Michael Lorenzen will return from the 15-day injured listing tomorrow. The Royals listing him because the possible starter for the second recreation of their sequence in Washington. Kansas Metropolis might want to make a corresponding lively roster transfer.
It’s a vital begin as Okay.C. fights for a playoff spot. The Royals squeaked out a 1-0 win in further innings over the Nationals tonight. That saved them in entrance of the Tigers for the AL’s second Wild Card spot through the tiebreaker. They’re two video games up on the Twins and a pair of.5 away from the Mariners within the race.
Lorenzen has been down for greater than a month due to a left hamstring pressure. Acquired from the Rangers on the deadline, the righty had a glowing 1.85 earned run common in 24 1/3 innings over his first 5 begins. That wonderful run prevention was regardless of mediocre strikeout (17%) and stroll (10%) charges. Lorenzen’s outcomes have usually outpaced his peripherals for consecutive seasons. He carries a 3.43 ERA over 126 frames between Texas and Okay.C. this yr.
Alec Marsh stepped again into the rotation whereas Lorenzen was on the shelf. He pitched pretty properly, delivering a 4.50 ERA whereas putting out greater than 32% of opponents over 4 begins. Marsh is transferring into the bullpen to open a rotation spot, tweets Jaylon Thompson of the Okay.C. Star. The 26-year-old righty has turned in a 4.65 ERA with a stable 23% strikeout price over 25 appearances (24 begins) on the yr. He had a wonderful begin to the season earlier than a horrible July led the Royals to possibility him to Triple-A for the three weeks previous Lorenzen’s damage.
Whereas Lorenzen’s return is a lift to the pitching workers, skipper Matt Quatraro offered disheartening updates on a pair of relievers this afternoon. The Royals have formally dominated out Hunter Harvey and James McArthur for the season, Quatraro mentioned (X hyperlink through Anne Rogers of MLB.com). Harvey has been out for the reason that center of August with a again damage, whereas the Royals misplaced McArthur to an elbow sprain final week.
Quatraro mentioned the Royals had been sending Harvey for a second opinion, which not less than raises the query of whether or not he’ll want surgical procedure. Accidents have been a recurring downside for the 29-year-old righty. Harvey underwent Tommy John surgical procedure as a prospect and has had prolonged absences throughout his MLB profession for forearm, lat and elbow accidents.
Harvey generally is a high-leverage reliever at his greatest, as he confirmed with the Nationals between 2023-24. He fired 60 2/3 innings of two.82 ERA ball final season. This season’s 4.20 mark throughout 45 frames wasn’t as spectacular, however Harvey punched out greater than 26% of opponents behind a 13.4% swinging strike price. The Royals seen him as a late-game weapon and despatched third base prospect Cayden Wallace plus the thirty ninth decide on this summer time’s draft to amass him. They’ve gotten basically nothing out of that deal, as Harvey allowed 4 runs over 5 2/3 innings earlier than happening the shelf.
Kansas Metropolis controls Harvey for yet one more yr through arbitration. The Royals would tender him a contract in the event that they anticipate him to be again early in 2025, however a long-term damage might clearly change the calculus. He’d be due a small increase on this yr’s $2.325MM sum.
McArthur operated as Kansas Metropolis’s nearer for a time. He picked up 18 saves but in addition blew seven leads. McArthur’s heavy reliance on ground-balls with out many whiffs performs higher within the center innings than it does within the ninth. His yr concludes with a 4.92 ERA by way of 56 2/3 frames. The Royals are utilizing deadline acquisition Lucas Erceg as their nearer whereas turning high-leverage innings to transformed starter Kris Bubic and left-hander Sam Lengthy.
