KC Royals: Edinson Volquez Is The Ace Of The Rotation

The KC Royals sit 20 games over .500 and hold a six and a half game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.

Life is good for Kansas City Royals fans at the moment, and a large part of the success has come from starting pitcher Edinson Volquez.

The KC Royals acquired Volquez during the off season, and it was certainly one of the more underrated moves this off season by any team in the the majors. I don’t think anyone, even Royals fans, expected Volquez to be this good in 2015.

It’s not that Royals fans didn’t think Volquez would be good, but the initial thought was that Volquez was James Shields‘ replacement, and it just didn’t seem like much of a replacement. Shields was “Big Game” James for the duration of his time with the Royals, and fans didn’t know much about Volquez.

Fast forward to now, and you can call me crazy if you want, but I’d say that Edinson Volquez has been better than Shields so far this season. I get the season is only a little over halfway complete, but check out these two’s stats through this point (obviously using Shields’ from last year, and not during his current season with the San Diego Padres):

An ace is the one pitcher on your team that you know no matter what, you have a chance to win because of that guy on the mound. Edinson Volquez is that guy for the Kansas City Royals.

As of his most recent start on the 22nd, Volquez has started 20 games in a Royals uniform and has pitched 120 innings so far.
Volquez has posted a 9-5 record with a 3.15 ERA, allowing 49 runs (42 earned), eight home runs, and striking out 91 batters.
He has walked 42 batters though, which… Meh.

Now let’s take a look at Shields’ stats up to this point last season, going through the end of July.

He pitched more innings with 147.7 and had a 9-6 record while allowing twice as many home runs as Volquez.
He allowed 72 runs (58 earned) up to this point in the season last year, walking only 33 guys and striking out 125 batters.
His strikeout numbers were way up from that of any Royals’ pitcher, which was the one of the best parts about Shields.

I’m not trying to knock on James Shields here. I really did enjoy having him in Kansas City, and really loved what he was able to do for the franchise and for the team, but Edinson Volquez has proven that he belongs in the Royals’ rotation and deserves that number one starter spot. The team doesn’t need to trade for Shields and his super expensive contract when they have a guy who has pitched ace-worthy baseball in Volquez.

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Volquez’s most recent start, which happened to come against his former team, saw Volquez go 7.2 innings and only give up one run. It was a game that saw his offense helping him out, giving him some cushion to work with, and Volquez prevailed in a big way.

Even his bad starts aren’t bad though, and that’s what’s great about Edinson Volquez. In fact, the shortest inning he pitched in was three innings against the Cleveland Indians on May 7th. That is the only game that Volquez didn’t last through five or more innings, and his early exit was due to a blister on his hand.

While Shields’ leadership has been tough to replace, Volquez has still shown he’s a proud member of this team. Back when the Royals and White Sox brawled in Chicago, Volquez was right in on the action despite only being on a team with these guys for a few months (counting spring training, of course). I thought that was cool and showed that Volquez is someone our boys in blue, and we as fans, can count on.

An ace is the one pitcher on your team that you know no matter what, you have a chance to win because of that guy on the mound. Edinson Volquez is that guy for the Kansas City Royals.

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