Troy Taylor’s record in his first two years as the Stanford football coach includes six victories and two internal disciplinary investigations.

Oh, and 18 losses.

His future would be tenuous even if he hadn’t, per two separate Stanford investigations uncovered by ESPN, been accused of bullying and belittling female athletic staffers, seeking to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly making “inappropriate” comments to another woman about her appearance.

Complaints about Taylor were enough for Stanford to twice hire outside investigative firms, both of which independently painted a picture of behavior ranging from “concerning” to “inappropriate,” according to documents obtained by ESPN’s Xuan Thai.

That included numerous clashes with the school’s compliance office and the attempted reassignment of duties for one staffer who raised concerns about NCAA violations pertaining to player eligibility and illegal practices. One of the law firms, experienced in these types of investigations, concluded it had never seen “this palpable level of animosity and disdain” to a compliance office.

After the first investigation, Taylor signed a “warning letter” in February 2024 acknowledging he could be fired if he didn’t behave better.

By summer he was under investigation again.

It’s somewhat of a mystery exactly why he remained on the job — this is Stanford, after all, or at least is supposed to be. The NCAA violations were fairly minor, but that’s all the more reason not to fight them. The attitude displayed to compliance is a red flag of its own. Again, Stanford.

Furthermore, multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told ESPN’s Thai that Taylor’s behavior extended beyond staffers and compliance officers to people within the coaching staff. One source said Taylor “has lost the locker room.”

Yet, Taylor is preparing for Year 3 on the Farm, one more — and presumably last — chance to win some games and reform his leadership style.

“I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the recommendations that came out of them, and used them as a learning opportunity to grow in leadership and how I interact with others,” Taylor, 56, said in the statement to ESPN on Wednesday. “I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together.”

Here’s hoping he’s successful in that endeavor, if only for everyone else’s sake. The task of leading Stanford as it transitions (and repeatedly travels) to the Atlantic Coast Conference is challenging enough without this behavior.

Taylor is dealing with another development, though, a new one that could be in play for a lot of schools in the future.

He isn’t the face of the program.

The team’s general manager, former Stanford and NFL great Andrew Luck, is.

Once upon a time, the head coach was the undeniable, and often indomitable, man in charge. Mostly, they still are.

It’s not just the Clemson Tigers, it’s Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers. Or Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs. Or so on and so on.

The coach runs everything and hires everyone. He sets the direction, makes the decisions and speaks for the entire operation. Win enough and a coach can quickly become more powerful than the supposed bosses — athletic directors — and even university presidents.

The firing of a coach causes a program to reset entirely. There’s a reason it’s called a “program” and not just a team. It’s why schools are often hesitant to make the move.

What now, though?

The role of general manager is a new one in college sports, a response to the changing ways rosters are constructed in this era of the transfer portal, revenue sharing and NIL payments. While athletic directors rarely have much stature with fans, prominent alums or big names lured from the pro ranks into a GM role could.

Luck certainly qualifies. He was a two-time Heisman runner-up for the Cardinal before becoming the No. 1 pick of the 2012 NFL draft and a four-time Pro Bowler in Indianapolis. He not only harks the program back to Stanford’s glory days under Jim Harbaugh and, later, David Shaw, but he has a reputation for intelligence, integrity and football acumen.

Understandably, Stanford leapt at the chance to bring him home last November. It hasn’t won more than four games since 2018. Luck is tasked with “overseeing the Cardinal Football program, including working with Coach Taylor on recruiting and roster management, and with athletics and university leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support, and stadium experience.”

Perhaps on some org chart somewhere, Luck isn’t the boss of all bosses. In reality, this is his program and Taylor will serve at his will.

A source with direct knowledge told ESPN’s Thai that Luck met with the team in Taylor’s presence on Thursday, and that Luck doubled down on standing by his coach.

Whatever Luck thinks of Taylor is unknown to fans and the public. He was on the committee that hired Taylor after a successful stint at FCS Sacramento State. He was just this week praising Taylor for his coaching skill during a Stanford pro day. However, he declined a chance to comment to ESPN on Taylor’s disciplinary file.

Did he know about it? What about the NCAA violations? What about any possible issues with the treatment of players? How much will all of this weigh on his evaluation of Taylor, who even if he was up for sainthood needs to start winning?

The questions go on. The answers, thus far, are nowhere to be found.

Right now, all of Stanford’s trust is in Luck, and for good reason. He has earned that. He has earned the chance to run this program through uncertain, even potentially dire, times in the ever-shifting landscape of college athletics.

