After an offseason filled with tragedy, trades and free agent signings, the Kansas City Royals have finally taken the field to kick off the 2017 season.

Similar to the last few seasons, there are many unknowns as to how good the Royals will be as analysts and sabermetric formulas have almost all picked Kansas City to finish with a poor record; however, the Royals have outperformed those projections each of the last several years, and most likely will again this year.

As for the team itself, nearly the entire core is returning, with the only additions being new right fielder Jorge Soler, new designated hitter Brandon Moss, and new pitchers Jason Hammel, Nathan Karns and Travis Wood. They also lost several players, trading away closer Wade Davis and speedster Jarrod Dyson, losing starter Edinson Volquez to free agency, and, by far the most painful, losing ace Yordano Ventura after he died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.

While these losses will certainly affect the team, their replacements should perform just as well, with rising superstar Danny Duffy taking over the ace role while Karns and Hammel take the other open rotation spots. In the field, things should look almost identical with the exception of Soler, who will likely fill the right field spot where there was no true starter last season.

The overall appearance and differences in the team may be small, but look to see the additions and solid returning core players propel the team past last season’s .500 record and into the playoff hunt.