KC Royals Bullpen Rated Best In Baseball By ESPN

ESPN’s Buster Olney rated the Kansas City Royals bullpen the best in baseball on Tuesday. While that status seems more like a “duh” than news, his rationale is interesting.

Olney cites the HDH trio of Greg Holland, Wade Davis, and Kelvin Herrera as the reason, and said the big three would make the Royals bullpen no. 1 without much help from the rest of the staff.

That analysis recognizes that the KC Royals excel in the most important role of a bullpen, hold late leads. While teams would like for their lesser relievers to keep them in games when they are down a significant amount of runs, big comebacks to steal a win are rare. The key to bullpen success is holding on to leads after the middle innings.

The KC Royals excelled in this area last season. Despite a reliever ERA that ranked 10th in MLB last season at 3.22, the team went 76-1 with a lead after the 7th inning.

Holland, Davis, and Herrera pretty much ensured that the 2014 Kansas City Royals would take home a win if they had a late lead. Remove the HDH trio from the equation, and the rest of the pen compiled a rather unsightly 4.85 ERA.

KC Royals fans, however, can expect the ancillary parts of the bullpen to improve next season. General manager Dayton Moore brought back late season acquisition Jason Frasor, who was solid down the stretch, and re-signed Luke Hochevar after he missed the 2014 season with Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

Hochevar dominated out of the pen in 2013, with a 1.92 ERA in 70.1 innings after struggling his 5 prior seasons as a starter.

Moore also acquired former Atlanta starter Kris Medlen, who is likely to pitch out of the pen when he returns mid-season from 2014 Tommy John surgery. Medlen had been an outstanding set-up man in Atlanta before joining the rotation in 2012, compiling a 2.92 ERA in 132.2 innings pitched out of the pen.

Along with Medlen, Moore brought in former Phillies closer Ryan Madson on a minor-league deal. Madson has not pitched in MLB since 2011 when he saved 32 games and put up a 2.32 ERA in Philadelphia in 2011. Madson then tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, and struggled to recover from Tommy John surgery.

Even if Madson is even 75% of his former self, he will be a useful asset.

Dayton Moore then traded for Rule 5 pick Jandel Gustave, who brings tantalizing promise with his fastball that touches 100mph—though he has not pitched above High A.

The Royals also added prospect Brian Flynn. While the KC Royals still hope the lefty can take a rotation role, he is likely to end up in a long-relief role if he is ready to contribute in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals could still get late-season help from 22-year-old phenom Brandon Finnegan down the stretch. Finnegan is expected to start the season in the minors to develop as a starter, but if the bullpen needs help to make a playoff run, I’m certain Dayton Moore will not hesitate to re-call him to Kansas City.

If things break right, the KC Royals could have four or five dominant bullpen arms, rather than three.

The bottom line is that depth might make up for any slide in performance from the Big Three, who will be hard pressed to equal their exceptional 2014 seasons.

The pen could be even better in 2015.

Next: KC Royals: Bring on 2015

More from KC Kingdom

Home/Kansas City Royals