It’s his program now, and that means Troy Taylor is his coach; everything reflecting back on not just the school but on the all-time great in charge via a new-age job.

There’s something for just about everyone on Saturday in the NHL, with 14 games being played throughout the day. The first puck drops at 1 p.m. ET, and the last opening faceoff is at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Here’s what is at stake in each contest:

Vancouver Canucks at New York Rangers
1 p.m., NHL Network

The Canucks dropped out of the second wild-card spot in the West with their loss Thursday to the Blues, but can jump right back over them (at least temporarily) with a win here. As for the Rangers, they are hoping to avoid being just the fourth team to miss the playoffs a season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy (joining the 2014-15 Bruins, 2007-08 Sabres and 1993-94 Rangers).

Philadelphia Flyers at Dallas Stars
2 p.m., ESPN+

The playoff possibility train left the station long ago for the Flyers, but they’ll look to maintain a strong position in the draft lottery standings. The Stars open the day 10 points and three regulation wins behind the Jets for first place in the Central Division, with two games in hand. Winning games like this one is an important step in mounting a challenge for that division title.

Buffalo Sabres at Minnesota Wild
2 p.m., ESPN+

It’s another spring outside the postseason for the Sabres, but maybe the never-ending rebuild will end next season? The Wild seem to be stuck in the first wild-card position in the West, four points behind the Avalanche for third in the Central, but six points ahead of the Blues. Can they still make a move?

Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues
3 p.m., ESPN+

As noted in this space on Thursday, the Blues have a very favorable strength of schedule down the stretch. That obviously includes this game, as Connor Bedard & Co. remain one of the NHL’s weakest clubs — though could be closer to contention than some think. Officially eliminated from playoff contention, the Blackhawks are just jockeying for lottery position now.

Calgary Flames at New York Islanders
4 p.m., ESPN+

Can the Flames make it a clean sweep of all three NYC metro teams? They remain on the periphery of the Western wild-card race (thanks in large part to rookie goalie Dustin Wolf), and a win here helps that quest. As for the Isles, they’ve quietly crept back into the Eastern wild-card race, separated by just two points from the Canadiens, who currently hold the final spot.

Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings
4 p.m., ESPN+

It would take a monumental collapse for either of these teams to miss the playoffs. But each has faced its share of trouble getting back to the Stanley Cup Final in recent seasons. Nevertheless, wouldn’t this be a fun matchup in that series?

Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals
5 p.m., ESPN+

If the Panthers keep their streak of Stanley Cup Final appearances going this spring — and maybe win it again? — the dynasty debate will begin. They remain atop the Atlantic Division, and could be on a collision course with the likely Metro champ Capitals in the conference finals, with this game serving as a preview. And while Alex Ovechkin keeps chasing down Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, Washington is actually one of the more complete teams in the field, officially clinching a playoff berth Thursday.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Utah Hockey Club
5 p.m., ESPN+

New season, same game plan: Tampa Bay made wise additions at the trade deadline — this time, it was Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand — as they appear quite likely to continue their streak of playoff appearances. The UHC didn’t exist before this season, so wherever they finish this spring will start a new streak. They enter this game four points behind the Blues for the second Western wild card.

Colorado Avalanche at Montreal Canadiens
7 p.m., ESPN+

In recent seasons, it’s been expected that the Avs will make the postseason field. Despite some rough going early on this season, that outcome appears likely again for Nathan MacKinnon & Co. On the other hand, not many predicted that the Canadiens would be in possession of a wild-card spot this late in the season. Every point counts from here on out!

Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils
7 p.m., ESPN+

The last time the Senators made the playoffs they made it all the way to the conference finals. Were they to play a series against Saturday’s opponent, that’s the round in which it would happen. The Devils have been a bit wobbly of late — largely due to injuries to key players such as Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler — but have been gutting out enough victories to remain in the Metro’s No. 3 position. They hold an eight-point lead on the Islanders and Rangers ahead of this game.

Toronto Maple Leafs at Nashville Predators
7 p.m., ESPN+

If they had the power, the Predators would likely have pushed the reset button on this season quite a while ago. But while they continue to calculate their draft lottery odds, the Leafs are pushing to earn the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division bracket. They enter this game tied in points with the Panthers, but one regulation win behind.

