Marsh strengthens rotation



The pitching in Kansas City went through many changes in the offseason from the additions of Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to Alec Marsh joining the rotation fulltime. 
Many Royals fans, including me, thought Jordan Lyles had the fifth spot in the rotation locked down despite his poor stats thanks to the $8.5 million dollars left on his contract. The Royals turned the table on fans and likely Jordan Lyles as well. Royals pitcher Alec Marsh had a solid spring training and earned himself a shot to be the fifth starter going forward.
Last season Marsh made his major league debut in June of 2023. Marsh wasn't the only arm looking to take the fifth spot from Lyles. Marsh had to compete against a trio of arms including Angel Zerpa, Daniel Lynch along with Jordan Lyles. Marsh in spring training was solid in six games and 17.2 innings pitched. The 25-year old in six games racked up 20 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.57. 
Royals manager Matt Quatraro in an interview with Anne Roger's said about Marsh: "It was a competition,” Quatraro said. “Marsh exceeded, in the spring, what we could have hoped for and really just made that decision to put Jordan in the bullpen for how we thought we were going to put the best 13 together.” 
Aside from Quatraro's word on Marsh, I believe fans saw the same thing as the Royals coaching staff did and were pretty ecstatic from the right-hander's showing this spring. Although Marsh earned his spot in the rotation, he won't be a starter that will light up the radar gun; however he knows how to move the ball around the strike zone. Not every pitcher has the stuff Cole Ragans has, but Marsh has the ability to get outs. Since making his major league debut last season, Marsh has struck out 85 batters in his first year in the majors. Marsh up to this point in his career has primarily relied on the Royals’ infield. The right-hander this spring had a ground ball rate of 68.8%.
Marsh has multiple pitches at his disposal with six. Last season the 25-year old threw the fastball 37.3% of the time while throwing five of his six other  pitches about fifteen percent of the time. Marsh will have to increase his usage of his other pitches and not rely on his fastball so often. Marsh's fastball hits 94 mph on the gun while his other pitches hit the lower to upper eighties. 
A good spring for a player like Marsh doesn't mean he will have the same results in the regular season. Quatraro told Anne Rogers that Lyles will start the season in the bullpen but that doesn't mean Lyles couldn't return to the rotation. In an article by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors he points out that Marsh's lack of experience in a big league rotation, could lead to struggles along the possibility of injuries to other arms in the rotation could lead to Lyles ending up back in the rotation. 
Both the Royals and fans are hoping Marsh can take the success he had this spring into the regular season and keep Lyles in the bullpen for a big chunk of the season.










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