposite field. Just over the wall at the newly configured K. That's the second time this homestand that Lange has given up a Kauffman Special with two outs to tie the game. You cannot make this stuff up.

Honestly, it wasn't a terrible pitch in that, like the Perez home run, it was located low and away. Adames is closing in on 200 home runs for his career and has shown the ability to clear the opposite field fences. It's just the kind of thing that happens when the bullpen is generally a horror show. The home runs have a way of finding you.

The Royals, fortunately, had just enough juice to bunt their way out of it to earn the victory.

Most importantly: I was entertained.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note some minor league action from the weekend. On Sunday, right-hander Kendry Chourio, the Royals current top prospect according to Baseball America, combined with Emmanuel Reyes to no-hit Wisconsin in a High-A tilt. Chourio went five innings while striking out 10 against two walks. Reports from the game had Chourio living at 98 mph with his four-seam with his 12-to-6 curve doing the most work putting hitters away.

Chourio isn’t the only prospect tearing up the minors for the Royals. Baseball America’s number two Royals prospect, Josh Hammond also got a mention on their Hot Sheet after kicking off the second half in style. He had three multi-hit games, including a 5-5 outing on Saturday. Over the weekend, he went 10-14 with four doubles and five runs scored.

Keeping with the prospect theme, the Royals announced on Sunday that they signed 19 of their 21 draft picks. Top pick—and number six overall—Zion Rose inked a deal worth $5,809,574, well below the slot value of $7,746,100. As suspected at the time the pick was made, the Royals went under slot on Rose to splash the cash later in the draft. They spent some of that in signing second-rounder, right-hander prep Jack Slightom for a reported $3 million. That was $1,278,300 over the slot value.

As the bonus numbers come trickling in, I doubt the Royals will have enough to pry 19th rounder Hudson DeVaughan away from his commitment to Alabama. Baseball America rated him as the 41st-best prospect in the draft, so for the Royals to land him so late could've been quite a coup. Yet the Royals currently have a surplus of around $500,000. I doubt that’s going to be enough. We’ll see. The deadline for players to sign is August 27.

Slot for players drafted outside the top 10 is $150,000.

And if you’re into midseason prospect rankings, BA has Rose as the number four prospect in the system, followed by first round supplemental pick Taylor Rabe. Slightom is number 14 with third-rounder pitcher from West Virginia Maxx Yehl in the 18th spot.