Detroit Red Wings at Vegas Golden Knights
8 p.m., ABC/ESPN+

For a while there it looked like Dylan Larkin would parlay his strong play for the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off into dragging his team into the postseason. The Red Wings have fallen off the pace a bit, but remain four points back of the Canadiens as play begins Saturday. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights are looking to increase their lead in the Pacific Division over the Oilers; currently, they hold an 88-85 points lead, and a 37-29 edge in regulation wins (with a game in hand).

Seattle Kraken at Edmonton Oilers
10 p.m., ESPN+

Speaking of the Oilers, they have largely avoided the Stanley Cup runner-up hangover this season. Do they want another first-round matchup with the Kings — who they have beaten three straight years? Or will they catch the Knights and (likely) take on the Wild? As for Seattle, management can use this game as another measuring stick for who will (and won’t) be back next season as they continue to build a consistent contender.

Boston Bruins at San Jose Sharks
10:30 p.m., ESPN+

There was a time where this game would have a major impact on the postseason races. Sadly for these clubs, those days are past. The Sharks were eliminated earlier this week, and the Bruins are hanging on to slim playoff hopes; they’ll need to catch fire and have five teams ahead of them hit the skids.

There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.

Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.

Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today’s schedule
Yesterday’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick

Current playoff matchups

Eastern Conference

A1 Florida Panthers vs. WC1 Ottawa Senators
A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3 Tampa Bay Lightning
M1 Washington Capitals vs. WC2 Montreal Canadiens
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 New Jersey Devils

Western Conference

C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 St. Louis Blues
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings

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Saturday’s games

Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).

Vancouver Canucks at New York Rangers, 1 p.m. (NHLN)
Philadelphia Flyers at Dallas Stars, 2 p.m.
Buffalo Sabres at Minnesota Wild, 2 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues, 3 p.m.
Calgary Flames at New York Islanders, 4 p.m.
Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings, 4 p.m.
Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Utah Hockey Club, 5 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m.
Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Nashville Predators, 7 p.m.
Detroit Red Wings at Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m. (ABC/ESPN+)
Seattle Kraken at Edmonton Oilers, 10 p.m.
Boston Bruins at San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

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Friday’s scoreboard

Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Columbus Blue Jackets 3

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Expanded standings

Atlantic Division

Points: 87
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 13
Points pace: 103.4
Next game: @ WSH (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 87
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 13
Points pace: 103.4
Next game: @ NSH (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 85
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 14
Points pace: 102.5
Next game: @ UTA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 77
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 14
Points pace: 92.9
Next game: @ NJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 95.4%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 74
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 14
Points pace: 89.2
Next game: vs. COL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 43.3%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 84.4
Next game: @ VGK (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 5.7%
Tragic number: 25

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 12
Points pace: 80.8
Next game: @ SJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 1.3%
Tragic number: 20

Points: 60
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 15
Points pace: 73.4
Next game: @ MIN (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 17

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Metro Division

Points: 100
Regulation wins: 39
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 13
Points pace: 118.8
Next game: vs. FLA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 88
Regulation wins: 37
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 14
Points pace: 106.1
Next game: @ LA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 80
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 12
Points pace: 93.7
Next game: vs. OTT (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 95.3%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 86.8
Next game: vs. CGY (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 24.8%
Tragic number: 27

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 12
Points pace: 84.3
Next game: vs. VAN (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 18.2%
Tragic number: 23

Points: 71
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 84.4
Next game: @ NYI (Monday)
Playoff chances: 15.9%
Tragic number: 24

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 11
Points pace: 78.5
Next game: @ FLA (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 17

Points: 64
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 12
Points pace: 75.0
Next game: @ DAL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 15

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Central Division

Points: 100
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 12
Points pace: 117.1
Next game: vs. BUF (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 90
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 14
Points pace: 108.5
Next game: vs. PHI (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 87
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 12
Points pace: 101.9
Next game: @ MTL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 83
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 13
Points pace: 98.6
Next game: vs. BUF (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 93.8%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 77
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 12
Points pace: 90.2
Next game: vs. CHI (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 56.5%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 73
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 86.8
Next game: vs. TB (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 12.5%
Tragic number: 23

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 69.9
Next game: vs. TOR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 10

Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 58.2
Next game: @ STL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

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Pacific Division

Points: 88
Regulation wins: 37
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 14
Points pace: 106.1
Next game: vs. DET (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 85
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 13
Points pace: 101.0
Next game: vs. SEA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.6%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 83
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 15
Points pace: 101.6
Next game: vs. CAR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.6%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 76
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 90.3
Next game: @ NYR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 21.3%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 14
Points pace: 90.4
Next game: @ NYI (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 16.8%
Tragic number: 27

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 80.8
Next game: vs. CAR (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 18

Points: 65
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 12
Points pace: 76.1
Next game: @ EDM (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 13

Points: 45
Regulation wins: 13
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 13
Points pace: 53.5
Next game: vs. BOS (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

Note: An “x” means that the team has clinched a playoff berth. An “e” means that the team has been eliminated from playoff contention.

