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 ...

The 2018 Major League Baseball Draft for the Royals was mostly about pitching. Kansas City drafted a total of 26 pitchers—14 right handers and 12 left handers. Although the team drafted several arms, only a handful of them were, and are still considered potential core pieces in the team's long term plans. The first four players selected by Kansas City in that draft were pitchers. The big four selected were Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic. Bubic and Kowar haven't exactly lived up to fans, and maybe even the team's expectations; and unfortunately, the Royals don't have a good history of developing quality starting pitchers.  Despite the team's history, I believe a few of these pitchers could turn out to be at least decent arms. Kris Bubic was one of the arms I thought would only be a solid contributor. Bubic at the beginning of his Royals’ career has struggled quite a bit, and some of that might have been due to the poor coaching s...

Kansas City heading into the season this year was and is a team full of young pitching, making the signing of Jordan Lyles really important. The Royals signed Lyles despite having underwhelming stats throughout his career. Before signing with the Royals, the righthander was an inning eater for the Rangers and the Orioles the past two seasons. According to an interview with MLB.com, Royals’ General Manager J.J Picollo explained the reasoning behind signing a pitcher with a career ERA over 5.00: "Has shown in the last two years that he can really handle a heavy workload.”  The righthander certainly isn't part of the Royals long-term plans, so his main job is mainly to take the mound every fifth day and go deep into games, taking pressure off the bullpen. A rested bullpen is great for any team, especially for a team that has a young pitching staff that hasn't shown they can go very deep into games besides Brady Singer. Kansas City unfortunately has had two pieces ...

The Royals in the early 2000's had multiple players that became stars after leaving the organization such as Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, Zack Greinke, and others. Jose Bautista could be one of those who finds himself in a team's hall of fame after leaving Kansas City. Although he was drafted in 2000 by Pittsburgh in the 20th round (599th) overall, Bautista certainly had one heck of a playing career. However, he would not shine until later in his career. While a member of the Royals, after being acquired from the Rays for cash, the outfielder wasn't a player that would open many eyes and rightfully so. The outfielder's time in a Royals uniform wasn't long lived. In fact, the power hitter only played in 13 games with 26 plate appearances and 25 at bats.  Bautista certainly didn't get his nickname "Joey Bats" while he was in the Midwest. Bautista's stats with the Royals were very poor. The hitter posted an .200 batting average with a poo...