When the 2024 MLB schedule first came out, this weekend’s series between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals probably wasn’t circled on many people’s calendar. Why would it be? As far as anyone knew it was going to be a sleepy date between two last place teams looking to wrap up their first halves before the All-Star break.

Instead it’s proven to be a crucial showdown between two of baseball’s biggest surprises, one with important playoff implications.

Entering Saturday the Royals and Red Sox were tied for the last playoff spot in the American League, a remarkable rise considering last year Kansas City lost 106 games. Normally it takes more than one year for a club that bad to build itself back up into a playoff contender, but the Royals have shown a quick turnaround is possible if executed the right way.

The Red Sox could learn a thing or two from how the Royals pulled it off too.

Much like Boston, Kansas City has spent the past five or so years mired in a long-term rebuild. The Royals haven’t made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2015 and have finished fourth or fifth in the AL Central six straight seasons.

As a result the Royals have annually picked near the top of the draft, which allowed the club to draft current face of the franchise Bobby Witt Jr. But outside of him, Kansas City’s efforts to build a homegrown championship-caliber roster the way it did leading up to 2015 failed, and a big reason why is most of the club’s top pitching prospects didn’t pan out.

Rather than subject its fans to another three to four years of losing, Kansas City set out to fix its problem.

The Royals started at last year’s trade deadline when they traded aging closer Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers for pitching prospect Cole Ragans, who has since blossomed into an All-Star. Then this past winter the Royals moved as aggressively as anyone outside of the Dodgers, committing a franchise-record $109.5 million in free agency.

The two most important acquisitions were starting pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, and combined with Ragans and homegrown standout Brady Singer, Kansas City’s rotation has now become one of its biggest strengths.

“One thing they have is starting pitching. I think they’re leading the league in quality starts,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora prior to Friday’s series opener. “You’ve got Michael (Wacha), you’ve got Seth (Lugo), (Brady) Singer, they have good arms. Last year they were intriguing in that aspect and they spent some money to get Seth and Michael in their program, and so far it’s been really good.”

Wacha, who spent one season with the Red Sox in 2022, said the Royals came after him hard this past winter and sold him on their vision for the future.

“They were in on me from the beginning and I really appreciated that,” Wacha said. “Doing a little homework on the team before signing here, you knew about the young talent that was here, the captain behind the plate was (Salvador Perez), and it was very intriguing.”

Wacha also cited the way Kansas City finished last season, wrapping up the year 15-12 from Sept. 1 onwards after going at least seven games below .500 every month prior.

“With another year of experience you’re seeing all that stuff coming through this year,” Wacha said. “It’s been a good first half but I feel like it’s an unsatisfied clubhouse that kind of wants more.”

The organizational urgency Kansas City has displayed recently has been lacking in Boston these past few years, and while time will tell if the Royals’ push ultimately pays off, the Red Sox front office should take note of what they’ve already accomplished.

Kansas City was in a much worse position this time last year than Boston is now, and even at their nadir the Red Sox were never anywhere close to a 100-loss team. Most of Boston’s recent top draft picks have either worked out or are trending in the right direction, and the club has always possessed much greater financial strength than the Royals.

Yet for all its disadvantages Kansas City was still able to go from a 106-loss doormat to a playoff contender just by identifying its holes and actively working to fill them. If the Red Sox lean into their strengths and do the same — first at this month’s trade deadline and again this coming offseason — who knows what might be possible?