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Race for the No. 1 pick

The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.

Points: 45
Regulation wins: 13

Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 21

Points: 60
Regulation wins: 21

Points: 64
Regulation wins: 17

Points: 65
Regulation wins: 24

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 20

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 22

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 24

Points: 71
Regulation wins: 23

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 30

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 25

Points: 73
Regulation wins: 23

Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26

Points: 76
Regulation wins: 25

WHEN A TEAM finds a successful strategy in pro sports, it has long been the expectation that its competition will shift toward that strategy. The typical refrain: “It’s a copycat league.”

If that’s the case in Major League Baseball, shouldn’t the replicating felines be conducting thorough investigations of last season’s Kansas City Royals?

The 2024 Royals were a historically remarkable team. Kansas City won 30 more games than it did in 2023. If you prorate every past team to a 162-game season for comparison, the Royals authored just the 14th year-over-year leap of at least 30 wins since 1901. It was just the fourth such leap in the three decades since the advent of the wild card. Kansas City joined the 1946 Boston Red Sox and the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays as the only teams to improve by at least 30 games, then go on to win more than one game in the playoffs.

How could such a thing possibly happen? It’s not as if the Royals were like the 2022 Baltimore Orioles — another 30-win leaper — who turned the corner after years of topping the prospect rankings. Entering the season, the prospect mavens remained very much down on the Royals’ system. Yet they broke out anyway. Wouldn’t the answer to this particular “how” question have some repercussions on baseball’s hypercompetitive, eager-to-innovate landscape?

The answers have a lot to do with the fading status of the starting pitcher — and how, when it comes to managing a rotation, there’s more than one way worth copying.

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THEY TRIED. THAT’S what you heard so often about Kansas City’s success. It’s true. Despite losing 106 games the season before, the Royals went about building the best 26-man roster they could, displaying an aggression during free agency that surprised everyone. They tried, sure, but they also tried in a very specific way.

The sexy part of the Royals’ breakout was the amazing-but-expected rise of star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. But the Royals scored only 59 more runs in 2024 than the season before. The rocket fuel for the turnaround came on the other side of the ball, where K.C. slashed 215 runs off of its 28th-ranked runs allowed total of 2023.

While the bullpen performed better, the rotation accounted for most of this, cutting its collective ERA from 5.17 to 3.76. The group didn’t have a Paul Skenes ascend to the majors, nor did it have a high-profile international addition. The Royals did introduce two solid veteran free agents to the group in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.

“We felt like we had a lot of holes to fill and everything in this game starts and ends with starting pitching,” Royals GM J.J. Picollo told ESPN during the team’s hot start last year. “So that was clearly the No. 1 objective, trying to secure two starting pitchers.”

That’s an old-school statement, the type of thing baseball execs have been saying for eons. Still, while Lugo and Wacha had good enough track records that Kansas City was far from their only option, between them they had accounted for one All-Star appearance (Wacha in 2015) over 19 combined big-league campaigns. It’s not the kind of thing that takes a team from 106 losses to playing the New York Yankees in October.

But it did. The Royals did play into October, and everything did begin with those two signings. Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA over 206⅔ innings, second in AL Cy Young balloting) and Wacha (13-8, 3.35 ERA, 166⅔ innings) were outstanding. Just as important, though, were the downhill effects of their dual arrival.

“Wacha and Lugo are great,” said the budding ace the Royals already had in their deck, fireballing lefty Cole Ragans. “They are two great guys who you look up to and try to understand how they go about their game.”

Well, how do they go about their games?

The most important statistic about the Kansas City rotation might simply have been 908 — the number of innings the Royals got from their starting pitchers. That total ranked second in the majors behind Seattle, but 95% of that figure came from K.C.’s five most-used starters, the highest percentage in the majors. Lugo led the way with an AL-leading 836 batters faced.

“Lugo threw 206 innings, I think, last year,” Ragans said, correctly. “That’s where you want to be. The goal is 200 innings. You just watch him, how he goes about his business, how he thinks about pitching. He knows he can get swing-and-miss when he needs it, but he’s trying to get guys off balance and get some weak contact.”

