Royals may be looking to add to pitching staff

The Royals need to plug some holes in the rotation.

The deadline to make trades is 5 p.m. CT, and the Royals may be active despite rather slim playoff odds. The offense seems like an obvious area to upgrade, but with the team having already acquired Adam Frazier and Randall Grichuk at low cost and the offense improving their run scoring lately, it may not be as much of a priority anymore.

Instead, the pitching staff may need some additions as the Royals have been hit with injuries. The Royals are missing three of the five pieces of their rotation from the start of the year, with Cole Ragans and Michael Lorenzen on the Injured List, with Kris Bubic out for the year.

The Royals have been scrambling for any answer they can find - they tried 45-year-old Rich Hill and had a bullpen game this week. But the trade deadline gives them an opportunity to add a pitcher, and as Assistant GM Scott Sharp told Steven St. John on 810 WHB this week, the Royals could seek a flexible pitcher who could start or relieve.

“If you look at the Michael Lorenzen trade last year, you might anticipate something similar this year,” said Sharp. “We have some holes in the rotation we have to fill without question.”

The Royals acquired Lorenzen from the Rangers last summer for pitcher Walter Pennington. Lorenzen had a 1.57 ERA for the Royals in seven games, six of which were starts.

“You’re going to do what you have to do to fortify the pitching staff, and we’ll look to do that.”

Don’t expect the Royals to pursue top name pitchers that have been rumored like Dylan Cease, Joe Ryan, or Mackenzie Gore. The team seems unlikely to spend the capital necessary for one of those moves. Instead, look for them to see low-cost options that won’t deplete the farm system, for pitchers that can fill out a rotation and move to the bullpen if needed. Here are a few options:

Aaron Civale, White Sox

Civale began the year with the Brewers, but asked for a trade when he was unhappy with being asked to move to the pen. So they traded him to the bottom of the standings. That might not make him the “flexible” pitcher, but he is a prototypical fifth starter with a 4.38 ERA and 4.81 FIP in 13 starts this year. His strikeout rate is way down and he can be pretty home run prone, so there are definitely red flags for the impending free agent.

Nestor Cortes Jr., Brewers

Cortes has been injured much of the year, making just two awful starts for the Brewers. He is on rehab assignment right now and should be ready to be activated. The Brewers are reportedly shopping him as they have been fine without him. Cortes is a crafty lefty - his pauses during deliveries are hilarious. He posted a 3.77 ERA with 162 strikeouts in 174 1/3 innings last year with the Yankees, good for 2.6 rWAR.

Anthony DeSclafani, Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks signed DeSclafani about six weeks ago, and he has been a pretty solid pitcher with a 3.86 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 23 ¹⁄₃ innings, mostly in relief. The 35-year-old didn’t pitch at all last year, and had a 4.88 ERA with the Giants in 19 games in 2023. When healthy, DeSclafani is a strike-thrower who gets a lot of groundballs.

Austin Gomber, Rockies

Not being able to strike hitters out in the thin altitude of Denver is not a good recipe, and Gomber has paid for it with a 6.28 ERA. But he’s not as awful away from Coors Field, posting a 4.61 road ERA over the last two seasons. Gomber is a soft-tossing lefty who might welcome coming to a more pitcher-friendly park - of the 30 home runs he allowed last year, just 18 would have left Kauffman Stadium.

Andrew Heaney, Pirates

Heaney has long been a guy that many observers felt could get better results in the right situation. He’s nearing the end of his career now at age 34, and has a 4.79 ERA in 20 starts for the Pirates. The lefty from Oklahoma has been home run-prone in his career, so he could benefit from a move to the K, and could perhaps benefit from pitching coach Brian Sweeney’s tutelage.

Adrian Houser, White Sox

Houser is a nine-year vet, mostly with the Brewers, but the White Sox took a flyer on him after a poor year with the Mets. He has responded with his best year yet, with a 2.10 ERA in 11 starts. Houser has a very low strikeout rate, but gets by with a 47 percent groundball rate. He has a high strand rate so there is likely some regression, but his FIP is 3.30 and his xFIP is 4.14, which isn’t awful for a fifth starter. He is drawing more trade interest than other names on this list, so the asking price could be higher than you think.

Janson Junk, Marlins

The Royals saw Junk a few weeks ago in Miami when he gave up six runs against them. He has bounced around, already having spent time in the Yankees, Angels, Brewers, Astros, and Athletics organizations before he joined the Marlins and found some success. The 29-year-old right-hander has a 3.28 ERA and 2.20 FIP and just five walks in 60 ¹⁄₃ innings as both a starter and reliever. He and Houser have the two lowest home run rates of any pitcher with at least 60 innings pitched, so the Marlins could look to sell high on him.

Charlie Morton, Orioles

If the Royals are willing to let 45-year-old Rich Hill start, why not 41-year-old Charlie Morton? Like Hill, Morton relies heavily on a curve that he throws 38.5 percent of the time with a 34 percent whiff rate. But his change up has been hammered this year, and his sinker has not been effective. He has a 5.42 ERA in 101 innings, but can still miss bats with 101 strikeouts, but there are questions how much left he has in the tank.

Cal Quantrill, Marlins

Quantrill won 15 games with Cleveland in 2022, but has a 5.07 ERA in three seasons combined since then. He has a 5.05 ERA in 20 starts for the Marlins, but he has improved his strikeout and walk numbers, and his FIP is a decent 4.23. He has a weird reverse split where righties are hitting .349 against him while lefties are hitting .188. Since a brutal April, he has a decent 3.82 ERA in 14 starts.

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics

Matt Quatraro should be familiar with Springs from their time together with the Rays. The lefty was a 3.8 rWAR pitcher in 2022 for the Rays, but suffered injuries the next two seasons. he has a 4.13 ERA with the Athletics this year, although he is posting a career-low strikeout rate of 18.9 percent. The 32-year-old lefty barely throws 90 mph, but he has one of the best change ups in baseball, with a 39 percent whiff rate. Springs is under contract for next year at $10.5 million with a $15 million club option for 2027.

Tomoyuki Sugano, Orioles

Sugano is a 35-year-old rookie, having come over from Japan this year. He has a 4.38 ERA in 20 starts for the Orioles, but he has a 7.11 ERA over his last five starts. Sugano is a splitter/sweeper pitcher with a 41 percent groundball rate. His four-seamer has been very hitable with opponents hitting .304 against it. Sugano is on a one-year, $13 million deal and will be a free agent again this winter.

Trevor Williams, Nationals

Williams has an ugly 6.21 ERA, but his FIP is a more respectable 4.09 and he was a 2.5 rWAR pitcher last year with a 2.03 ERA in 13 starts. The 33-year-old right-hander is a strikethrower who won’t rack up the whiffs. The acquisition cost should be quite low and the upside isn’t high, but the Royals may be able to get a few decent starts out of Williams.