Everything Matt Quatraro and Bobby Witt Jr. said after falling in ALDS

The Kansas City Royals fell on the wrong end of seven lights-out innings from Gerrit Cole on Thursday, losing Game 4 of the ALDS 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium. It was a swift and brutal end to a special Royals season, and it concluded with an instantly iconic image of Bobby Witt Jr. sitting in the dugout alone, staring out at the New York Yankees' on-field celebration.

It's hard to overstate just how far the Royals progressed in the span of one year. The Royals lost 106 games in 2023, but a steadfast commitment to incremental growth and mental toughness from manager Matt Quatraro paid dividends. Kansas City has a new perennial MVP candidate in Witt, as well as a productive pitching staff and a lineup full of fan favorites who tend to come through in the clutch.

This is not how fans wanted it to end, but the Royals are officially knocking on the door — a bonafide October baseball team with the star-power and the experience necessary to contend at the highest level. This surely won't be the last time we see the Royals on this stage, especially after what we heard from Witt and Quatraro after the game.

Kansas City's two foremost leaders were extremely thoughtful and composed in their postgame pressers. Here are the best comments from a sad night in the Royals locker room.

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Matt Quatraro, Bobby Witt Jr. address Royals heartbreaking ALDS loss to Yankees

"It’s kind of something that will light a torch in you and leave you a bad taste for the future,” Witt told reporters in the locker room (h/t Rustin Dodd, The Athletic). “Because now for Kansas City Royals baseball, this is what we want. This is what we’re gonna do every year. We’re gonna get in the postseason. Now it’s how far we’re gonna go."

That was the eloquent and illuminating response from Witt, who said "that's where I wanna be," when asked about the shot of him alone in the dugout postgame. The Royals have something concrete and tangible to aim for. They've experienced October baseball and now, the goal isn't just to get back. It's to get further.

A major theme of the Royals discourse is how slim the margins of victory were for New York. The Yankees did not dominate this series. In fact, the Royals were a few extra feet on a Kyle Isbel moonshot away from tying the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. The wind killed Isbel's rocket at the warning track, but for a moment, it felt like Kansas City flipped the script on Gerrit Cole and was about to tie the game with a two-run dinger.

"I thought it was a homer,” Witt said. “It’s one of those where baseball is a crazy game. Wind, whatever it is, changes, and right there, tie game."

It was a truly painful loss for the Royals. After the game, Quatraro left his team with a simple message: appreciate the journey. Not everything is about how a season ends.

He also addressed the expectations in the locker room and the general vibes after such a tightly-contested series loss, which saw players like Bobby Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino struggle at the plate.

"Our guys had bigger expectations for themselves, and that’s how you should approach this game,” Quatraro said (h/t The Athletic). “You don’t come here thinking, ‘Oh, I hope we get a little bit better.’ That’s not how it works at the big league level. I think it’s okay that it sucks right now."

Expect Kansas City right back on this stage next year. That is a grade-A organization and it's clear this team has what it takes to build a sustainable winning culture with Quatraro and Witt.