Lugo led the way, but his approach was Kansas City’s approach — even for Ragans, who has elite swing-and-miss ability. These aren’t new ideas, but they felt kind of like it during a season when pitcher injuries — and the widespread focus on max-effort pitching that likely contributes to them — dominated the headlines. The Royals simply did not participate in that narrative.

With five core starters — Lugo, Wacha, Ragans, Brady Singer (now with the Cincinnati Reds) and Alec Marsh — doing most of the work, the Royals’ rotation still managed to work deeper into games than any other team in an era of two-times-through-the-order starters. Some facts:

• Royals starters faced 23.4 batters per outing, most in the majors, making the trip into the third time through the order a standard, not a rarity.

• Kansas City tied for third in quality starts (76), which of course entails going at least six innings in an outing.

• The Royals’ starters threw just 16.2 pitches per frame, ranking 23rd in the majors.

• The Royals ranked 21st in total payroll, but 14th in payroll allotted for starting pitchers. Their core five starters accounted for 30.7% of the outpay, the second-largest percentage allocated for that group in the majors, behind Toronto (34.4%).

• Of the Royals’ 86 wins, 58 resulted in winning decisions for a core-five starter, the highest total in the majors.

• The core five started 151 of the Royals’ 162 games, another big-league-leading total.

Obviously, a lot has to go your way for this to happen. It’s not as if the Royals have figured out how to sidestep pitching injuries. But this was all very much by design, not just in roster construction, but in terms of game-by-game, inning-by-inning, pitch-by-pitch approach.

Call it a season approach, rather than a game approach. To achieve maximum results over 162 games, don’t leave it all out there in any one situation with a barrage of 100 mph fastballs and a focus on the strikeout column. Much of it has to do with managing effort, not the easiest skill to learn in the era of Statcast and Rapsodo, but it’s one even the game’s best strikeout pitchers can hone over time.

“It’s trying to rein in when somebody steps in there,” said the Texas Rangers‘ Jacob deGrom, a two-time Cy Young winner with a career strikeout rate of 11 whiffs per nine innings. Yet, after a string of injury-plagued seasons, deGrom is focused on easing up on the throttle. “When somebody steps in, it’s go time. But you have to trust that your stuff plays at maybe not 100% effort. There’s a lot of times you’ll actually locate the ball better. So it can be a plus in both ways, health wise, and maybe some location stuff.”

These are lessons taken to heart by the newest member of the Royals’ rotation, lefty Kris Bubic, who is transitioning back to starting pitching after Kansas City traded Singer over the winter.

“I don’t want to say pitching to contact,” Bubic said. “But we’re not relying on velocity. We’re relying on change of speeds, throwing a lot of strikes.”

This sentiment is borne out in the data. The Royals’ starters ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of average velocity, with Ragans’ ability to crack 100 with his four-seamer leading the way, so it’s not like they were a bunch of Jamie Moyers. But the Royals’ reliance on softer stuff resulted in the second-highest aggregate spin rate among rotations.

Forget the radar. Get in, get out.

“There’s always a philosophy of ‘an out in three pitches,'” Bubic said, repeating it like a mantra. “You want a guy out on three pitches. You want a guy out on three pitches. You just continue that attacking mindset.”

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THIS WINTER’S TOP free agent starting pitchers had plenty of suitors. Based on data from Roster Resources at FanGraphs, we can estimate that about $1.38 billion in committed salary went to free agent starters — highlighted by nine-figure commitments for Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell.

After the Royals’ success in 2024, you might have expected a bit more activity from baseball’s also-rans and low-revenue teams, which saw how the right couple of rotation additions can not just infuse the win column but can paper over an organization’s lack of depth.

Yet it was mostly the usual suspects doing all of that spending. Teams that finished .500 or better last year accounted for 78% of the collective rotation investment. If you look at it from a revenue standpoint, the 12 highest-grossing teams (or 40% of the league) accounted for 58% of the spending on starters.

There were exceptions in the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. The low-ish revenue Arizona Diamondbacks doled out $210 million for Burnes. Still, by and large, there wasn’t a deluge of teams following in the Royals’ path. Ranking eighth in spending on starters were the Royals themselves, who committed $58 million to bring back Wacha and Michael Lorenzen.

If you love the traditional models of starting pitching, this might be disappointing. As we’ve alluded to, while the Royals didn’t reinvent the rotation wheel, they did at least show us that some of the old ways can still work. But so, too, do the new ways.

