Is the Royals’ bullpen....good now?

The beleaguered relievers have been getting the jobs done in September.

Kansas City fans know the importance of a good bullpen on a contending team. The 2014-15 Royals rode a dominant pen to two pennants and a title with All-Stars Greg Holland, Wade Davis, and Kelvin Herrera playing prominent roles.

For this year’s contending Royals, the bullpen has been a glaring weak spot on the team all year. They had counted on new acquisitions Will Smith, Nick Anderson, Chris Stratton, and John Schreiber to stabilize the bullpen, but the moves didn’t pan out. From the beginning of the season until the end of August, the Royals’ bullpen has a 4.42 ERA -sixth-worst in baseball - and the second-worst strikeout rate in baseball.

But while the offense has gone in the tank in September, leading to two separate seven-game losing streaks, the bullpen has quietly become a strength in the last month of the season. This month, Royals relievers have a 3.25 ERA (11th-best in baseball) a 2.75 FIP (third-best), and most amazingly they have become a bullpen that can miss bats with the fourth-best strikeout rate in the game.

What changed?

In a lot of ways, it was addition by subtraction. Anderson was sent packing back in July, but Smith and Stratton have each missed most of the month due to injury, as has another struggling reliever, James McArthur. Schreiber has been very streaky this year and has rediscovered his mojo after returning from the Injured List, although each appearance still tests the nerves of Royals fans.

Lucas Erceg has proved to be a shrewd acquisition, stabilizing a bullpen with a lights-out strikeout pitcher. The Royals got him at the deadline from Oakland, and will have him for the next few years. Kris Bubic was supposed to hide out in the bullpen as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, picking up low-leverage innings here and there. Instead, he has turned into a dominant reliever. Of all lefty relievers with at least 20 innings, he has the seventh-highest strikeout rate at 31.9 percent.

Carlos Hernández has flashed some swing-and-miss stuff with his 100 mph fastball in September. Angel Zerpa is back to the strike-throwing, groundball-inducing lefty that can throw in the high 90s. Sam Long has been solid all season as a surprise pickup.

But perhaps the most surprising bullpen hero in September has been Daniel Lynch IV. A former starter who had mixed results at the big league level, Lynch spent most of the season in Triple-A. He returned to the team on August 26 and has pitched 18 ²⁄₃ innings of shutout ball since then. Opponents are hitting just .113/.167/.145 against him in that time and he has struck out 31.8 percent of all batters he has faced.

The emergence of the bullpen as a weapon comes at the most opportune time for the Royals. With the post-season lurking, the Royals can supplement the relievers they have with starters they won’t need for a short three-game Wild Card series. Alec Marsh, Michael Lorenzen, and even Brady Singer could join the bullpen, giving Matt Quatraro even more weapons to turn to.

Could all of this be just a blip? Sure. Just as the offense is going through a small sample size blip, the bullpen could be regressing back to the mean as well. But the higher strikeout rates are encouraging, and the change in personnel could be an indication the Royals have finally found the right formula of arms in the pen that can succeed.

Teams can overcome bad bullpen to win titles - the Texas Rangers did so last year. But the Royals don’t have that kind of offense. They’ll need great pitching from their starters, and will need to be able to trust their relievers once Quatraro turns the ball over. Things might just be starting to gel in that bullpen, and just in time as the Royals make their last push for the post-season.