Why the Royals signed Lyles over other starters


Heading into the offseason, Kansas City was looking to add a veteran starter to a young starting rotation, aside from Zack Greinke. Unfortunately, many fans aren't happy with the Lyles signing, especially the $17 million dollar deal they gave him in free agency. 
Although fans aren't happy with the money Lyles was handed, he still makes plenty of sense for the Royals. While with Baltimore in 2022, Lyles made 32 starts and pitched in 179 innings. In fact, 179 innings was the most innings pitched by an Orioles starting pitcher last season. Baltimore's starting rotation ranked 17th of 30 last season according to ESPN. The Royals rotation ranked 27th of 30. Shortly after signing Lyles and Yarbrough, Royals General Manager J.J Picollo interviewed with USA Today: "The reason we're excited about Jordan and Ryan,” Picollo said, “is when we look at their track record, they've been able to pitch significant innings. We're going into this season thinking between the two of them we can secure or stabilize 300 innings, which is a pretty good chunk between two pitchers.” Lyles too interviewed with USA Today: "I've definitely been in that position the last couple of years," Lyles said, “but there's nothing I'm going to spring training searching for or looking to do. I just take pride in being the best teammate I can be.” Lyles stats with the Orioles can be a bit underwhelming to Royals fans; however, his stats against the American League Central aren't too shabby. The right-hander's stats vs. the East is 5.94 ERA; but Lyles's stats versus the American League Central is pretty good. The right hander has a career ERA of 3.77 vs. the Central compared to an ERA of 5.57 vs. the rest of the league. Lyles' decision to sign with the Royals over other offers he received might have something to do with his stats against the American League Central. The multi-year offer by the Royals also helped plenty too. Lyles coming to Kansas City doesn't put the Royals rotation over the top, but Lyles does bring veteran leadership and a guy who can go deep into games. According to RotoChamp.com, Lyles is projected to throw 170 innings, nine innings less than he threw last season with Baltimore. I believe the right hander could throw between 180 to 185 innings next season thanks to the size of Kauffman Stadium compared to the size of Camden Yards in Baltimore giving him more of a chance to force opposing hitters to flyout. The Lyles signing should put the Royals rotation in the middle of the league in terms of innings pitched and possibly strikeouts. Lastly, the Royals should expect the right hander to be a good veteran presence in a clubhouse full of young pitchers, Lyles has played for seven teams before signing with the Royals giving the boys in blue confidence that he can teach the young players on the team how to go handle the daily grind at the big league level.


















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