Marsh shining in rotation

Back in 2018, Kansas City drafted several pitchers, including Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, and Jackson Kowar. Aside from Singer, neither Kowar nor Bubic (prior to his Tommy John surgery) nor Lynch have consistently performed well. For the most part, the 2018 class has been a bust. The following year, however, has shown better results, primarily with right-hander Alec Marsh, selected 70th overall. Marsh made his major league debut in June of last year.
Last season was a struggle for Marsh. In his rookie campaign, he posted an ERA of 5.69 in seventeen games, eight of which were starts. It wasn’t the best way to start a big league career. Fortunately, Marsh didn’t let his rookie struggles weigh him down heading into this season. He has flourished so far, with an ERA under 3.00 at a solid 2.72.
The 26-year-old had to battle his way onto the Royals' opening day roster and compete for a spot in the starting rotation against Jordan Lyles and Angel Zerpa. Lyles had the upper hand thanks to his contract and experience as an inning-eater type of starter. Lyles now contributes to the bullpen, taking some pressure off the starting rotation. However, the rotation has shown its ability to go deep into games. Both Zerpa and Marsh were out to prove they could be significant parts of the rotation or the bullpen. Marsh seized this opportunity.
Manager Matt Quatraro, in a nutshell, told Anne Rogers of MLB.com that Marsh had surprised the coaching staff: “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.” Zerpa wasn’t terrible with an ERA just south of 5.00 at 4.85. The team had a hard decision to make between Zerpa and Marsh for the fifth spot. Marsh had a good spring, with an ERA of 3.57 and 20 swings and misses. He only continued his success into the season.
Both the Royals and the league are beginning to take notice. According to an article from Farms to Fountains, “Marsh joined the top 30 in 2020 as the team’s 22nd overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. When drafted, it was seen as a slight reach to some. Marsh ranked as the 102nd-best draft prospect that season out of Arizona State.” Marsh barely missed the top 100, and fans, including Royals fans, likely overlooked him with multiple players being selected before him. The former draft pick didn’t let that hold him back and has thrived since winning the fifth spot.
The season is still young, and Marsh has only made eight starts, but he has been stellar. Marsh's incredible start has contributed greatly to the team's rotation. After eight games, he has an ERA of 2.72 with 36 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched. Eight starts are a small sample size, but he has been an entertaining player to watch. Can Marsh keep this up down the stretch? I, for one, believe he certainly has the ability to do so.

Marsh has a robust pitching arsenal, including:

  • Fastball
  • Slider
  • Curveball
  • Sinker
  • Changeup
  • Sweeper
Six pitches may be more common nowadays, but it's not often you see a young arm enter the majors with that many pitches at his disposal. Recently, however, he has mostly dropped his curveball. Still, I believe the pitch isn't completely abandoned and will be thrown on occasion if needed. More experienced Royals pitcher Brady Singer didn’t have the pitching arsenal Marsh already has. Singer wanted to add a third pitch, a four-seamer, to give opposing players a different look at the plate. Fortunately for Marsh, he doesn’t need to add another pitch; he and the coaching staff seem comfortable with his current arsenal. Marsh is currently fifth in the team's rotation, but I believe there's a decent chance he could find himself higher in the rotation, likely the third or fourth spot, in the near future if he continues to perform at a high level for Kansas City.












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