KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yes, it’s only April. Absurdly early to get excited about the prospects for any team in Major League Baseball.

“With the nice weather and the way the team’s playing, in the reduced capacity, it’s really turned it into a pretty hot ticket right now,” said Jason Durbin with Tickets for Less.

Durbin said from a supply and demand perspective, there’s a few factors driving up home game ticket prices for the Kansas City Royals.

Because of COVID-19, there is a scarcity of tickets for the team atop the American League Central division standings. As a result, season ticket holders who, in previous years, dumped their tickets onto the secondary market are holding onto their seats.

Add in nice weather and a general eagerness to get out of the house, and it’s easy to see why ticket prices are trending upwards.

“It meets a lot of those requirements that make people feel very comfortable,” Durbin explained. “It’s an outdoor venue, they’re still doing social distancing but more and more people are vaccinated.”

Not surprisingly, home weekend games are the hardest to find.

The cheapest ticket for the Royals next home weekend game, a week from this Friday against the Chicago White Sox, is selling for $36. Durbin said that’s about twice what fans would have had to pay two years ago.

But, again, it’s late April. The playoffs are in October. Is it ludicrous to get excited, this early, about the local nine?

We asked FOX4’s Rob Collins for his take.

“They’re the hot ticket in town,” Collins said. “We all remember what it was like in 2014 and 2015 here with the Kansas City Royals and getting a ticket for that was almost impossible. A lot of people want to know what this team’s about, they’re hearing our highlights, they’re hearing our stories, but maybe they haven’t seen them or watched a game. But there’s a ton of interest in the Royals right now so it’s understandable, tickets are going to be hard to get.”