Talkin Royals

The Royals front office made it clear entering this offseason that the bullpen is the team's number one priority. Kansas City in my opinion should take a chance on a Nationals pitcher in Carl Edwards Jr.  Washington signed the right-hander to a minor league deal back in 2022. The signing worked out great for Washington. After a solid showing in 2022, the Nationals signed the right-hander to a one year deal worth $2.25 million in 2023.  Nationals manager David Martinez praised the reliever: "Carl was really throwing the ball well,” Martinez said when they brought Edwards Jr. up from Triple-A Rochester. “And I spoke to [Rochester manager] Matt LeCroy and we felt like it was time to get him up here. He did everything we asked him to do, he checked all the boxes, and I think he can help us here.”  “The biggest thing with him was his health,” the manager added, “… and like I said, he checked all the boxes, he’s been back-to-back, he actually has gotten four outs do...

The Kansas City rotation last season ranked 28th entering the early part of the season. While it didn't look good in the rankings, the starting rotation for the most part did what the front office hoped they would do—eat innings. Last offseason, the team was searching for a veteran starter that could go deep into games and would be a good veteran presence in a young clubhouse. Jordan Lyles has remained in the big leagues for those exact reasons and that's a big reason why Kansas City gave him the contract they did. And in Lyles's first year in a Royals uniform, he led the team in innings pitched. The hurler pitched a total of 177.2 innings and threw a complete game against the White Sox on May 9. The Royals’ starter ranked 44th across the league in innings pitched. While he didn't rank that high in innings pitched category across the majors, he did exactly what the Royals signed him to do. Hunter Felt of The Guardian sums up the 32-year old's career to t...

Kansas City baseball this season was one of those seasons fans would love to forget. The pitching side of the game is where the Royals really struggled. The front office's main target as free agency gets closer needs to be the bullpen. Kansas City's bullpen ranked fourteenth out of fifteen in the American League behind the Athletics. Across the league, the boys in blue ranked twenty eighth out of thirty in bullpen ERA and only saved 28 games. In a nutshell, the bullpen was a dumpster fire following the departures of Scott Barlow and Aroldis Chapman. Unfortunately, I don't believe the team has all the right pieces to make a push for the postseason next season, but I do believe that they could improve quite a bit if they make the bullpen their top priority this coming offseason. Like last season, the team won't spend crazy money on free agents; but the bullpen was so bad last season, almost any signing could boost the pen. And I believe an old friend could be ...

The end of the season for the Royals couldn’t come soon enough. The team had the second worst record in franchise history at 56-106. The 2023 team tied the 2005 team for the worst record in franchise history. Zack Greinke was unfortunately part of both the 2005 and 2023 team's.  Kansas City's rotation was about what I expected heading into the season—average. A trade with Texas was one that many probably didn't expect to go so well for the boys in blue. I honestly thought the team would acquire a pitcher that would be a mid rotation piece. Instead, Cole Ragans became the team's ace in the rotation this past year.  Why did the Rangers give up on the left hander so early? The 25-year old unfortunately wasn't able to stay healthy while part of the Rangers’ organization. After just two years, the former first round draft pick was sidelined due to Tommy John surgery twice. The Royals certainly took a big risk acquiring an injury prone arm for a hard throwing ...