Could Carl Edwards Jr. fill a Royals’ need?


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 down there, so, and he was — his velo was really good, it was 95-97, his curveball was good and his changeup was good.” 

The veteran reliever seems to trust his stuff and rightfully so. Edwards Jr. has a three pitch mix that consists of a fastball, changeup, and a curveball. The right-hander relied on the fastball 64% of the time last season while he threw his changeup 23% of the time and his curveball only 12% of the time. Edwards Jr. in my opinion would be more successful if he threw his changeup and curveball a bit more next season and see where that takes him and his stats next season. 

The right-hander posted respectable numbers in his second year with Washington when healthy. Edwards Jr appeared in only 32 games in 2023 as the veteran reliever unfortunately dealt with shoulder inflammation and a stress fracture causing him to miss the remainder of the season. Despite the right-hander's injury issues this past season, the veteran reliver posted a 3.69 era with on 24 punchouts. Edwards Jr pitched a total of 31.2 innings in the 32 games he played. In the games the reliever appeared in he was able to keep the ball on the ground 46% of the time. The Kansas City infield should have no trouble getting ground outs with Witt Jr, Massey and Garcia playing gold glove type defense. 

Edwards Jr. had trouble with strikeouts. The 32-year old walk rate dropped from 25 to 17 last season. The Royals must be willing to take chances on many pitchers this offseason and see what the arms can do this upcoming spring and see if a few arms stick out to the team along with a few guaranteed signings for the bullpen. Before Edwards Jr.'s injuries started popping up, his name was brought up as a potential trade candidate. The right-hander was mentioned as a potential acquisition piece for the Diamondbacks, Cubs, and the Twins. 

As mentioned earlier in the article, Edwards Jr. could be a diamond in the rough in free agency this upcoming offseason, and Kansas City should really consider the right-hander and other arms for the bullpen next season. 










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