Case in point: If the Royals took a season approach to running their rotation, other teams won with a game-based approach — and none more so than the Milwaukee Brewers.

“We don’t have the firepower to give up one game, you know?” said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, the reigning National League Manager of the Year. “I mean, we just don’t. We’re not built that way.”

The Brewers have been one of baseball’s great innovators for years now, but much of their recent run of success has been due to a foundation of starting pitching, led by Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. But Burnes was traded before last season and Woodruff was recovering from a shoulder injury.

Still, the revamped Brewers won 93 games and the NL Central title, and they did it by winning one game at a time in about the most anti-Royals way possible.

Only three teams used fewer starters than the Royals’ nine, but only two clubs used more than the Brewers’ 17. Only three teams got fewer rotation innings than Milwaukee, and only six teams saw their starters throw more pitches per inning.

Instead of riding a group of old-school starters and preserving them as much as possible for the long haul, the Brewers improvised their way along, day after day. And it worked.

“Of course, we want the length,” said Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook. “But that’s not necessarily how you put 27 outs together.”

In terms of managing effort, this approach focuses a starting pitcher in that he doesn’t have to worry about the later innings, as starters once did. Still, the notion of managing effort at all might be an individual pitcher thing, as opposed to an explicit message from an organization. Brewers starter Aaron Civale has spent his career taking a tour of some of baseball’s most cutting-edge pitching programs, moving from Cleveland to Tampa Bay to Milwaukee.

“I’ve never been instructed to not have the foot on the gas,” Civale said. “I’ve also never been instructed to have my foot on the gas. I think that if you’re a competitor and you’re at this level, you’re going pitch to pitch, and you’re trying to win that moment versus the hitter. And the hitter is doing the same thing.”

In a sense, the Brewers maintained that kind of postseason mindset from the first pitch on Opening Day. Worry about getting the win today. Then worry about tomorrow.

“It’d be great to have five dudes,” Hook said, “but I don’t think that’s the norm. Throughout the league, it’s not the norm. For us even more so, because we do things a little different in how we construct a roster.”

That roster construction works because of Milwaukee’s ability to consistently build deep, dominant bullpens, often with the considerable help of pitchers who have struggled in other organizations. It also involves finding what former manager Craig Counsell always called “out getters” — pitchers who fill a variety of roles from short, high-leverage spots to multi-inning stints in the middle of winnable games.

“It’s about winning the F’ing game tonight,” Hook said. “That’s basically Murph’s mantra, and I think that’s how we play the system.”

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EVERYTHING WENT RIGHT for the Royals’ rotation in 2024, just as pretty much everything went right for the Brewers’ bullpen, at least once closer Devin Williams returned from injury. The teams went about it very differently but ultimately both approaches paid off in postseason appearances.

Now they are running it back, trying to repeat dynamics that are so hard to pin down. Can the Royals get 151 starts from five starting pitchers? Can the Brewers continue to spin almost every bullpen arm they acquire into high-leverage gold, especially after trading Williams to the Yankees in December?

Both teams pursued a bit more rotation/bullpen balance. The Royals made the bold move of moving Singer in his prime in order to acquire a much-needed leadoff hitter in Jonathan India. They also bolstered a bullpen that was spotty for much of 2024, having added high-leverage fireballers Lucas Erceg, Hunter Harvey and Carlos Estevez since the middle of last season.

Still, the investment to bring back Wacha and Lorenzen, and the decision to move Bubic to the rotation after a highly successful campaign as a reliever, shows that starting pitching very much remains the focus in Kansas City.

“You want to take that baton,” said Bubic, who added a second slider in order to diversify his arsenal in a way that will allow him to navigate opposing lineups as many times as possible. “They pass that baton to you and you want to fulfill those same expectations: Make a quality start, pitching deep into games.”

The Brewers, meanwhile, committed just $5.25 million in new salary to its rotation, the bulk of that coming late in the spring when veteran Jose Quintana signed after strangely lingering on the free agent market all winter. They also acquired starter Nestor Cortes in the Williams deal. But Milwaukee will remain unlikely to climb high on the leaderboard for rotation innings.

Maybe the Royals’ turnaround didn’t spur a neoclassic movement in starting pitching, but at least they showed that a season approach can still work. Insomuch as that’s the case, some of the old ways live on. But every new season is a blank slate.

“The starters carrying those innings, going deep into those games, was immensely important last year,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I don’t know how to predict it going forward.”